MOSCOW (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin signed a law on Friday
suspending Russia's participation in a key post-Cold War arms treaty,
a move which could allow it to deploy more forces close to western
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Putin's moratorium on the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty
follows months of increasingly aggressive rhetoric directed against
the West ahead of a parliamentary election on Sunday and a
presidential vote next March.

"President Putin signed the federal law on suspending the Conventional
Forces in Europe Treaty," the Kremlin said in a short statement. The
bill was passed by parliament this month and needed the president's
signature to become law.

The United States, the European Union and NATO had urged Putin not to
suspend the treaty, seen as a cornerstone of European security.

But Putin, who has sought to restore the Kremlin's clout after the
chaos which accompanied the fall of the Soviet Union, countered that
NATO members had not ratified an amended version of the pact and had
flexed their muscles near Russia's borders.

The suspension, which will come into effect from Dec 12-13, would
allow Moscow to boost military forces on its western and southern
borders, although Russian generals have said that will not happen
immediately.

Polls show that talking tough about Russia standing up to foreigners
strikes a chord with millions of Russians who yearn for the Soviet
Union's once mighty superpower status.

Putin has also been sparring with the United States and European Union
over plans for a missile defense shield in Europe and proposed
independence for Serbia's Kosovo province.

Signed in 1990 and updated in 1999, the CFE treaty limits the number
of battle tanks, heavy artillery, combat aircraft and attack
helicopters deployed and stored between the Atlantic and Russia's Ural
mountains.

Milenko Kindl
Banja Luka
Banjaluka