CFE, maybe?

Yahoo news is reporting today that the Russians maybe willing to re-ratify the stalled Convential Forces Europe treaty. But Russia has apparently imposed some of its own conditions before it is willing to sign on. One is the lifting of the restrictions that limit its ability to move forces within Russia itself without notifying NATO.

So why would Russia now want to ratify the treaty with new conditions lifted by itself. It might be due to some of the results from the latest NATO exercise in Georgia. Amongst the participants were several former Russian Republics who later pulled out of the exercise. If I had to speculate as to why they pulled out, I would guess Russian pressure. If Russia now gains the ability to move its forces in Russia with little say from the west, they now gain the ability to use that lever of national power more freely against countries of the near abroad that may be taking what they thought was sovereign activity, but frustrates or upsets Moscow. I would guess having a Russian Armor Brigade show up at your border one morning becuase Moscow was upset with you might be considered a game changer.
Thanks to the Perry Castaneda online map collection! Sphere: Related Content