Russia's decision to freeze a key European arms control treaty was taken to provoke "constructive dialogue" toward US missile plan.

"The decision of the head of state was an urgent call to constructive dialogue and the proper implementation of the treaty," Interfax news agency quoted Gorbachev as saying on Sunday.

According to AFP reports, Gorbachev stated that "It would have been completely incomprehensible if Russia was to continue fulfilling the treaty while the other sides had not even ratified it."

The Kremlin announced on Saturday that President Vladimir Putin had signed a decree to freeze the country's fulfillment of the upgraded 1999 Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) treaty, which limits the deployment of military forces in Europe.