Vice-admiral Borys Kozhyn, top deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Naval Forces and member of the Ukrainian People’s Party believes that after Russia dropped its participation in the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty, Ukraine must urgently join NATO.
According to the UPP press-service, B.Kozhyn claimed this commenting on signing the respective law by the Russian President on November 30.
“After Russia suspended its participation in the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty, Ukraine cannot be sure of its security, as it has a common border with Russia”, the Vice Admiral believes. “Only a full-fledged participation of Ukraine in NATO may protect the state from an aggressive military policy of Russia”, B.Kozhyn said, noting that after Russia suspended its participation in CFE Treaty, this issue turned urgent.
As UNIAN reported earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday signed a law on a temporary suspension of Russia`s participation in the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty, the Kremlin`s press service said. The law was unanimously approved by both houses of the Russian parliament and will become effective at midnight on December 12. Russia considers the existing CFE treaty to be discriminatory and outdated since it does not reflect the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact, the breakup of the Soviet Union, or recent NATO expansion. The original CFE treaty was signed in December 1990 by 16 NATO countries and six Warsaw Pact members. The document set equal limits for the sides on five categories of conventional weapons - battle tanks, armored combat vehicles, artillery pieces, combat aircraft and attack helicopters. The modified version of the arms control treaty, which Western countries consider a cornerstone of European security, was signed on November 19, 1999 by all NATO countries except Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia and Slovenia.
