The 1990 agreement, which was signed by NATO and Soviet bloc members, put limits on the number of tanks, armored vehicles, artillery, helicopters, and aircraft stationed in Europe as a way of establishing the military balance on the continent.
Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Pskov said that the move would not have any “direct ramifications.” He added that Russia had brought the situation to de facto reality, but noted “an emerging large vacuum” in arms control and strategic stability architecture. Questions about the fate of the CFE arose even before the current standoff between Russia and the west over Ukraine. In 2007, Moscow suspended its participation in the treaty citing the failure of new NATO members to comply with restrictions stipulated in the agreement.
In 2015, Russia withdrew from the CFE mechanisms because no NATO member was adhering to the treaty. The move has been met with criticism from some European countries, as well as from NATO.
