Duma Votes Unanimously to Suspend CFE
The Russian lower parliament has voted 418-0 to suspend the Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty (CFE).
The law must be passed by upper parliament and ratified by President Putin before it can come into effect on December 12.
It is expected to do both.
The treaty is considered a keystone of post-Cold war security.
It limits the number of tanks, helicopters and other conventional weapons along the borders between Russian and Eastern Europe.
The restrictions are designed to prevent surprise attacks.
Russian Assertive Foreign Policy
Russian foreign policy has been marked by blunt displays of power over the past several months.
Early this summer Russian bombers began Cold War style patrols near British and Norwegian air space.
The Russian military detonated what it called the most powerful non-nuclear bomb in history ("Father of All Bombs") several months later.
President Putin recently announced on national television that he will re-vamp the Russian nuclear arsenal.
The Break Between Russia and the West
The assertive foreign policy has created a widening distance between Russia and the West.
Internal EU documents uncovered in October showed that EU politicians considered labeling Russia an "opponent" ahead of the EU-Russia summit at the end of the month.
Last week the French and German foreign ministers warned in a joint letter to European newspapers that a Russian withdraw from the CFE might provoke an arms race.
European angst crystallized on Wednesday when the European Council on Foreign Relations released a report that called Russia an "ideological alternative" to Europe whose foreign policy was "motivated by a quest for power, independence and control."
