quote:

Treaty row shows US-Russia divide
By Jonathan Marcus
Diplomatic correspondent, BBC News

Russian President Vladimir Putin's threat to freeze compliance on a key arms treaty shows Moscow's frustration at what it believes is the US disregard for its security interests.

Mr Putin has suggested compliance will be suspended on the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) treaty until all Nato countries ratify it.

Efforts to update the treaty, one of the crowning achievements of arms control during the Cold War, have led to diplomatic rows between Moscow and the West.

Now it is contributing to a new chill between Russia and the US.

Cold War legacy

President Putin is making a diplomatic point: if the US can abandon treaties - for example its decision to walk away from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty - Russia can do the same.

The apparent row is over the updated version of the 1990 CFE agreement.

But the real issue here is Moscow's growing frustration at what it sees as Washington's determination to pursue its own security interests come what may.

The most recent and divisive irritant is the Bush administration's plan to deploy a very small number of missile interceptors in Poland; an issue which seems to have upset the Kremlin despite strenuous efforts by the Americans to explain the reasoning behind their decision.

The Russian president's comments on CFE - and the threat to potentially abandon it altogether if Nato countries do not endorse it - marks a significant upping of the diplomatic stakes.

The 1990 CFE agreement is an effort to limit the numbers of tanks, aircraft and other offensive weapons that Nato and the Warsaw Pact could deploy across a broad swathe of Europe between the Atlantic and the Urals.

But the collapse of the Soviet Union and the demise of the Warsaw Pact made this kind of bloc-to-bloc agreement outdated.

A new version of the treaty was agreed in 1999 which involves national ceilings on weapons holdings.

Russia has ratified it. But the Nato countries have refused to do so until Russian forces are withdrawn from bases in Georgia and Moldova.

Russia sounds pretty serious about not updating any treaty.

U.S. puts 12 nations on watch for piracy

Mon Apr 30

source link

WASHINGTON - Russia, China and 10 other nations were targeted by the Bush administration for failing to sufficiently protect American producers of music, movies and other copyrighted material from widespread piracy.

The Bush administration on Monday placed the 12 countries on a "priority watch list" which will subject them to extra scrutiny and could eventually lead to economic sanctions if the administration decides to bring trade cases before the World Trade Organization.

quote:

Originally posted by Danny07:
Russia sounds pretty serious about not updating any treaty.

The US could go into a steep recession starting tomorrow and still outspend Russia 10 to 1 in military programs for the next 20 years...I seriously doubt even Putin believes he can bluff us into backing down.

Now, successfully bluffing the Euros is another matter altogether.

Bush Urges Russia to Participate in Missile Defense Program in Europe

Mosnews | May 9, 2007
source link

U.S. President George W. Bush has called for Russian participation in the U.S. missile defense plans for Poland and Czech Republic, saying it would benefit Russian security.

“It’s in your interests to have a system that could prevent a future Iranian regime, for example, from launching a weapon. It’s in Russia’s security interests,” Bush was quoted by IANS during the U.S.-EU summit at the White House.

Bush said he would work with Russian President Vladimir Putin to ensure he does not see missile defense as “antagonistic”. Putin has strongly objected to the plans and last week said he was considering suspending a European treaty to limit the size of conventional forces on the continent.

The U.S. intends to station 10 interceptor missiles in Poland and a targeting radar in Czech Republic by 2012 claiming they would be oriented towards ballistic missile threats from the south.

Bush, Putin speak as ties grow frosty

source link

WASHINGTON - President Bush telephoned Russian leader Vladimir Putin on Thursday with relations between the former Cold War foes in a chilly state and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice preparing to fly to Moscow.

Tensions have risen over troop deployments and U.S. plans for missile defense in Europe, and the White House said Bush called Putin ahead of Rice's trip which is intended to calm the situation.

White House press secretary Tony Snow said they talked about Rice's trip, an upcoming June summit in Germany of leaders from the Group of Eight industrialized nations and "a range of important bilateral and international issues."

He did not elaborate but the conversation came as Rice said Putin's moves to consolidate power and Russia's testy ties with its neighbors were troubling to the United States and its European allies.

Before her Sunday departure, Rice told lawmakers the U.S. and Russia are working well together on a number of issues but the overall relationship was "complicated" by a rollback in reforms and Russia's treatment of nearby states.

"On many things we have done very well, but the fact is that on some others it's been a difficult period," she said of the U.S.-Russia relationship.

