Azerbaijan, Armenia in Violation of Conventional Armed Forces in Europe Treaty - State Department report

The U.S. State Department finds Azerbaijan, Armenia and Russia in violation or noncompliance with Conventional Armed Forces in Europe Treaty, known as CFE, TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.

In an executive summary of its new report "Adherence to and Compliance with Arms Control, Nonproliferation, and Disarmament Agreements and Commitments," an annual document focuses on arms control violations and noncompliance by the countries around the world, the State Department mentioned that both Azerbaijan and Armenia continue to express their full support for the CFE.

However, reads the reports, Armenia's equipment total for armored infantry fighting vehicles "continued to exceed the relevant Treaty-Limited Equipment (TLE) sub-limit in 2019, and other Treaty implementation practices raised concerns as to its fulfillment of certain other Treaty obligations."

In the meantime, Azerbaijan's equipment totals also "continued to exceed TLE limits in 2019, and other activities related to Treaty implementation raised concerns as to its fulfillment of certain other Treaty obligations."

In 2007, Russia “suspended” its implementation of the Treaty, which the U.S. does not view as legally available under the Treaty or customary international law.

Since its “suspension,” the report reads, Russia has continued to violate its Treaty obligations and has made clear that it will not resume implementation of the Treaty. In addition, Russia’s stationing of forces on the territories of Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine without the host country’s consent continued through 2019

The State Department also accused Azerbaijan of failing to notify "at least one major military exercise or activity for calendar year 2019", as it's required to do so by the Vienna Document on Confidence, known as VD11.

Every year the State Department reports significant arms control violations and noncompliance by potential adversaries such as Russia, China, North Korea, Iran and others.

Alex Raufoglu

Washington D.C.