U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

WASHINGTON : 

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★39–118

" ! SENATE 105TH CONGRESS

1st Session

TREATY DOC.

1997

105–5

FLANK DOCUMENT AGREEMENT TO THE CFE TREATY

MESSAGE

FROM

THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

TRANSMITTING

THE DOCUMENT AGREED AMONG THE STATES PARTIES TO THE

TREATY ON CONVENTIONAL ARMED FORCES IN EUROPE (CFE)

OF NOVEMBER 19, 1990, ADOPTED AT VIENNA ON MAY 31, 1996

(‘‘THE FLANK DOCUMENT’’). THE FLANK DOCUMENT IS ANNEX

A OF THE FINAL DOCUMENT OF THE FIRST CFE REVIEW CONFERENCE

APRIL 7, 1997.—Agreement was read the first time and, together with

the accompanying papers, referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations and ordered to be printed for the use of the Senate

(III)

LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL

THE WHITE HOUSE, April 7, 1997.

To the Senate of the United States:

I transmit herewith, for the advice and consent of the Senate, the

Document Agreed Among the States Parties to the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) of November 19, 1990,

which was adopted at Vienna on May 31, 1996 (‘‘the Flank Document’’). The Flank Document is Annex A of the Final Document of

the first CFE Review Conference.

I transmit also, for the information of the Senate, the report of

the Department of State on the Flank Document, together with a

section-by-section analysis of the Flank Document and three documents associated with it that are relevant to the Senate’s consideration: the Understanding on Details of the Flank Document of 31

May 1996 in Order to Facilitate its Implementation; the Exchange

of Letters between the U.S. Chief Delegate to the CFE Joint Consultative Group and the Head of the Delegation of the Russian Federation to the Joint Consultative Group, dated 25 July 1996; and,

the Extension of Provisional Application of the Document until

May 15, 1997. I take this step as a matter of accommodation to the

desires of the Senate and without prejudice to the allocation of

rights and duties under the Constitution.

In transmitting the original CFE Treaty to the Senate in 1991,

President Bush said that the CFE Treaty was ‘‘the most ambitious

arms control agreement ever concluded.’’ This landmark treaty has

been a source of stability, predictability, and confidence during a

period of historic change in Europe. In the years since the CFE

Treaty was signed, the Soviet Union has dissolved, the Warsaw

Pact has disappeared, and the North Atlantic Alliance has been

transformed. The Treaty has not been unaffected by these

changes—for example, there are 30 CFE States Parties now, not

22—but the dedication of all Treaty partners to achieving its full

promise is undiminished.

The CFE Treaty has resulted in the verified reduction of more

than 50,000 pieces of heavy military equipment, including tanks,

armored combat vehicles, artillery pieces, combat aircraft, and attack helicopters. By the end of 1996, CFE states had accepted and

conducted more than 2,700 intrusive, on-site inspections. Contacts

between the military organizations charged with implementing

CFE are cooperative and extensive. The CFE Treaty has helped to

transform a world of two armed camps into a Europe where dividing lines no longer hold.

The Flank document is part of that process. It is the culmination

of over 2 years of negotiations and months of intensive discussions
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with the Russian Federation, Ukraine, our NATO Allies, and our

other CFE Treaty partners. The Flank Document resolves in a cooperative way the most difficult problem that arose during the

Treaty’s first 5 years of implementation: Russian and Ukrainian

concerns about the impact of the Treaty’s equipment limits in the

flank zone on their security and military flexibility. The other Treaty states—including NATO Allies—agreed that some of those concerns were reasonable and ought to be addressed.

The Flank Document is the result of a painstaking multilateral

diplomatic effort that had as its main goal the preservation of the

integrity of the CFE Treaty and achievement of the goals of its

mandate. It is a crucial step in adaptation of the CFE Treaty to

the dramatic political changes that have occurred in Europe since

the Treaty was signed. The Flank Document confirms the importance of subregional constraints on heavy military equipment. More

specifically, it revalidates the idea, unique to CFE, of limits on the

amount of equipment particular nations in the Treaty area can locate on certain portions of their own national territory. Timely

entry into force of the Flank document will ensure that these key

principles are not a matter of debate in the negotiations we have

just begun in Vienna to adapt the CFE treaty to new political realities, including the prospect of an enlarged NATO.

