Russian Experience with Status of Forces Agreements

Abstract

Prompted by the recent ratification by Russia of the Agreement among the States Parties to the North Atlantic Treaty and the other States Participating in the Partnership for Peace regarding the Status of their Forces and the Additional Protocol thereto, signed by Russia in, respectively, 2005 and 2006, this article discusses relevant Russian (and Soviet, for that matter), experience regarding the status of its own forces on foreign soil, as well as that of foreign military units on the Russian land.
The author looks for applicable examples as far as Medieval Times and suggests that as early as in 944 A.D. Russian Prince Igor concluded an agreement with Greece that contained elements of the status of forces. Further examples include the Russo-Chinese Convention on Liaodong Peninsula of 1889 and most notably treaties concluded in the aftermath of the World war two. Of particular interest to the reader would be a historical legal anecdote that draws its origins from a defection of a Russian sailor in 1900 from the Russian warship “Variag” then being outfitted in Philadelphia, PA. The case known as Tucker v. Alexandroff finally reached the US Supreme Court and was decided in 1902 with the majority heavily leaning on what in modern terms may be described as the law of visiting forces.
Subsequent periods, both Soviet, and early post-Soviet provide a host of examples of Soviet and Russian participation in the status of forces agreements. In the author’s opinion, they have been part of this country’s international treaty experience since times immemorial.