Her comments, in testimony to a Senate Appropriations subcommittee, came a day after Putin delivered oblique but pointed criticism at a Victory Day parade in Red Square of perceived U.S. domination in global affairs, warning that the world faces threats like those from the Nazis before World War II.

Both the White House and State Department later said that Russian officials had told U.S. diplomats in Moscow that Putin's reference to the "Third Reich" in his speech was not aimed at the United States.

"They've pointed out that he did not explicitly mention the United States, and they confirmed in a phone call that there's no intent to compare U.S. policies with those of the Third Reich," Snow said.

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the U.S. accepted the explanation.

Rice did not address Putin's remarks but said Russia appeared unwilling to accept close U.S. ties with former Soviet states in eastern and central Europe where Moscow has strongly criticized Washington's plans to deploy a missile defense system.

"The Russians, I think, do not accept fully that our relations with countries that are their neighbors, that were once part of the Soviet Union, are quite honestly good relations between independent states and the United States," she said.

Strains over these countries have been exacerbated by what Rice said was a deterioration in democratic progress in Russia after an initial improvement following the end of the Cold War.

"It's even more difficult when one looks at what is happening domestically in Russia where I think it's fair to say that there has been a turning back of some of the reforms that led to the decentralization of power out of the Kremlin," she said.

"I think everybody around the world, in Europe, in the United States, is very concerned about the internal course that Russia has taken in recent years," Rice said.

She said "the concentration of power in the Kremlin has been troubling," especially since Russia is due to hold presidential and parliamentary elections next year.

While relations are complicated, Rice said the two former enemies remain on speaking terms, noting that President Bush and Putin continue to have a personal friendship.

"One of the good things about President Bush's very good personal relationship with President Putin is that he can raise those issues and we can talk about them," she said.

Relations between Russia and the U.S. have become increasingly tense amid U.S. criticism of the Kremlin for rolling back on democracy and Moscow's complaints against U.S. plans to deploy missile defense sites in Europe close to its western borders.

In a state of the nation address last month, Putin called for a Russian moratorium on observance of the Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty, which limits the number of aircraft, tanks and other non-nuclear heavy weapons around the continent, saying that NATO members' refusal to ratify an amended version of the pact hurt Russia's security interests.

Putin also threatened to pull out of the treaty altogether unless talks with NATO members yielded satisfactory results, and some Russian generals warned that Moscow could also opt out of a Cold War-era treaty with the United States banning intermediate-range missiles.

Russia Successfully Tests Two New Missile Systems

(Source; Voice of America news; issued May 29, 2007)

Russia has successfully test-fired a new intercontinental ballistic missile and a tactical shorter range cruise missile.

The Russian Defense Ministry says the RS-24 intercontinental missile is capable of carrying multiple, independently targeted warheads. It was launched Tuesday from a site in northwestern Russia, and successfully hit its target on the far eastern Kamchatka Peninsula.

Russian military officials also say a new Iskander cruise missile was successfully tested in the Astrakhan region.

Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov said the tests prove that Russian weapons can overcome any missile defense system.

The Kremlin is angered at U.S. plans to build a missile defense system in the Czech Republic and Poland. Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday it is harmful and dangerous to turn Europe into what he described as a "powder keg" filled with new kinds of weapons.

Russia considers the U.S. missile defense system a threat to its security. Washington says it is aimed at meeting a threat from such states as Iran and is no danger to Russia or anyone else.

Meanwhile, a Pentagon spokesman says the United States would be disappointed if Russia stopped meeting its obligations under the Conventional Forces in Europe treaty.

The spokesman was responding to Mr. Putin's call Monday for a special meeting next month on the treaty's future. Mr. Putin has threatened to suspend Russian compliance with the treaty.

The arms deal was first signed in 1990 and revised in 1999. It limits the number of non-nuclear weapons in Europe. Some NATO countries have refused to ratify the revised version, demanding Russia pull its troops out of Georgia and Moldova. Mr. Putin says the issue has nothing to do with the treaty. (ends)


--------------------------------------


Putin Lashes Out at US, EU as Russia Tests Missile

(Source: Deutsche Welle German radio; issued May 29, 2007)

Russian President Putin warned Tuesday that a planned US missile defense shield would make Europe a "powder keg" and lashed out at his EU critics. Russia's military meanwhile successfully tested a new ballistic missile.

"We think it is damaging and dangerous to transform Europe into a powder keg and fill it with new forms of weapons," Russian President Vladimir Putin said during a joint press conference in Moscow with Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates.

