Putin says missile tests were response to NATO's actions [Archive]

December

06-01-2007, 01:19 AM

http://img.rian.ru/images/5512/46/55124658.jpg

Putin says missile tests were response to NATO's actions

31/ 05/ 2007

MOSCOW, May 31 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's president said Thursday his country's recent tests of new ballistic missiles and possible withdrawal from an arms control treaty are a direct response to harsh, unreasonable actions by NATO countries.

Speaking at a news conference after meeting with the Greek president in the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin said Russia did not initiate the new wave of an international arms race, and condemned the planned deployment of a U.S. missile shield in Europe, and the development of new military bases on the continent.

"There is no need to fear Russia's actions, they are not aggressive... They are aimed at maintaining balance in the world order, and are extremely important for maintaining peace and security globally," Putin said.

Russia conducted successful tests this week of a new ballistic missile with MIRV and a cruise missile allegedly capable of penetrating any operational and future missile defenses.

"We conducted a test of a new strategic ballistic missile with multiple warheads, and of a new cruise missile, and will continue to improve our resources," Putin said.

The president suggested recently that Moscow might suspend its obligations under the Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty if talks with NATO countries on its implementation show no visible progress.

No NATO members have yet ratified the re-drafted CFE pact, demanding that Russia first withdraw from Soviet-era bases in Georgia and Moldova under previous agreements.

Russia, concerned over Europe's refusal to ratify the re-drafted version of the accord, and acceptance by certain EU states of U.S. missile shield plans on the continent, proposed on Monday holding an emergency CFE conference in Vienna on June 12-15.

"We are fully observing the provisions of the [CFE] treaty and have pulled out all heavy weaponry from the European part of Russia. We have reduced our armed forces by 300,000 personnel in the past few years, but what about our partners?" Putin said.

"They are inundating eastern Europe with new weapons - a new base in Bulgaria, another base in Romania, a [missile interceptor] site in Poland, a radar in the Czech Republic," the president said. "What are we supposed to do? We cannot just observe all this and continue to keep our obligations under the treaty."

Putin also stressed that the United States unilaterally withdrew from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty in 2002, paving the way to the deployment of its missile shield in Europe.

"Our American partners have left the ABM Treaty," he said. "We warned them then that we would take measures in response, to maintain the global strategic balance."

The U.S. plans to deploy a missile defense radar in the Czech Republic and 10 interceptor missiles in Poland as part of its European missile shield allegedly against "rogue" states, such as Iran and North Korea.

Since Washington announced the plans earlier this year, Russia has vehemently opposed the deployment, citing its own national security concerns. Some of Russia's top generals hinted that the bases, if opened, could be targeted by Russian missiles.

http://en.rian.ru/russia/20070531/66418953.html

December

06-02-2007, 06:13 PM

Czechs have staged another protest against US plans to build a radar station in their country as part of a missile defence shield - and the issue looks set to overshadow US President George Bush's visit to Prague on 4-5 June.

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/42978000/jpg/_42978611_pragdemoap203body.jpg

The rally was not large - but polls show most Czechs oppose the base
The US says expanding the defence system will protect both America and Europe from any attack by Iran or other so-called "rogue states".

But the Czech government, which has launched formal talks on the base with Washington, appears to be having difficulty persuading its citizens.

Neighbouring Poland - set to host US interceptor rockets - has seen similar protests.

Demonstrations in the Czech Republic usually conform to three fundamental rules: they are rarely large, they are almost never violent and they are often surreal.

Saturday's protest - organised by a group called "No to Bases" - was no exception.

Barely 2,000 people - in a city of 1.2 million - attended the protest. It passed off peacefully, with the exception of a brief shouting match as angry taxi drivers attempted to force their way through the crowd. And jumping up and down a few metres away was a group of young anarchists, dressed as circus clowns.