I believe that entry into force of the CFE Flank Document is in

the best interests of the United States and will contribute to our

broader efforts to establish a new European security order based

on cooperation and shared goals. By maintaining the integrity of

the CFE flank regime, we take a key step toward our goal of ensuring that the CFE Treaty continues to play a key role in enhancing

military stability into the 21st century. Therefore, I urge the Senate to give early and favorable consideration to the Flank document

and to give advice and consent prior to May 15, 1997.

WILLIAM J. CLINTON.
(V)

LETTER OF SUBMITTAL

DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, April 3, 1997.

The PRESIDENT,

The White House.

THE PRESIDENT: I have the honor to submit to you, with a view

to transmission to the Senate for its advice and consent, the Document Agreed Among the States Parties to the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe of November 19, 1990, adopted at

Vienna on May 31, 1996 (‘‘the Flank Document’’).

The Flank Document, which is Annex A of the Final Document

of the First Conference to Review the Operation of the Treaty on

Conventional Armed Forces in Europe and The Concluding Act of

the Negotiation on Personnel Strength, was adopted at Vienna on

May 31, 1996 by the United States of America and the Republic

Armenia, the Azerbaijan Republic, the Republic of Belarus, the

Kingdom of Belgium, the Republic of Bulgaria, Canada, the Czech

Republic, the Kingdom of Denmark, the French Republic, the Federal Republic of Germany, the Republic of Georgia, the Hellenic Republic, the Republic of Hungary, the Republic of Iceland, the Italian Republic, the Republic of Kazakstan, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, the Republic of Moldova, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Kingdom of Norway, the Republic of Poland, the Portuguese Republic, Romania, the Russian Federation, the Slovak Republic, the Kingdom of Spain, the Republic of Turkey, Ukraine, and

the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (the

‘‘States Parties’’).

Also enclosed for the information of the Senate, are the following

three documents associated with the Flank Document: the Understanding on Details of the Flank Document of 31 May 1996 in

Order to Facilitate its Implementation; the Exchange of Letters between the United States Chief Delegate to the CFE Joint Consultative Group and the Head of Delegation of the Russian Federation

to the Joint Consultative Group, dated 25 July 1996; and, the Extension of Provisional Application of the Document until May 15,

1997.

Although not submitted for the advice and consent of the Senate,

these three documents are relevant to consideration of the Flank

Document by the Senate.

INTRODUCTION

On May 31, 1996, the 30 States Parties to the CFE Treaty concluded the Document Agreed Among the States Parties to the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe of November 19, 1990,
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a legally binding agreement, to resolve the CFE flank issue. The

Flank Document was annexed to the Final Document issued at the

conclusion of the two-week CFE Treaty Review Conference in Vienna. The Review Conference addressed a variety of important issues, including implementation of the Treaty and future adaptation

of the Treaty to respond to Europe’s changing political environment. This agreement on the flank issue was the culmination of

months of intensive discussions and negotiations with the Russian

Federation, NATO Allies and other CFE Treaty partners. It is an

important step in ensuring the Treaty’s continued viability and integrity.

The CFE Treaty imposes limits on the number of certain kinds

of treaty-limited equipment (TLE) each of two groups of states (corresponding to the membership of NATO and the former Warsaw

Pact) may have in the Treaty’s ‘‘area of application.’’ Article V of

the Treaty imposes further limits on the amount of TLE that may

be deployed within the portion of the area of application commonly

known as the flank zone. From early 1993, Russia argued that the

CFE Treaty, which had been negotiated between NATO and the

Warsaw Pact, did not adequately reflect Russia’s security needs in

the post-Cold War world. Specifically, Russia claimed that the regional equipment limits in the Treaty’s flank zone were too restrictive to permit it to deploy forces to that area adequate to meet its

security concerns for the region, which includes the North

Caucasus. Ukraine also claimed that the Treaty’s flank limits were

unduly restrictive and would cause it to incur unreasonable implementation costs.

NATO Allies did not accept all of Russia’s claims concerning its

security problems in the flank zone or the amount of equipment

Moscow said it needed there. The Alliance did recognize, however,

that the significant changes to political borders in the flank region

since the Treaty’s signature in 1990, prior to the collapse of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact, and Russia’s low armored combat

vehicle (ACV) limit in the flank zone, raised legitimate questions

that needed to be addressed.

For over two years, CFE states worked to find a way acceptable

to all Parties to address these concerns about the flank limits. The

resulting Flank Document is based on an approach that was endorsed by all 30 CFE States Parties in November 1995 at the Joint

Consultative Group (JCG) in Vienna, which in turn was based on

a September 1995 NATO proposal.