The comments come amid a stand-off with Washington over US plans to place a radar base in the Czech Republic and 10 interceptor missiles in Poland, part of a missile defense shield to protect against what the United States calls "rogue" states, such as Iran and North Korea.

Russia tests missile

Russian officials meanwhile announced on Tuesday they had successfully tested a new multiple warhead ballistic missile designed to overcome air-defense systems such as the proposed US shield.

Fired from the north-eastern Arkhangelsk region, the RS-24 rocket hit its target on the Kamchatka Peninsula that juts into the Pacific Ocean 6,000 kilometers (3,720 miles) away, the country's strategic missile forces said in a statement.

"The RS-24 reinforces the military potential of the strategic forces to overcome anti-missile defense systems," the statement said.

Russia's First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov, a former defense minister and widely seen as a potential successor to President Vladimir Putin in 2008, said the RS-24 could overcome any such anti-missile system.

"These complexes are capable of penetrating all existing and perspective anti-missile systems," he was quoted by Interfax. "So from the point of view of defense and security, Russians can look at the future calmly."

Catching up with the US

Putin announced Moscow was freezing compliance with a European conventional weapons control treaty and has warned that a new arms race is possible.

Military analyst Alexander Golts said the test was part of a massive push by the Russian government to catch up with the United States' strategic missile forces.

"The main military political aim of the current Russian leadership is to regain parity with the United States," he said, according to AFP.

Putin criticizes EU

Putin on Tuesday also criticized the European Union, whose relations with Moscow have been severely strained in recent months, leading EU leaders to voice sharp criticism of democratic setbacks in Putin's Russia.

"Let's not talk as if on one side we are dealing with pure, white and fluffy partners and on the other side with a monster that has just left the forest and has claws instead of feet and horns growing," he said.

"The death sentence in several Western countries, secret prisons and torture right in Europe, problems with the media in some European countries... are these also common values?" Putin asked.

Strained relations

Relations between Brussels and Moscow have been exacerbated by the concerns of newer EU members that previously were either part of the Soviet Union or members of the Soviet bloc.

During a Russia-EU summit earlier this month, German Chancellor Angela Merkel voiced concern about Russia's commitment to democracy and human rights.

After the German leader urged Moscow to allow a banned opposition march during a recent EU-Russia summit in Samara, Russia, local authorities approved the march.

Organizers, however, were subsequently detained on trains and in airports on suspicion of having counterfeit money and tickets or of carrying grenades, and could not make the march.

-ends-

Bush, Putin to discuss missile defense

source link

HEILIGENDAMM, Germany - President Bush said he hoped to convince Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday that a Europe-based U.S. missile defense system is not an issue either side should "be hyperventilating about."

Bush and Putin are seeing each other here for the first time since they clashed over U.S. plans for a missile shield flared into Cold War-style rhetoric.

With U.S.-Russia relations at their lowest point in decades, Putin and Bush will sit down Thursday on the sidelines of a summit of the world's eight major industrialized democracies being held at this seaside resort.

The United State says the shield targets a potential Iranian nuclear weapon, not Russian ones. Russia retorts that's an "insufficient" explanation. Putin has warned that a new shield could require Russia to retarget missiles toward Europe or take other buildup measures.

Trying to tamp down Moscow's anger, Bush officials have argued that it's obvious the defense system isn't aimed at Russia because of its huge arsenal of nuclear rockets.

"A missile defense system cannot stop multilaunch regimes. ... The fact is that you can't stop two, three, four, five missiles," the president said after a meeting with British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

He added: "Russia is not a threat. They're not a military threat. They're not something that we ought to be hyperventilating about."

Today the US and Russia are more alike then anytime in history. We have allot of common issues. We will always be competitive but more fraternal in nature than during the Cold War.

U.S. Missile Plan in Europe a Go

Associated Press | June 15, 2007
source link

BRUSSELS, Belgium - Defense Secretary Robert Gates says the Bush administration is not willing to replace its plan for a missile defense system in Eastern Europe with Russia's counterproposal for a radar site in Azerbaijan.

That's the blunt message Gates was to deliver to Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov during a private meeting Friday at the NATO gathering in Brussels.

Speaking to reporters Thursday, Gates said that despite strident Russian opposition, the U.S. will proceed with its plans for a radar system in the Czech Republic to watch for missile threats and 10 interceptor rockets in Poland to shoot down any missiles.

Gates dismissed any notion that Russia's push for joint use of a radar station in Azerbaijan could replace the broader U.S. plan. And he expressed doubts that there could be any agreement with the Russians by next month, when President Bush is scheduled to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin at Kennebunkport, Maine.

