Belarus suspends the CFE Treaty

President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko agreed to submit to the lower house of parliament a bill on suspending the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE), the state agency BelTA reports. The Treaty was signed on November 19, 1990 in Paris by plenipotentiary representatives of 16 NATO member states and six member states of the Warsaw Pact Organization.

The agency notes that the draft law provides for the suspension of the CFE Treaty, but does not mean Minsk’s withdrawal from it and the cessation of internal procedures in the armed forces related to its implementation.




– the message emphasizes.

Minsk ratified the treaty in 1992. It provides for limiting the total levels of conventional weapons and equipment in five main categories (tanks, armored fighting vehicles, artillery, attack helicopters and combat aircraft), as well as mechanisms for verifying compliance with obligations (information exchange and inspections). Belarus fully fulfills its obligations under the agreement.

Nevertheless, in August 2022, the Czech Republic, and in March 2023, Poland decided not to implement the agreement in relation to Belarus. In November 2023, NATO's North Atlantic Council announced the intention of the alliance member states participating in the treaty to suspend its operation. Russia also left the CFE Treaty. Today Türkiye announced the same decision.