MOSCOW, May 29 (UPI) -- General of the Army Yury Baluyevsky, chief of staff of the Russian armed forces, has returned from Brussels, where he took part in the annual summit of the Russia-NATO Council that was held earlier this month. At the summit, Baluyevsky proposed to his colleagues a way out of the deadlock over the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe.

Russia suspended the CFE in Europe last December, saying that it would do so until its North Atlantic Treaty Organization partners resume the ratification of the updated version of the treaty, which reflects post-Cold War realities -- the Warsaw Pact, once a CFE signatory, does not exist anymore. Instead, there are NATO members and non-NATO members, such as Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan, which have ratified the treaty.

No NATO country has done so, while the three Baltic states of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia have not even joined it. Moscow believes that this situation gives the entire alliance unilateral military advantages, which it cannot accept.

Since Russia shelved the CFE, NATO has somewhat modified its position. Before, it agreed to start its ratification only after Russia met its Istanbul commitments, that is, fully withdrew its troops from Georgia and Moldova. Now NATO suggests a parallel process: It will launch the mechanism of ratification, while Moscow will embark on complete and final withdrawal of its troops from the two former Soviet republics.

The Kremlin and the Russian General Staff consider these demands excessive and unacceptable. Moreover, they state with good reason that the CFE and troop withdrawal -- which has been fully completed in Georgia -- are completely different documents. Drawing an artificial connection between them is no excuse for delaying the treaty's ratification since 1999.