Russian President Vladimir Putin declared a moratorium on a key arms treaty today to emphasise his objection to a proposed missile shield in eastern Europe.
President Putin suspended the 1990 Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty (CFE) to the surprise of a number of NATO officials waiting to meet in Oslo, Norway.
The CFE Treaty was negotiated just months after the Cold War in the hopes of reducing the amount of conventional military equipment between NATO and Warsaw Pact countries.
Russia accuses NATO allies of ignoring CFE clauses and also objects to the US plan to put missile interceptors in Poland and a radar in the Czech Republic.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the plan is no threat to Moscow, dismissing such suggestions as 'purely ludicrous'.
The US has been courting sceptical allies for its missile shield project, with some diplomats saying that Washington would move ahead with the shield anyhow.
German Deputy Foreign Minister Gernot Erler said in a newspaper interview this week that at least six unnamed allies including Germany had doubts about the project.