READ MORE -

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6697757.stm

December

06-05-2007, 05:24 PM

Blair: we must renew Trident

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/VirtualContent/84882/mushroomcloud.jpg

http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/MultimediaFiles/Live/Image/8078.jpg

Matthew Tempest and agencies
Monday December 4, 2006
Guardian Unlimited

Tony Blair today recommended that Britain renew its Trident nuclear deterrent into at least the middle of the century, calling it "the ultimate insurance".
But the prime minister told MPs it would be possible to cut Britain's stockpile by 20%, leaving fewer than 160 operationally available warheads.
However, he did not announce a reduction in the number of Trident-carrying submarines based at the Faslane base in Scotland from four to three, instead saying a decision would wait until more detailed designs of submarines was available.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/nuclear/article/0,,1963536,00.html

Trident - Britain's weapon of mass destruction
Trident is a US nuclear system. The US provides assistance to Britain with its nuclear programme under the 1958 US-UK Mutual Defence Agreement.

The UK Trident uses US Trident II D5 missiles, which are maintained and tested in the United States.
The UK Trident warhead is closely based on the US Trident W76 warhead and was tested at the US Nevada Test Site.
The UK maintains close links with the US nuclear weapons laboratories, on "stockpile stewardship", ie maintaining and developing nuclear warheads.
The UK relies on US satellite navigation, intelligence and targetting information
UK nuclear policy is closely synchronised with the US and NATO.

http://www.cnduk.org/pages/binfo/ttus.html

http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en-commons/thumb/5/53/300px-Trident_II_missile_image.jpg

December

06-05-2007, 08:29 PM

NATO urges Russia not to unilaterally withdraw from CFE treaty

http://img.rian.ru/images/6670/83/66708302.jpg

05/ 06/ 2007

MOSCOW, June 5 (RIA Novosti) - NATO's Moscow office condemned Moscow's threat to impose a unilateral moratorium on an arms reduction treaty between the Western security alliance and former Eastern Bloc countries, warning of serious consequences.

President Vladimir Putin earlier said Russia could withdraw from the Conventional Forces in Europe treaty, arguing that the pact had not been ratified by any NATO member states. NATO members have demanded that Russia first withdraw from Soviet-era bases in Georgia and Moldova under previous agreements.

In its report circulated Tuesday, the NATO office said that if Russia were to suspend its commitments under the treaty, this would be a direct violation of the document, and warned that as Russia has the greatest military power in Europe, its non-participation in the treaty would lead to serious consequences.

The original CFE treaty, amended in 1999 in Istanbul in line with post-Cold War realities, has so far only been ratified by Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus and Ukraine. The aim of the pact is to force members to reduce their conventional military forces.

Moscow has pointed out that NATO newcomers Slovakia and the three Baltic states have not joined the CFE treaty at all, despite a preliminary agreement that they would do so.

Russia, concerned over Europe's refusal to ratify the re-drafted version of the accord, and the acceptance by certain European Union states of U.S. missile shield plans on the continent, proposed last week holding an emergency CFE conference in Vienna on June 12-15.

http://en.rian.ru/world/20070605/66722740.html

December

06-06-2007, 02:27 PM

Pentagon plans three missile interceptor tests this summer

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06/ 06/ 2007

WASHINGTON, June 6 (RIA Novosti) - The United States is planning to conduct three test launches of ballistic missile interceptors by the end of September as part of its missile defense program, a spokesman for Missile Defense Agency (MDA) said.

MDA spokesman Rick Lehner said in an interview with RIA Novosti Tuesday that the agency planned to test a sea-based missile interceptor in late-June or mid-July, a THAAD (short- to mid-range) missile interceptor in July, and a ground-based long-range interceptor in late August-September.

A recent test of a long-range interceptor was aborted May 25 when a target rocket launched from Alaska fell into the Pacific Ocean before an interceptor missile could be launched from California.

"The target did not reach sufficient altitude to be deemed a threat, and so the Ballistic Missile Defense System did not engage it, as designed," Air Force Lt. Gen. Henry Obering III, director of the Missile Defense Agency, said in a statement following the test failure.

Lehner said Tuesday that the failed test would be repeated by using a new "dummy target" or a target missile that had been scheduled for use in a test next fall.

The U.S. has conducted 27 successful tests of its missile defense system since 2001, while seven tests resulted in failure.

The U.S. national missile defense system currently deploys missile interceptors at Fort Greeley, Alaska, and at Vandenberg, about 130 miles (209 kilometers) northwest of Los Angeles.

The United States is also planning to expand its missile shield to sites in the Czech Republic and Poland.

The Kremlin has responded angrily to U.S. plans, announced in January, saying U.S. missile bases in Europe could become targets of its pinpoint strikes.

