President Vladimir Putin signed a law Friday suspending Russia's participation in the Conventional Armed Forces in Europe Treaty, intensifying pressure on NATO to make further concessions, said European diplomats. Putin's action, two days before national elections, moved Russia a step closer to carrying out its threat to stop abiding by the accord on Dec. 12. U.S. and Russian arms control experts said they would step up negotiatons over the coming days.
"There will be more meetings," said Mikhail Uliyanov, head of Russia's military security and arms control delegation to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which negotiated the original treaty. "We are committed to the arms control regime, but the old treaty is out of date," he added.
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