Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law on Monday ratifying the adapted Treaty on Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE), the presidential press service said.

Putin's signature came after both the lower and upper houses of Russian parliament adopted the accord on June 25 and July 7 respectively, has completed the whole ratification process under the Russian law.

The modified accord could significantly reduce the deployment of warplanes, tanks and other heavy non-nuclear weapons in Europe. It will take effect when all 30 signatory countries ratify it.

The original CFE treaty was approved in 1990 by the 22 members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and Warsaw Pact alliances.

An amended version of the treaty was signed in 1999 following the collapse of former Soviet Union but it has been ratified only by former Soviet republics Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan since then.

Russia has been particularly concerned about the reluctance of the four new NATO members -- Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Slovenia -- to ratify the amended version of the treaty.

Some Russian officials fear that if the four do not join the treaty they could become NATO outposts for nuclear arms or army bases.

However, NATO argues that until Russian forces and weapons are pulled back from Georgia and Moldova, they cannot ratify the treaty. Moscow says its pledge to withdraw forces from the two countries is a separate issue from the treaty.

(Xinhua News Agency July 20, 2004)