Russia last week tested a new ballistic missile capable of carrying multiple nuclear warheads and a new cruise missile, saying the tests were part of Moscow's response to U.S. anti-missile plans.

http://en.rian.ru/world/20070606/66773730.html

Truth_and_Power

06-06-2007, 02:34 PM

Truth_and_Power

06-06-2007, 02:41 PM

Also, anyone find it funny that russia runs a test of a new missle system in response to US actions? That means they'd already developed this new system before any of these US actions, since that would take years, yet they try to put it all on us.

December

06-06-2007, 02:45 PM

jafar00

06-06-2007, 02:52 PM

The point is all sorts of treaties previously agreed to by the US which were supposed to stop future arms races, have been torn up by the Bush Regime. Russia just doesn't like being ringed by US missile systems I guess. Not many countries would accept that. I doubt the US would accept Russian or Chinese systems being installed in Canada or Mexico either. I know that's unlikely but it's the same thing.

Truth_and_Power

06-06-2007, 04:01 PM

Truth_and_Power

06-06-2007, 04:05 PM

December

06-07-2007, 08:38 PM

Explain to me the danger in this. Is russia expecting a european invasion, or are they just upset at their declining influence in the world?

Where did I say about EUROPEAN invasion?

FROM RENSE.COM -

Putin Warns - Russia Must Respond To Bush Nuclear Provocation On Its Borders

LaRouche PAC
6-5-7

On the eve of his visit to Germany for the G-8 Summit, Russian President Vladimir Putin granted an exclusive interview to a group of leading press from the 7 non-Russian summit nations, including the London Times, the Corriere della Sera (Italy) and Germany'sSpiegel weekly.

In regard to the U.S. deployment of missile defense systems on the Russian border, Putin said (excerpts taken from the Spiegel interview): "Once the new missile system is established, it will function in an automatic mode, linked to the entire nuclear potential of the USA. For the first time in history, components of the American nuclear system will be established on the European continent - that changes the whole configuration of international security. We are being told that this is to protect against Iranian missiles.

But these do not exist: Iran does not have missiles with a range of 5,000 to 8,000 kilometers. A wall of protection is being built here against something that does not exist. There is no reason for such a missile defense system in Europe. We, however, are forced to respond to that."

Putin said he still hopes that the USA will find a way back to a dialogue based on reason, but "if that fails, we have to react the missile defense system only creates the illusion of protection - but in theory, the likelihood of unleashing a nuclear conflict will even increase.

The global strategic balance is disrupted. To restore it, we have to create a system to outflank these American waepons." Putin added his suspicion that the missile issue is pushed by the USA with the intent to provoke a Russian counterreaction and "prevent further cooperation between Russia and Europe." The Times reports that Putin said that "we will need to establish such systems which would be able to penetrate the (US) missile defense systems. What kind of means will be used to hit the targets that our military believe are potential threats - ballistic missiles, or cruise missiles, or some kind of new weapons system?"

http://rense.com/general76/putind.htm

Survivor

06-07-2007, 08:56 PM

It looks like "Old Home Week" here and the two are either chummy or very good actors.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/07/20060715-1.html

December

06-07-2007, 10:01 PM

Explain to me the danger in this. Is russia expecting a european invasion, or are they just upset at their declining influence in the world?

Truth_and_Power, here's another good article:

Iran Says U.S. Case for Europe Anti-Missile Shield Is a `Joke'

By Ed Johnson

June 4 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. case for a missile defense shield to protect Europe from Iran is the ``joke of the year'' because Iranian weapons cannot reach the continent, said Ali Larijani, the country's chief nuclear negotiator.

Iran has no intention of attacking its most important commercial partner, the official Islamic Republic News Agency cited Larijani as saying yesterday.

``Iranian missiles do not reach Europe'' and it's hard to believe U.S. authorities don't know that, Larijani said, according to the report.

The U.S. plans to base interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar station in the Czech Republic as part of a system it says is necessary to defend against long-range missile attacks from countries such as Iran. Russia opposes the planned shield, saying it will threaten Russian security.
The issue has strained U.S.-Russian relations and last week the government in Moscow said it successfully tested a weapon it claimed was immune to all defense shields.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said last week the planned shield risked turning Europe into a ``powder keg.'' He dismissed American concerns that Iran could threaten the U.S. and Europe. Iranian missiles now have a maximum range of 1,100 miles (1,700 kilometers) and by 2012 they may have missiles with a range of 1,500 miles, too short to justify a missile shield, Putin said.

