Putin freezes Russia's commitment under arms treaty

MOSCOW, Apr 26 (Reuters) Russian President Vladimir Putin today said he was suspending Russia's obligations under the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty, a move he linked to US plans for a missile defence shield in Europe.

Putin, in a hawkish annual speech to both houses of parliament, said the NATO signatories to the 1990 treaty were not respecting it, and the US plan to put missile defence systems in Poland and the Czech Republic made matters worse.

He said Russia would look at withdrawing from the treaty altogether if negotiations he proposed with NATO countries failed to resolve Russia's grievances.

Russia says the missile shield plan -- which Washington says is intended to protect from attacks by so-called ''rogue states'' -- is a threat to its national security.

''(NATO countries) are ... building up military bases on our borders and, more than that, they are also planning to station elements of anti-missile defence systems in Poland and the Czech Republic,'' Putin said.

''In this connection, I consider it expedient to declare a moratorium on Russia's implementation of this treaty -- in any case, until all countries of the world have ratified and started to strictly implement it,'' Putin said.

He made the announcement as US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and NATO counterparts prepared to meet Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at a NATO-Russia meeting in Oslo.

''I propose discussing this problem in the NATO-Russia Council, and, should there be no progress in the negotiations, to look at the possibility of ceasing our commitments under the CFE treaty,'' he said.

REUTERS JS VV1546