Georgia, Tbilisi, Nov.30 / Trend, N.Kirtskhalia /
Georgia ceases fulfilling obligations with regard to the Russian Federation, undertaken within the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE), Georgian Foreign Ministry's statement said on Tuesday.
"Georgia, effective as of Nov.29, ceases performing the following obligations vis-à-vis the Russian Federation: henceforth, Georgia will not provide information to the RF in the annual exchange of information that takes place pursuant to the CFE treaty; Georgia will not provide any notifications to the RF pursuant to the CFE treaty; Georgia will not accept inspections requested by the RF pursuant to the CFE treaty," the statement reads.
The document also says that recognizing the contribution of the CFE treaty to the stable and secure environment in the area of its application, Georgia will continue to perform its obligations vis-à-vis the States Parties of the Treaty except the Russian Federation.
Georgia expresses readiness to support and participate in the future consultations aimed at revitalizing the arms control regime in Europe.
"The continuing negligence to observe the internationally undertaken obligations under the CFE by the Russian Federation - which possesses the largest conventional military forces in Europe - has severely undermined the Treaty rightly perceived as a cornerstone of the European Security Architecture," the document says.
Georgian Foreign Ministry is extremely concerned with Russia's permanent non-compliance over the last decade with the CFE Treaty and the Flank Document.
"Due to Russia's refusal to fulfill the Istanbul commitments the adapted CFE Treaty has not been ratified for more than 10 years," the statement says.
Georgian Foreign Ministry believes that by maintaining deployment of its military forces and armament on the territory of Georgia without the host nation consent, the Russian side violated one of the fundamental principles upon which the Treaty is based.
"In December 2007, Russia again violated the CFE Treaty by imposing a unilateral moratorium on its implementation. By unilaterally suspending all its obligations including those under provisions on verification, information exchange, and numerical limitations, originating from the CFE Treaty and its associated documents, including Flank Agreement, the Russian Federation has put the European Security System under serious threat. Furthermore, the Russian Federation has grossly violated fundamental norms of International Law, as well as one of the guiding principles stated in the preamble of the CFE Treaty which stipulates the obligation of States Parties "to refrain in their mutual relations, as well as in their International relations in general, from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any State," the statement reads.
Tbilisi notes that despite the Russian Federation's gross violation of international law and the CFE Treaty, Georgia has been adhering firmly to each of the commitments stipulated in the Treaty and the Flank Document with respect to the Russian Federation.
Earlier, the U.S. and UK have already stated that they will not provide military information to Russia within the CFE Treaty.