The U.S. and Iran severed diplomatic ties in 1979 after the taking of hostages at the U.S. embassy in the Iranian capital, Tehran. The U.S. is leading international efforts to increase sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program. The Bush administration is also demanding Iran stop arming Shiite militias in neighboring Iraq.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601100&sid=aH9_iTEfmfPU&refer=germany

DANG

06-07-2007, 10:32 PM

Is russia expecting a european invasion,....No, he is expecting us to invade Iran, which would be stealing oil from Russia.
The missile defense system is prep for retaliation. Putin saw right through bushs lies about it being a defense from Iran.

Putin is not a clown like bush.

When he warns us to leave Iran alone... we really should beware.

This missile defense system is a build-up to disaster. For us. We cant even defeat a demilitarized Iraq... how would we compete against Iran, Russia and Iraq all at once? (Not to mention all the terrorists we have been breeding with out foreign policy)

http://img.rian.ru/images/5512/46/55124658.jpg
Go ahead,,,, call me Pootey-Poot one more time

December

06-07-2007, 10:56 PM

...how would we compete against Iran, Russia and Iraq all at once? (Not to mention all the terrorists we have been breeding with out foreign policy)

And I want to know how did Bush and Co. manage to turn Russia from a partner into a ... well... not so friendly country?...

Putin is not a clown like bush.

http://www.judoinfo.com/images/putin.jpg

"Russian President Vladimir Putin executes a throw on a Japanese Judo student during a visit to a Sports Center in Gushikawa, Okinawa, Japan, July 23, 2000. He then allowed himself to be thrown onto the mat. After concluding a final round of talks with other world leaders on global issues, Putin visited the sports center and removed his jacket and shoes for light matches with several Gushikawa students. Putin, 47, told the assembled young Judo fans to persevere with their sport because it brought people together."

http://www.judoinfo.com/announce.htm

Russian President Putin Gets Honorary Black Belt
2001.02.27 17:47:47

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2002/20021005/w4.jpg

SEOUL, February 27 (Xinhuanet) -- The head of the International Judo Federation (IJF) Tuesday awarded Russian President Vladimir Putin an honorary seventh grade black belt during his visit to Seoul.

IJF president Park Yong-Sung made the award during a luncheon with South Korean business leaders. Park is also chairman of the Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Putin, who began judo at the age of 11, has written a book on the sport.

http://202.84.17.11/english/htm/20010227/378780.htm

http://ochevidec.net/pic/story/141/1.jpg
Putin for U.S. President 2008!

http://www.stanislavorlov.com/index.php/2006/11/10/putin-for-us-president-2008/

December

06-08-2007, 02:48 PM

NATO RISKS LOSING RUSSIA'S TRUST

By Vladimir Simonov, RIA Novosti political commentator

What would Nato leaders have said if the rumours of three years ago about Russia's intention to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in the Kaliningrad Region, its exclave squeezed between Baltic countries, turned out to be true? It would have been a shock for Nato, wouldn't it?

Now you can imagine Moscow's feelings over the recent news concerning Nato's forthcoming enlargement. Here is the background. During a ceremony in Chicago or Brussels on April 2, Nato will accept seven new members, the largest bunch in the history of the bloc. Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia are waiting for the ceremony in hushed raptures, but Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia have submitted a highly "interesting" idea to the alliance's leadership. The three former Soviet republics have invited Nato to protect their air space, or rather, to deploy interceptor-fighters of a nearby bloc member in one of the three countries.

They argue that they do not have air forces but they do have an enemy that can claim their blue skies. This "enemy" has not been identified, possibly out of diplomatic considerations.

The initiative fell on fertile soil in the bloc. The leading news agency of Denmark, Ritzaus Bureau, reported that on March 31 Lithuania would get the desired aid - four Danish fighters, a mobile radar and about a hundred servicemen, pilots and technicians, who would service this hastily created foreign air force base in Lithuania, close to Russia's borders.

