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Why did Belarus leave the CFE Treaty?
Summary
A look back at Minsk's announcement that it would suspend its role in the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe.
What did it mean when Belarus said it would step back from Europe's main conventional arms control treaty? The question surrounded the days around 8 April 2024, after President Alexander Lukashenko announced on 5 April 2024 that Belarus would suspend its participation in the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE).
The treaty was negotiated in the last years of the Cold War. It set comprehensive limits on key categories of conventional military equipment in Europe and required the destruction of excess weaponry. Its equal limits applied to two groups of states-parties: NATO and the Warsaw Pact.
A treaty already hollowed out
By April 2024 the CFE regime had been eroding for years. An Adapted CFE was signed in 1999 to reflect the disbanding of the Warsaw Pact, but NATO refused to ratify it, citing Russian failure to comply with the Istanbul Commitments. In 2007 Russia suspended its participation, and on 10 March 2015 it announced it was halting its participation completely from the following day.
On 7 November 2023, Russia withdrew from the treaty. The United States and its NATO allies suspended their participation in response. Belarus's announcement of 5 April 2024 came months after that step.
Later developments, as described afterwards, showed almost all other parties suspending their participation as well.
