Russia's lower house of parliament, the State Duma, voted 418 to 0 to suspend the country's compliance with the Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty
But the Soviet collapse changed Europe's military equation and Russia now wants to amend the treaty to correspond with its current security needs
However, NATO countries say Russia must first fulfill its commitment made at the 1999 Istanbul summit of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe to withdraw its military from the former Soviet republics of Moldova and Georgia.
Russia says its troops are serving as peacekeepers in those two countries
Some Western countries are concerned that Russian withdrawal from the current CFE treaty could raise tensions and lead to a new arms race.
But a military analyst in Moscow, Pavel Felgenhauer, says an arms race is unlikely because - in his view - Russian military industries are in no condition to produce large quantities of weapons.
clipped from: www.voanews.com 