The Lithuanian Defence Ministry refused to comment on this news, but President Rolandas Paksas, who has nothing to lose in view of the forthcoming impeachment, was more forthcoming. He did not rule out the possibility of Nato bases being deployed in Lithuania after it joins the bloc. "If Nato asks for it, it will get it," Mr Paksas said rather too clearly.

This excessive openness will presumably displease the new Nato Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, who will come to Vilnius for talks this Friday. In the little over two months since he assumed his position, Mr Scheffer has used every chance to remind the world that one of his key tasks is to maintain and develop good relations with Russia, because this policy "corresponds to the mutual interests of Nato and Moscow."

When the US-made F-16 fighters of the Danish air force rev up their engines in Lithuania, the Kremlin will have a very good reason to question the sincerity of the Nato chief.

Moscow is playing its hand openly: it does not want to see Nato weapons on the other side of its border and it does not think it necessary to conceal its displeasure. Nato and Moscow do have common interests, above all in the joint fight against international terrorism, but they do not include the encirclement of Russia with Nato bases in the south and northwest.

Russia will not tolerate the appearance of Nato forces in the Baltic countries, Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov (who kept his post in the new government) said in late February. Presidential foreign policy aide Sergei Yastrzhembsky later voiced his negative attitude to the idea of Nato skies over the Baltic. He hinted in an interview with The Financial Times that any "traces" of Nato's presence in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia "irrespective of their size" would be interpreted as "an extremely negative move." "Nato should take into account the national concerns of Russia's policy," the presidential aide said.

He believes that Nato protection of the airspace of Romania and Bulgaria could be explained by the war on terror but "it is difficult to see any need in any counter-terrorist functions in the Baltic countries." If the alliance leaders do not heed these warnings and continue to "develop" the territory of its new members in the Baltic by deploying air force bases, radars and other forms of its military presence there, it may lose the main achievement in relations with Russia after the end of the Cold War - a palpable measure of trust.

Moscow remembers very well the joint conferences of 1996, when Nato brass hats assured Russian delegates that the bloc would not deploy its forces in the Baltic countries. The pledges were later sealed in the Nato-Russia Founding Act, which infers that the bloc sees no reason or pretext for advancing its military infrastructure to the highly sensitive (for Russia) Baltic region. Perfidy is a bad choice in relations with anyone, including Russia.

http://www.cdi.org/russia/297-12.cfm

December

06-19-2007, 05:46 PM

NATO's Scheffer may meet Putin June 26 in Moscow

19/ 06/ 2007

MOSCOW, June 19 (RIA Novosti) - NATO's secretary general could meet with the Russian president June 26 at the Russia-NATO Council ambassadorial session in Moscow, dedicated to the Council's fifth anniversary, Russia's ambassador to NATO said Tuesday.

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Konstantin Totsky said Jaap de Hoop Scheffer will arrive in Moscow in late June, but his visit will not be totally official as it will be held as part of festivities in Moscow and St. Petersburg to celebrate the anniversary of the Council.

"A schedule of [Russian] President [Vladimir Putin] is currently being coordinated and finalized, but we expect the meeting between the secretary general and the president to go ahead June 26," Totsky said during a Brussels-Moscow TV link, adding that "we expect no breakthrough decisions from this meeting."

NATO's reluctance to ratify the re-drafted Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty (CFE) is currently a key source of tension between Russia and the Western security alliance.

Putin earlier said Russia could withdraw from the Conventional Forces in Europe treaty, arguing that the pact had not been ratified by any NATO member states. NATO members have demanded that Russia first withdraw from Soviet-era bases in Georgia and Moldova under previous agreements.

The original CFE treaty, signed in 1990 to reduce conventional military forces on the continent and amended in 1999 in Istanbul in line with post-Cold War realities, has so far only been ratified by Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, and Ukraine.

http://en.rian.ru/world/20070619/67462993.html

December

06-20-2007, 11:09 PM

Iran no justification for missile shield - Russian FM

20/ 06/ 2007

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TEHRAN, June 20 (RIA Novosti) - Russia does not consider Iran a threat and it should not be used to justify plans to deploy missiles in Europe, Russia's foreign minister told a Wednesday news conference in Tehran.