KEY ELEMENTS OF THE FLANK DOCUMENT

The Flank Document has three basic elements: (1) removal of

certain territory from the original flank zone, which reduces the

size of the flank zone (the ‘‘map realignment’’); (2) additional constraints on equipment in the areas removed from the flank zone

through the realignment; and (3) additional transparency measures

for the flank zone and those areas removed from the flank zone.

Under the Flank Document, Russia must lower its force levels in

the region so that its equipment holdings in the old and new flank

zone meet all CFE obligations by 31 May 1999.

The territorial realignment contained in Section III, paragraph 1

of the Flank Document removes certain areas in Russia and
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Ukraine from the flank zone. Once the Flank Document enters into

force, these areas will be considered to be part of a different CFE

zone and, in addition to the constraints and enhanced transparency

measures outlined above, will be subject to the limitations on

equipment for that zone, rather than the more restrictive limits of

the flank zone.

With regard to Russia, the Flank Document does not permit any

increase in overall holdings of treaty-limited equipment (TLE) in

the total area of application of the Treaty, nor does it change the

equipment limits for the flank zone as specified in the CFE Treaty.

However, after the Flank Document enters into force, the Treaty’s

flank limits will apply to a smaller geographic area than previously, and Russia will have until 31 May 1999 to bring its deployments in the realigned flank zone into full compliance with the

Treaty’s flank limits.

The Flank Document contains a commitment, provisionally applied even before entry into force as of 31 May 1996 through 31

May 1999, by which Russia agrees not to increase its total equipment holdings in the original flank above levels specified in the

Flank Document, which were those present in the areas as reported in Russia’s January 1, 1996 CFE data submission. Provisional application of the ‘‘no-increase’’ commitment until May 15,

1997 is based upon the understanding that Russia has not by virtue of the Flank Document been relieved of its existing CFE obligations, including its obligations with respect to its TLE holdings in

the flank zone. In particular, this means that as a legal matter, the

U.S. takes the view that Russia continues to exceed its maximum

levels for holdings of TLE in the flank zone, notwithstanding the

Document’s provision that limits Russian flank deployments at

January 1996 levels. Provisional application also benefits the U.S.

and NATO Allies by making the enhanced transparency provisions

of the Document effective immediately and by providing protection

against any increase in Russian deployments in the flank zone

prior to entry into force of the Flank Document. The map realignment has not been provisionally applied and will not become effective unless and until approved by all States Parties. In addition to

the Treaty’s limits on deployments in the realigned flank zone, the

Document provides for sub-caps on Russian ACVs in specific regions removed from the flank, as an assurance against excessive

concentrations of ACVs in any one area removed from the flank

zone. The Document also contains provisions that will provide

greater transparency to other CFE states, including additional inspections, and more frequent data submissions by Russia and

Ukraine.

ENTRY INTO FORCE

The Flank Document will enter into force when all CFE States

Parties have deposited confirmation of their approval of the Document with the Government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. If

the Flank Document is not approved by all States Parties by May

15, 1997, it will be subject to ‘‘review’’ by all CFE States Parties.
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CONCLUSION

Accompanying this Report is a Section-by-Section Analysis of the

Document.

The Flank Document will achieve a basic U.S. objective: to reaffirm the integrity and effectiveness of the CFE Treaty amidst Europe’s dramatically changing circumstances. It resolves concerns

that had been raised by Russia and Ukraine regarding the impact

of the Treaty’s flank zone equipment limits on their security, particularly in the Caucasus and Black Sea region, but in a manner

other CFE parties can accept and that reinforces the importance

and legitimacy of one of the Treaty’s basic features: regional ceilings. It reaffirms Russia’s commitment to the basic obligations of

the Treaty at a time when there have been some voices in Russia

and Ukraine arguing that the Treaty, negotiated when the Soviet

Union and Warsaw Pact still existed, was outdated in this respect.

I believe that the Flank Document reflects an important step in

preserving European security and will advance the overall interests

of the United States. For this Document to enter into force, all 30

States Parties to it must notify the Depositary of their formal approval by May 15, 1997.

I therefore recommend that the Document be transmitted to the

Senate for its advice and consent at the earliest possible date prior

to May 15, 1997.

Respectfully submitted,

MADELEINE ALBRIGHT.

Enclosures: As stated.
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