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Russia CFE moratorium to kick in on Dec. 12 - military chief

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A moratorium on Russia's Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty obligations will take effect on December 12, the chief of the Armed Forces General Staff said on Wednesday.
BRUSSELS, November 14 (RIA Novosti) - A moratorium on Russia's Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty obligations will take effect on December 12, the chief of the Armed Forces General Staff said on Wednesday.

"There will be no changes to Russia's position: The law will come into force as it should, on December 12," Gen. Yury Baluyevsky said.

Russia has repeatedly urged its NATO colleagues to ratify the CFE Treaty and then amend it to eliminate flank limitations, he said.

Baluyevsky said last Thursday that Russia would no longer be bound by current weapons and equipment limitations after its moratorium on the CFE Treaty comes into force.

The State Duma, Russia's lower house of parliament, voted on November 7 in favor of President Putin's bill to impose a moratorium on the CFE Treaty.

The moratorium is set to come into effect after final approval by the upper house of parliament, expected to vote on the issue on November 16, and President Vladimir Putin.

The chief of the General Staff also said previously the CFE Treaty put Russia at a disadvantage.

"It was an onerous treaty for Russia. It was a treaty that Russia alone honored," he said.

Asked why Russia had signed the document in the first place, Baluyevsky said that at the time, in 1990, the goal was to avert a war, and the treaty effectively served its purpose.

He also said Russia's Armed Forces, like all militaries in the world, would be putting an emphasis on quality, not quantity.

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