"We do not see any threat from Iran. Russia's leaders have said that many times. And we do not see any reason why the issue of an Iranian threat is being used to justify [plans to] deploy missile defense systems in Europe," Sergei Lavrov said.

If the U.S. has any concerns about Iran's missile capabilities, Lavrov said, they can be removed by using the Gabala radar, proposed by Russian President Vladimir Putin as an alternative missile defense site at the G8 summit earlier this month.

Lavrov said he had outlined Russia's proposals on Gabala and its position on the missile shield to Iran's President Mahmoud Admadinejad and Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki.

http://en.rian.ru/world/20070620/67548675.html

Iran Says U.S. Case for Europe Anti-Missile Shield Is a `Joke'

By Ed Johnson

June 4 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. case for a missile defense shield to protect Europe from Iran is the ``joke of the year'' because Iranian weapons cannot reach the continent, said Ali Larijani, the country's chief nuclear negotiator.

Iran has no intention of attacking its most important commercial partner, the official Islamic Republic News Agency cited Larijani as saying yesterday.
``Iranian missiles do not reach Europe'' and it's hard to believe U.S. authorities don't know that, Larijani said, according to the report.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601100&sid=aH9_iTEfmfPU&refer=germany

December

06-23-2007, 08:30 PM

Russia to commission 3 Topol-M ICBMs this year

23/ 06/ 2007

MOSCOW, June 23 (RIA Novosti) - Russia will have commissioned three road-mobile Topol-M ICBMs this year, the Strategic Missile Forces commander said Saturday.

"In the end of 2007 we will commission another missile battalion equipped with newest Topol-M ICBMs at Teikovo missile base, Ivanovo Region," Col. Gen. Nikolai Solovtsov said, addressing the graduates of Russia's top missile force academy.

Earlier this year Solovtsov said the deployment of silo-based Topol-M systems in the Saratov Region and road-mobile systems in the Ivanovo Region (central Russia) would be completed in 2010.

As of December 2006, the Strategic Missile Forces operated 44 silo-based and three mobile missiles. The SMF press service said that, while 48 silo-based systems would be on duty by late 2007, the Teikovo base is being migrated to cutting-edge road-mobile missiles.

http://en.rian.ru/russia/20070623/67702588.html

Land-based mobile strategic missile system Topol getting into position

http://img.rian.ru/images/5696/26/56962607.jpg

http://img.rian.ru/images/5696/28/56962813.jpg

December

06-26-2007, 07:10 PM

NATO hopes Russia remains in CFE treaty

26/ 06/ 2007

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MOSCOW, June 26 (RIA Novosti) - NATO hopes Russia will not quit the Conventional Forces in Europe treaty, the alliance's secretary general told journalists Tuesday.

A problem overshadowing cooperation between Russia and NATO is the bloc's refusal to ratify an updated version of the Soviet-era CFE treaty, aimed at regulating the deployment of non-nuclear weapons on the continent.

Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said after meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow that he hoped all steps would be made under the adapted CFE treaty.

Scheffer said NATO's position did not completely coincide with Russia's position. He said the CFE treaty was the cornerstone of European security and should remain so. He also said the treaty did not envision a moratorium.

Putin has threatened to impose a moratorium on Russia's participation in the crucial arms reduction accord, linking ratification delays to the planned deployment of a U.S. missile shield in Europe and the expected opening of new NATO bases in Bulgaria and Romania.

NATO states have argued that Russia should first withdraw its troops from Moldova and Georgia before the alliance's members ratify the amended CFE treaty, while Moscow insists the issues are unrelated.

The 1990 conventional armaments control treaty between the trans-Atlantic alliance and the former Warsaw Pact was updated in 1999 to reflect the realities of the post-Cold War era.

Regarding Russia-U.S. missile defense cooperation, Scheffer said Putin had given thorough information regarding proposals for the joint use of the Gabala radar in Azerbaijan.

Putin proposed earlier in June that the U.S. use the powerful radar station Russia leases from the Caucasus state to monitor possible attacks from Iran and North Korea, instead of opening installations in Central Europe, which Moscow regards as a security threat.

Scheffer said that although he was not an expert, :D he believed the Gabala radar would not resolve all problems related to missile threats from "rogue states."

The U.S. announced in January plans to deploy an early-warning radar in the Czech Republic and a missile interceptor base in Poland as part of its Central European missile shield.

