MOSCOW, April 26 (Xinhua) -- Russian President
Vladimir Putin on Thursday said in his national speech that his government would
postpone implementing the Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty since
the West made no progress in its ratification.
Signed by NATO and the Warsaw Treaty Organization in
1990, the CFE treaty was redrawn in 1999 and a new agreement has been reached.
The treaty, however, has been signed by only four
countries -- Russia, Belarus, the Ukraine and Kazakhstan so far, while most NATO
countries have refused to ratify it, accusing Russia of failing to meet its
commitment to pulling out military forces from Georgia and Moldova.
The freeze would continue until every NATO country
has approved the treaty and begun to implement it, Putin said during his final
state-of-the-nation to the parliament in the Kremlin, vowing to enhance the
country's military strength.
He also proposed the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe to discuss U.S. plans to deploy a missile defense system
in central Europe, which has sparked disputes between the two Cold War era
rivals.
"Elements of U.S. strategic armaments may appear in
Europe for the first time. It's not only a problem for Russian-U.S. relations,
but concerns the interests of all European states," he said.
During the one-hour televised address, Putin also
urged to strike extremists with tougher laws, claiming that the foreign money
inflow funding interference in Russia's domestic affairs were growing.
"The inflow of money from abroad for direct
interference in Russia's affairs has been increasing," he said.
Since not everyone likes the stable, gradual rise of
Russia, there are those who are using "the democratic ideology to interfere in
our internal affairs," he noted.
In the meantime, he hailed the economic achievements
reached in recent years, vowing to allocate more money to settle social issues
such as housing problems and narrowing the income gap.
The annual speech, which will set priorities for the
coming year, is less than 11 months away from the presidential polls that will
determine Putin's successor next March .
Though there have been repeat appeals for Putin to
continue his presidency, he has insisted that he will step down next year when
his second term ends, but he wants his successor to continue his course.
"The next state of the nation speech will be
delivered by a different head of state next spring, when my duty ends," Putin
said.
Before the speech, Putin proposed a moment of silence
in memory of the late former president Boris Yeltsin, who died of heart failure
on Monday and was buried on Wednesday. Putin also suggested that the
presidential library be named after Russia's first president.
Yeltsin resigned and transferred power to Putin on
Dec. 31, 1999.
MOSCOW, April 26 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir
Putin delivered his eighth and last state-of-the-nation address to the
parliament in Kremlin on Thursday.
Before the speech, Putin proposed a minute silence to
mourn the late former president Boris Yeltsin, who died of a heart failure on
Monday and was buried Wednesday. Full story
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