Recent developments around the Convention on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) have been highlighted by Russia through official channels. Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov was named as the president’s representative during discussions in the Russian parliament, following an order issued by President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, May 10. The measure was published on the official portal of regulatory legal acts.
The appointment is framed as Ryabkov representing the President of the Russian Federation when the Federal Assembly debated the question of terminating the CFE treaty that originated in Paris on November 19, 1990. The formal text of the order states this clearly.
The CFE Treaty originally brought together 16 NATO members and six Warsaw Pact states. It underwent revision in 1997, though NATO members did not ratify the updated version and continued to operate under the 1990 framework, which limited conventional weapons to maintain parity between NATO and the Warsaw Pact. This is the summary provided by authorities in Moscow and reported by TASS.
An updated framework was later formalized at the 1999 OSCE summit in Istanbul. The agreement sought to establish a system to cap the numbers of conventional weapons, including tanks, armored fighting vehicles, artillery, combat aircraft, and attack helicopters. The updated pact was ratified by four states — Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine — while representatives from 30 countries signed the document as a whole.
In 2007, Russia signaled that NATO nations would not approve the revised terms or pursue them in good faith, effectively stalling progress under the updated treaty framework.
On March 11, 2015, Moscow suspended its participation in the CFE Treaty process, including the ECCA Joint Advisory Group meetings. Russia retained a legal presence in other treaty structures, but Belarus assumed a leading role within the Joint Advisory Group, according to reports from DEA News. This shift affected how regional allies engage with the agreement and how stakeholders monitor compliance in the European security environment.
Suspension of participation in START
Turning to another major arms-control framework, Russia’s leadership reaffirmed on February 28, 2023, that Moscow would suspend Russia’s participation in the Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty (START). The action followed a political and strategic calculus reflected in the explanatory notes accompanying the law. The Prague-originated treaty text from April 8, 2010 grants parties the right to conduct inspections to verify compliance with its provisions, and the Russian side has stressed that certain obligations remain unfulfilled by the United States.
Statements from Moscow indicate that although Russia suspended its participation, it did not formally withdraw from START. This distinction has been a recurring theme in official rhetoric, where suspension is presented as a tactical move rather than a withdrawal with immediate legal termination. The broader commentary from Russian officials has linked the decision to shifts in global power dynamics, arguing that one party appears to exploit the situation to advance its strategic aims while the other side seeks to preserve a perceived edge in nuclear capabilities. Observers in Moscow and at defense-focused outlets have characterized these moves as part of a broader rebalancing in the U.S.–Russia security relationship. (attribution: TASS / official Russian government statements)
Analysts have noted that tensions over START reflect divergent long-term objectives in strategic stability. Some voices argue the agreement remains a functional tool to prevent a rapid arms race, while others see it as a constraint that could hinder a nation’s capacity to respond to evolving security challenges. The debate underscores how bilateral arms-control efforts influence allied and partner nations in North America, Europe, and beyond, shaping defense postures in Canada, the United States, and allied capitals. (attribution: regional security analyses)