On May 10, Russian President Vladimir Putin submitted a draft law on the denunciation of the CFE Treaty to the lower house of the country's parliament. On May 16, the chamber adopted a law on the denunciation of the treaty, saying that the decision was fully in line with Russia's national interests.
The CFE Treaty was signed in Paris in 1990 by representatives of 16 NATO member states and six member states of the Warsaw Pact. The treaty introduced limits on the main types of conventional military equipment in Europe and provided for the destruction of excess weaponry.
In 1999, an updated version of the treaty was signed at the summit of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in Istanbul to take into account the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact and the expansion of NATO. However, the adapted version was ratified only by Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine.
In 2007, Putin signed a decree suspending the country's participation in the CFE Treaty in 2007 until NATO countries ratify the agreement on adaptation and start implementing their commitments under the document. At the same time, Russia remained a party to the CFE Treaty.