Moscow, July 14 (Reuters): Russia suspended its participation in a key pact limiting military forces in Europe on Saturday, fulfilling a threat after months of verbal sparring with the West.

The suspension comes amid worsening relations with Europe and Washington on a range of fronts, including US plans for a missile shield in eastern Europe, proposed independence for Serbia’s Kosovo province and Moscow’s energy policies.

“Russian threats have materialised and I don’t exclude that more steps could follow,” said Yevgeny Volk, the head of the Washington-based Heritage Foundation think-tank.

“If there is no agreement with the US on the missile shield ... Russia could potentially go ahead with its threats to retarget (at Europe) and redeploy missiles — something we have already seen in the 1970s.”

The Kremlin said President Vladimir Putin had signed a decree suspending Russia's role in the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) treaty for reasons of “national security”.

The pact was adopted in 1990 to limit the number of tanks, heavy artillery and combat aircraft deployed and stored between the Atlantic and Russia’s Ural mountains.

Russia has criticised the West for failing to ratify a version amended to take into account the new post-Cold War situation. A Nato spokesman said today: “If this is confirmed the secretary general very much regrets this decision.”