Moscow ends decades-old defence agreements with three NATO states

Russia’s agreements on military cooperation with Canada, France, and Portugal have been terminated. The corresponding directive was signed by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin.

“The following agreements are to be terminated: the Agreement between the Government of the USSR and the Government of Canada on military visits, signed in Moscow on 20 November 1989; the Agreement between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of the French Republic on cooperation in the field of defense, signed in Moscow on 4 February 1994; and the Agreement between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of the Portuguese Republic on cooperation in the military sphere, signed in Moscow on 4 August 2000,” the government decree states.

This summer, Russia withdrew from the agreement on military-technical cooperation with Germany, which was signed in Moscow on 14 June 1996.

As explained by the Russian Foreign Ministry, under current conditions, this document “has lost its meaning and practical relevance and is absolutely inconsistent with the current state of Russian-German interstate relations.” The ministry said that Berlin is “bursting with excessive foreign policy ambitions that directly affect Russia’s vital security interests.”

Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law terminating the agreement with the United States on the disposal of weapons-grade plutonium. The agreement was signed in Moscow and Washington in 2000 and ratified in June 2011. It provided for each side to dispose of 34 tonnes of weapons-grade plutonium declared surplus to military needs. The agreement was suspended by Putin’s decree in 2016.

On 18 April, the Russian government denounced the agreement on cooperation in the Barents Region. The document was signed in November 2007 with Norway, Sweden, and Finland. The Foreign Ministry has been instructed to notify the parties to the agreement of its denunciation.

By Tamilla Hasanova