"I was very explicit in the (NATO) meeting that we saw the Azeri radar as an additional capability, that we intended to proceed with the X-Band radar in the Czech Republic," Gates said during a press briefing.

Gates' comments came as Russian officials called for a freeze on the U.S. plan, arguing that it would undermine Russia's nuclear deterrent. Russian officials reportedly issued threats against the planned sites in Poland and the Czech Republic. Gates said Serdyukov, who was at the NATO meeting, did not comment on his remarks.

Meanwhile, NATO ordered its military experts to draw up plans for a possible short-range missile defense system to protect nations on the alliance's southern flank that would be left exposed by proposed U.S. anti-missile units in central Europe.

According to U.S. and NATO officials, the addition of the European bases to anti-missile installations in North America would protect most of Europe from the threat of long-range attack from Iran or elsewhere in the Middle East. But it would leave Turkey, Greece, Bulgaria and parts of Romania exposed.

To fill that gap, NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said NATO experts would produce a report by February on short-range anti-missile defenses "that can be bolted on to the overall missile defense system as it would be installed by the United States."

Russia has threatened to retaliate against the U.S. plans by pulling out of a key arms control treaty and pointing warheads at Europe for the first time since the Cold War. However, at last week's G-8 summit, Putin seemed to take a more open approach, suggesting Russia could cooperate with the West on an anti-missile radar base in Azerbaijan.

Iran poses no missile threat, Russia tells US

Agence France-Presse | Jun 21, 2007
source link

Russia on Wednesday bluntly told the United States it saw no threat from Iran's ballistic missiles and was perplexed how Washington could use this to justify a planned US defence system in Europe.

"We do not see any kind of threat from Iran," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters after a meeting in Tehran of foreign ministers from Caspian Sea states.

"Thus, we do not understand why in order to justify the installation of a US anti-ballistic missile system in Europe you have to bring up the pretext of a genuine Iranian threat," he added.

The United States plans to locate a powerful missile-tracking radar in the Czech Republic as well interceptor missiles in Poland to combat what it says are threats to global security.

Russia vehemently opposes either location for the planned US system.

"On many occasions we have mentioned professional opinions, expertise and analyses about the absence of such a threat," said Lavrov.

Two weeks ago, Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed that the United States locate part of the system at the Russian-leased radar station at Gabala in the former Soviet republic of Azerbaijan.

"If, on the American side, there is a suspicion of such a threat, then Putin offered that such a suspicion could easily be removed through the information collected through the radar station at Gabala," said Lavrov.

The United States has said that it is examining Putin's counter proposal for a joint Russian-US radar in Azerbaijan but US Defence Secretary Robert Gates has already made clear this would be no substitute for the Czech-based radar.

Iran has an array of medium-range missiles and claims that its longer-range Shahab-3 missile has a reach of 2,000 kilometres (1,200 miles), which would put US bases on the Arabian peninsula within reach.

The United States has expressed concerns about what it sees as Iran's military ambitions in the region, especially after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called for Washington's ally Israel to be "wiped off the map".

The Islamic republic insists it would never be the first to attack although it has warned it would hit back with force if the United States launched an military strike against Iran.

The United States is also at loggerheads with Iran over its contested nuclear programme and Tehran's alleged interference in Iraq. Washington has itself never ruled out military action against Iran.

Lavrov's comments came as the defence chiefs of Russia and Azerbaijan confirmed their countries' readiness to host part of a US missile defence system at the radar station in Azerbaijan, the Interfax news agency reported.

Russian Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said during talks with his Azeri counterpart Safar Abiyev that Russia is "ready for the joint use of the Gabala radar station either on a bilateral or trilateral basis," Russian defence ministry advisor Ilshat Baichurin was quoted as saying.

After the meeting, Abiyev said: "We confirmed Azerbaijan's readiness for the joint use by Russia and the United States of the radar station in Gabala and we signed the relevant protocol."

Meanwhile, Armenia voiced concern that Putin's proposal to host part of the US missile defense system in neighbouring Azerbaijan could destabilize the volatile Caucasus region wedged between Russia and Iran.

