Russian President Vladimir Putin has sent legislation to parliament on the suspension of a key European arms control treaty, officials said Thursday.
Russia said on July 14 it would stop complying with the 1990 Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) treaty, which limits the deployment of conventional arms in Europe.
The legislation is to be examined by parliament in October, a statement on the parliament website said.
Russia has attributed its withdrawal to the failure of NATO members to ratify the revised 1999 version of the treaty, although Moscow has also been riled by US plans to deploy an anti-missile shield in former Soviet satellite states in central Europe.
NATO members have refused to ratify the CFE treaty until Moscow pulls its peacekeepers out of former Soviet republics Georgia and Moldova.
The announcement of the withdrawal from the treaty came amid heightened tensions between Russia and the West that some commentators have likened to the 20th century Cold War.
