the development of russian military policy and finland

Concluding Remarks · 61
Russia aims to overthrow perhaps the most important achievements of the
OSCE, the commitments by the member states made in the Paris Charter
(1990) and the Istanbul Document (1999). 218 Russia suspended implementation
of the CFE Treaty in 2007. The United States and the UK followed suit
four years later and other NATO member states are expected to follow. 219
Russia responded strongly, using the ballistic missile defence controversy as a
tool. "The current political leadership can't act like Gorbachev, and it wants
written obligations secured by ratification documents," Russia’s former
NATO envoy, Ambassador Dmitry Rogozin said. 220
The U.S. think-tank STRATFOR commented already in December 2011 as
follows:
For Russia, the fundamental issue at hand is not the BMD system itself, but the
U.S. military presence the system would bring with it. U.S. BMD plans are focused
on Central Europe, which abuts Russia’s former Soviet periphery. Moscow can’t help
but feel threatened by the U.S. military commitment to the region that the system
represents. 221
In its military doctrine, Russia considers NATO a danger. The authors of the
doctrine, however, regarded NATO still a threat to Russia, even a serious
threat.222 A disunited NATO, on the other hand, considers Russia a partner.
The experienced Swedish Russia expert Jan Leijonhielm writes in Friends in
Need:
opponents rather than partners." Well-known Russian scientist, Dr Igor Sutyagin, who
spent 11 years in prison and labour camps on dubious charges before he was released in
the swap related to the exposed Russian spy ring in the USA in 2010, cited a British politician
as follows: “If you want to speak about Russia, speak about it as it is, not as you want
it to be.” See Sutyagin, 2012.
218 Frolov, 2011. Ambassador Rogozin points out that the Treaty on Conventional Forces
in Europe (CFE, 1990) and the adapted CFE Treaty (1999) were agreed upon at a time
when Russia was weak and that they are no longer acceptable. The CFE negotiations took
place in parallel with the confidence-building talks leading up to the Paris Charter and the
Istanbul Document.
219 Kimball, 2011. See also RIA Novosti, 25 November 2011, “UK Halts Military Data Sharing
with Russia” [http://en.rian.ru/world/20111125/169036481.html].
220 Isachenkov, 2011. "We won't allow them to treat us like fools," he [Mr. Rogozin]
said, and continued: "Nuclear deterrent forces aren't a joke." Mr. Rogozin was soon afterwards
appointed Deputy Prime Minister. His main responsibilities are in the domain of
arms procurement.
221 STRATFOR, 8 December 2011, “Central Europe Watches as Washington, Moscow
Clash over BMD” [http://www.stratfor.com/memberships/205624/geopolitical_diary/
20111207 -central-europe-watches-washington-moscow-spar-over-bmd].
222 Felgenhauer, 2010.