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Putin's Election Year Power Play

Moscow announced this weekend it would immediately suspend the Conventional Forces in Europe treaty. Though there is still time to negotiate on the issue, many German commentators think Putin is shooting himself in the foot.

Russian President Vladimir Putin this weekend carried through with his threat to freeze the Conventional Forces in Europe treaty (CFE), the accord that officially sealed the end of the Cold War in 1990. Angered over Washington's plans to build a missile defense system in former Soviet satellite states Poland and the Czech Republic, Putin had said in April that Moscow would pull out of the treaty.

Announcing the decision to freeze the treaty, the Kremlin attributed the dramatic step to "extraordinary circumstances that affect the security of the Russian Federation and require immediate measures."

The move follows months of tensions between Russia and the West over the missile shield dispute, proposed independence for Kosovo, Russian energy policy, human rights and a host of other issues.

The treaty, originally signed in 1990, was modified in 1999 to address the break-up of the Soviet Union. But the United States and other NATO members had refused to ratify the revised version until Russia pulled its troops out of the former Soviet republics of Moldova and Georgia -- a step it still hasn't taken today.

During a visit to Lithuania on Sunday, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said he viewed Putin's decision with great concern. "We will have to see in the coming days which concrete steps are planned with this announcement," he said. "I very much hope that the intention remains as it has up until now, that the treaty will only be suspended and that possibilities will remain open for chances to resolve the issue."

German editorialists on Monday are highly critical of the move, arguing that Putin is isolating his country from its European partners.

The conservative Die Welt writes:

"The resentment behind this move has been building for a long time. And it isn't just due to the fact that the Western nations haven't ratified the CFE treaty because Moscow has delayed its promised pull out from Georgia and Moldova. Russia is just as upset about NATO's eastward expansion and the planned US missile shield for Europe. Taken alone, the Russian president would hardly get worked up about these issues. But bundled together, the Russians see what they perceive as a plot against them. And by 'freezing' the most important treaty related to European security, Putin is clearly showing how seriously he takes the situation. At the same time, he isn't completely abandoning the treaty -- there is still room for an agreement."

"Nevertheless, if one listens to the tone that accompanies Putin's CFE decrees, there's a whole new dimension. This suddenly has to do with the new role Putin sees for Russia in the world. The treaty came into being during a time of Russian weakness. Now that Russia has regained its strength, many voices in Moscow are calling for the country to withdraw from the treaty. If that becomes the official position, though, Europe could be entering a difficult period."

The center-left Süddeutsche Zeitung writes:

"Whoever thought Putin's saber-rattling wouldn't be followed by actions was wrong: Putin is now unilaterally abandoning CFE. The decision won't take effect for 150 days, so there is time for negotiations. But it is too late for conciliation. Putin has swung an axe at one of the pillars of European peace. The CFE treaty is more than just a run-of-the-mill disarmament treaty … The signatures on the treaty in 1990 sealed the end of the Cold War. If it is nullified, then the continent would face a new era of distrust. And if that happened, the Europeans would become the victims of a feud between Putin and US President George W. Bush. The decree is a response to the US's planned missile defense shield, which has nothing to do with the conventional weapons covered in CFE. Russia fears a tipping of the strategic balance in the area of missiles with nuclear warheads. While that concern may be valid, it does not justify Russia's pullout from the CFE treaty.

"The goal of this treaty was to make military conflicts in Europe unlikely -- or, better yet, impossible. If Russia pulls out, it will lose any credibility it has in presenting itself as a peaceful European power. ... Out of sheer anger towards the US, Putin is pursuing policies that are steering his country farther and farther away from his partners in Europe."

"Putin's decision doesn't just send a signal to the West. It also represents a calculated domestic policy. The thought that the West fleeced Russia after the end of the Cold War has permeated broad swaths of Russian society. The 'national interests' that Putin swears by also serve to guarantee his own strength. And though that may create stability for the Russian system created by Putin in the run-up to parliamentary and presidential elections, it does not create stability for Europe."

The left-leaning Die Tageszeitung writes:

"The last thing a country that feels threatened should do is tamper with structures that have ensured European security for more than 17 years. But by pulling out of CFE, that's exactly what Moscow is doing. The treaty is one of the few that won't have to be renegotiated in the coming decades. So why the latest disruptive action? Adherents of realpolitik can draw only one conclusion: Russia feels more secure than it ever has before and it doesn't know how to deal with it. Russian thinking seems to be following the maxim: Those who don't have enemies won't be taken seriously. Of course, elections are coming soon in Russia -- and there's not much more behind these salvos than that."

The paper also argues that, despite its irritation over the missile shield, it's arrogance that is the result of a Putin drunk on gas and oil money that is pushing the issue. "Russia wants to be asked to sit at the same table as the big powers and it wants to strengthen an international role that it no longer possesses. It is suffering from a bloated self-image of its own power. Still, its petrodollar-filled coffers don't hold nearly enough for it to launch a new arms race."

Business daily Handelsblatt writes:

"Sure, Putin has a water-tight argument: The majority of NATO member states haven't ratified the arms control treaty. And not everyone agrees with their justification for this -- that Russia hasn't withdrawn its troops from Georgia and Moldova. At the same time, despite his spiteful response, Putin should be asking himself what he wants to do? Does he want to build new tanks, new howitzers and new fighter jets? And if so, then what does he want to do with his re-built arsenal? Is he dreaming of a renaissance of the glorious Soviet empire? Putin should know where his true interests lie: in a peaceful Europe that offers an enormous market for Russia's huge energy reserves."

-- Daryl Lindsey, 3 p.m. CET