VIENNA, June 12 (Xinhua) -- Russia wants to make further changes to the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) treaty in a bid to bridge its difference with the United States over the issue as 30 signatory states of the treaty started an emergency meeting here on Tuesday.

    "Russia remains committed to the noble goals that were taken about 20 years ago as a basis of the European mode of control over conventional weapons," said Anatoly Antonov who heads the Russian delegation.

    "But Europe has changed, and this circumstance necessitates a modernization of the set of tools used to achieve these goals," he added.

    The original CFE treaty, deemed as a cornerstone in ensuring European security, was concluded in 1990 by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the Warsaw Treaty Organization thatexisted at that time. It prescribes upper limits for the amount of military aircraft, tanks and other non-nuclear heavy weapons deployed around Europe.

    The treaty was amended in 1999 to reflect changes after the 1991 disintegration of the Soviet Union, but the adapted version so far has only been ratified by Russia, together with Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine.

    The United States and other NATO members have refused to ratify the amended treaty, accusing Russia of failing to meet the so-called " Istanbul commitment" to pull out its forces from Georgia and Moldova.

    Russia, concerned about the original treaty's restrictions on its troop movements within its borders, wants NATO members to rapidly ratify the amended version.

    Antonov, director of the Russian Foreign Ministry's security and disarmament department, said Russia's "partners should realize that Russia cannot and will not fulfill the obsolete treaty at any cost to the detriment of its own security."

    Meanwhile, Russia intended to start new negotiations on further changes to the treaty as soon as the 1999 treaty was ratified by all NATO member states.

    "These days, one can say it is hopelessly outmoded. Many eastern and central European countries have already joined NATO," Antonov said ahead of Tuesday's talks which will last till Friday.

    The United States, however, insisted that Russia should fulfill its Istanbul commitment first.

    "We are not going to give the Russians a pass on their obligations," said Daniel Fried, U.S. assistant secretary of state who heads the delegation.

    "Russia has to fulfill its commitment," he said.

    Fried said Washington is willing to ratify the 1999 treaty once the condition is met.

    "My government looks forward to (the) ratification of an adapted treaty," he said.

    The extraordinary meeting came after Russian President Vladimir Putin late April announced a decision to suspend its obligation under the CFE treaty, following U.S. plans to deploy a missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic.

    Antonov said on Monday that a final decision would largely depend on the outcome of the Vienna conference and suspension was not off the table.

    Angered at the U.S. missile defense plan, Putin has warned recently that Russia may retarget Europe.

    "If part of the U.S. strategic nuclear arsenal is located in Europe and our military experts find that it poses a threat to Russia, we will have to take appropriate retaliatory steps," he said. "We will have new targets in Europe."

    Russia made the request for an emergency conference two weeks ago, but Antonov denied it was triggered by the U.S. missile defense plan.