Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed Thursday that Russia should unilaterally suspend the implementation of the CFE treaty until other parties to the treaty ratify the document.
Goran Lennmarker said although differences over certain issues arose and this was normal, but commitments to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe should be complied with.
The CFE was concluded in 1990 by the then-22 NATO members and the now defunct Warsaw Pact to enhance arms control in Europe, and amended in 1999 to take post-Cold War realities into account.
NATO countries have not ratified the new version, demanding that Russia first withdraw from Soviet-era bases from Georgia and Moldova under the Istanbul Agreements.
Moscow has said there is no link between the two documents, and argued that NATO newcomers Slovakia and the three Baltic states have not joined the CFE at all, despite preliminary agreements.
Putin also suggested that Russia might consider leaving the CFE treaty if talks with NATO countries show no visible progress in the implementation of the treaty in the future.
Putin's statement came following U.S. plans to deploy elements of its missile defense shield in Central Europe, as well as to finance nongovernmental organizations and opposition parties in Russia in a bid to improve the country's democratic record. Moscow regards the prospects as a security threat and meddling in its domestic affairs.
