France, Germany, Poland Alarmed at Russia's Withdrawal From CFE Talks

France, Germany and Poland are worried after Russia's decision to halt participation in joint consultations under the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE).

BERLIN (Sputnik) – France, Germany and Poland have expressed their concerns about Russia's decision to suspend its participation in the work of the Joint Consultative Group (JCG) under the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE), a joint communique on the German Foreign Ministry’s website said Friday.

The document was issued following the meeting of the Weimar Triangle foreign ministers — German's Frank-Walter Steinmeier, France's Laurent Fabius, and Poland's Grzegorz Schetyna — which took place earlier in the day in the Polish city of Wroclaw.

"It is yet another worrisome signal sent by Moscow, which does not contribute to rebuilding trust and confidence on our continent, but further weakens security architecture in Europe," the communique read.

Last month, Russia announced its decision to halt participation in the CFE consultative group starting from March 10, citing various loopholes that resulted in the expansion of NATO and ratification delays.

The suspension finalizes Moscow's unilateral moratorium on the implementation of the CFE treaty announced by President Vladimir Putin in 2007.

The CFE Treaty, signed in 1990 by 16 NATO and six Warsaw Pact member countries, set equal limits for each bloc on five key categories of conventional armaments and military hardware.