Russian Duma votes to scrap Cold War armed forces deal

MOSCOW (AP) — The lower house of Russia’s parliament has voted unanimously to formally pull out of a Cold War-era security deal more than eight years after Moscow halted its participation. The vote on Tuesday came less than a week after President Vladimir Putin introduced a draft bill “denouncing” the Treaty of Conventional Armed Forces in Europe. The deal aimed to prevent Cold War rivals from massing forces at or near mutual borders. Russia first announced its intention to completely withdraw from the treaty in 2015. Moscow has sent hundreds of thousands of troops since last year into Ukraine which shares a border with four NATO members.