CFE treaty talks ended in deadlock

PanARMENIAN.Net - Organizers of an extraordinary meeting on the Conventional Forces in Europe treaty said participants failed to find common ground for a joint statement.



Signatories to the accord had gathered in the Austrian capital after Moscow branded the treaty "hopelessly outmoded" and called for the special session.



"The current CFE treaty has for all intents and purposes become meaningless. It's no longer viable," Russian delegation chief Anatoly Antonov said after the four-day extraordinary talks called by Russia. "But no-one listened to us. They continued to admonish us," Mr Antonov said.



He added that Russia's moratorium on honoring the treaty "will become a very real option" if dialogue on the issue continued to be stalled.



Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that the CFE treaty - signed eight years after the Warsaw Pact was dissolved - no longer reflects the post-Cold War world.



In Brussels, Russia's Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov denied any connection between toughening of Russia's stance and U.S. plans to deploy anti-missile assets in Europe.



On Friday, NATO issued a statement expressing regret that no deal had been reached.



But it urged Russia "to engage in continuing dialogue which would lead to a positive outcome in the future".



The Kremlin says the 1990 treaty is outdated and restricts its ability to move troops around its own territory.



Russia ratified the 1999 revised version, but NATO has not done so.



NATO states are first demanding the withdrawal of Russian forces from Georgia and Moldova, but Moscow says the issues are not linked, BBC reports.