( RIA Novosti ) - Russia's lower house of parliament has voted in favor of President Putin's bill to impose a moratorium on the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty.
The moratorium on the arms reduction pact will take effect on the night of December 12-13, or 150 days after Russia notifies signatories to the treaty.
President Vladimir Putin signed a decree to suspend the 1990 CFE Treaty in mid-July, citing security concerns.
The amended version of the Soviet-era treaty was signed in 1999, and has not been ratified by any NATO countries.
Moscow considers the original CFE Treaty to be outdated since it does not reflect the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact, the breakup of the Soviet Union, or recent NATO expansion. NATO countries have insisted on Russia's withdrawal from Transdnestr and other breakaway post-Soviet regions as a condition for their ratification of the CFE Treaty.
The moratorium does not stipulate that Russia will permanently pull out of the CFE Treaty, although it temporarily "freezes" its implementation by Russia and serves as a warning that the country will protect its national interests with determination, an explanatory note to the document says.