"The hosting of anti-missile stations in Europe is the business of Russia, Europe and the US, but when it is a question of Azerbaijan, this interests and worries us, as it concerns our region," Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian said.

putin seems a lot more cool headed then a lot other leaders of russia, once he leaves, russian will probably be headed by a racist, fascist, neo-nazi regime hell bent on bringing russia to its former glory. might as well make good use of putin while we still have him under our thumbs.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by ExecutiveOutcomeSS:
putin seems a lot more cool headed then a lot other leaders of russia, once he leaves, russian will probably be headed by a racist, fascist, neo-nazi regime hell bent on bringing russia to its former glory.Putins already doing that, try looking up "Nashi", aka Putins Jugend

quote:

Originally posted by Sgt_Schlappy:

quote:

I dont know why you guys dont like the Russians.

Simple...they cannot be trusted.

They are the ring leader of VRICS.

They still view the US with contempt...since we won the Cold War.

They...(along with France & China)...use their UNSC veto power exclusively to undermine the US.

There are many other reasons, but I'll let you figure them out for yourself.

You are saying - "Russians - They... They... They..." Look, I am American Russian and I'm on the way to join US Army to protect MY country – USA (where my loved one are...) and I don't care whose face I'll face on a line of duty (Russians, Chinese or ANY other...) I'll do what I have to do with my enemy!!! Hey, you're saying that Russians cannot be trusted? You are saying than China can be friendly ally while the Government of that communist’s country openly threated the USA with Nuclear attack if we'll try to protect small country Taiwan from invading of China’s military forces? Well... To me, you are the child of cold war... The way you are thinking is far away from reality. I know Russians much better then you or any other "native American". (No offence...)

P.S. Russians are very friendly people and you can trust them if you are honest and not prejudiced... (All these games right at the border of Russia – not friendly sight at all...)
Russia should be a strategic partner and not the enemy as well as China.

I have made it a point to study Russia, and would say we blew a golden oppertunity to make Russia a true friend by rubbing their noses in the do do, by expanding Nato up to there boarder, that can be seen by them and any one who would look at it objectively as provication. Putting a missil base in Poland would at the very least start a new cold war at most the Russians would take it out. Much as we would if an unfrinely nation put a missile base on our boarder.

quote:

Originally posted by dragonflyer04:
Today the US and Russia are more alike then anytime in history. We have allot of common issues. We will always be competitive but more fraternal in nature than during the Cold War.

Let me shake your hand my friend!!!

quote:

Originally posted by Iridium:

quote:

Originally posted by Sgt_Schlappy:

quote:

I dont know why you guys dont like the Russians.

Simple...they cannot be trusted.

They are the ring leader of VRICS.

They still view the US with contempt...since we won the Cold War.

They...(along with France & China)...use their UNSC veto power exclusively to undermine the US.

There are many other reasons, but I'll let you figure them out for yourself.

You are saying - "Russians - They... They... They..." Look, I am American Russian and I'm on the way to join US Army to protect MY country – USA (where my loved one are...) and I don't care whose face I'll face on a line of duty (Russians, Chinese or ANY other...) I'll do what I have to do with my enemy!!!

A) when I say "they" I'm referring to the Russian establishment...the leaders, both political and military. They cannot be trusted; They will never accept the US as the only super power militarily; They are still paranoid that we want to conquer them or put them into a third world state of discord; They need to wake up and finally figure out who the REAL enemy is in the world at this stage in history and stop being bitter over the loss of the Cold War and the faliure of Lenin's ideology. B) Thank you for your personal sacrifice on behalf of our great nation...you have my utmost respect for making that decision.

Hey, you're saying that Russians cannot be trusted? You are saying than China can be friendly ally while the Government of that communist’s country openly threated the USA with Nuclear attack if we'll try to protect small country Taiwan from invading of China’s military forces? Well... To me, you are the child of cold war... The way you are thinking is far away from reality. I know Russians much better then you or any other "native American". (No offence...)

I think you have me confused with someone else, I do not believe the Chicoms can be trusted anymore than the old guard Russians...but I do believe the people in both those countries deserve all civil rights found in the West and the implementation of a "true" democratic system.

P.S. Russians are very friendly people and you can trust them if you are honest and not prejudiced... (All these games right at the border of Russia – not friendly sight at all...)
Russia should be a strategic partner and not the enemy as well as China.

I agree...but they are the ones who are working closely with the Iranians and North Koreans...while undermining the US and our allies in stopping their neferious activity around the globe.

All right, I agree...
O'douls Amber only
God Bless the USA!

The Russians are now planning to build the 2nd largest Navy. They're planing to build carriers, nuc-subs, the works, about 100 ships.

Thing is they say only $23 billion is set for the next eight years. Anyone else think that won't be enough cash?

Improved relations with RUSSIA is in our best long term interests. The US and Russia will be in a difficult spot after the Islamification of Europe.