Scheffer said Putin and his U.S. counterpart George Bush would discuss the issue at a meeting in early July.

He also said Russia's statements about targeting missiles at Europe was not appropriate to the missile defense discussion, and called on the parties to tone down the rhetoric.

"The NATO-Russia relationship is one of partnership, and in the framework of the partnership the remarks about targeting missiles are inappropriate, and they do not have a place in these discussions," de Hoop Scheffer said.

Speaking ahead of a recent summit of the Group of Eight leading industrialized nations, Putin said the United States' mooted missile bases in Europe would be part of the U.S. nuclear arsenal and that Russia could be forced to aim its nuclear weapons at Europe.

"If part of the U.S.' strategic nuclear arsenal is located in Europe and our military experts find that it poses a threat to Russia, we will have to take appropriate retaliatory steps," he said. "We will have new targets in Europe."

Regarding Kosovo, the NATO secretary general asked the Russian leader to do everything possible to adopt a decision on the province's status.

Moscow objects to sovereignty for Kosovo, a predominantly ethnic Albanian region that has been a UN protectorate since NATO expelled Serb forces from the province in 1999, arguing that the move would violate Serbia's territorial integrity and set a dangerous international precedent for other breakaway regions, including in the former Soviet Union.

It has threatened to use its veto power on the UN Security Council to block UN envoy Martti Ahtisaari's plan granting "supervised independence" status to Serbia's predominantly ethnic Albanian province.

http://en.rian.ru/world/20070626/67863762.html

BATKA

06-27-2007, 07:41 PM

I think you should look from the point, that russian goverment was totally bought by american transnational corporations. So there will be no problem... Russians suggested USA to come to their station in Middle Asia...so USA could use their influence to all region

December

07-03-2007, 10:04 PM

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov - "The response to this strategic challenge will, of course, also be strategic," he said but added that Russia would "prefer to work together, as President Vladimir Putin suggested at a meeting with President George W. Bush in Heiligendamm."

http://www.un.org/av/photo/sc/images/une3113.jpg

Czech govt. okays U.S. radar deployment near Prague

03/ 07/ 2007

WARSAW, July 3 (RIA Novosti) - The Czech government has given the U.S. the go ahead to deploy a missile-defense radar near the town of Misov, 90 kilometers (50 miles) southwest of Prague, the country's Security Council official said Tuesday.

Tomas Klvana, a Security Council spokesman, said the deployment of a U.S. missile-defense system two kilometers (1.2 miles) from Misov, in proximity to a military base, is the best possible option from the viewpoint of military and political security.

"The Security Council agreed with the Defense Ministry's proposals," he said, adding that the site would need to be thoroughly studied before a final decision is made.

The final decision on the deployment of a U.S. radar is to be made by the Czech parliament, with the opposition demanding a nationwide referendum on the issue.

The United States seeks to deploy 10 interceptors in Poland and a radar in the Czech Republic, to protect itself and its European allies against a potential strike from Iran or some other "rogue state."

Russia is strongly opposed to the shield plan, and has dismissed arguments that it would make Europe a safer place.

President Vladimir Putin proposed in June that the U.S. use a powerful radar station Russia leases from the Caucasus state to monitor possible attacks from Iran and North Korea instead of opening installations in Central Europe, which Moscow regards as a threat to its security.

During his informal talks with George W. Bush Monday, Putin proposed that Russia and the United States could jointly use a radar in southern Russia, in addition to the early warning facility in Gabala in Azerbaijan.

He also proposed setting up a missile defense data exchange center in Moscow and Brussels, as well as expanding the number of countries involved in countering global challenges.

http://en.rian.ru/world/20070703/68270847.html

http://www.theoildrum.com/uploads/3246/EU_map_names_isles.png

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/graphics/2006/11/02/uiran.jpg

December

07-08-2007, 08:19 PM

Condoleezza Rice thinks there is still the Soviet Union on the map:

:D

Putin Plays Hard Ball as Rice Reassures 'Soviets'

Russian President Vladimir Putin has declared a moratorium on a 1990 arms control treaty in response to US plans for a missile shield in Europe. Condoleezza Rice, meanwhile, has blasted Moscow's fears as being "ludicrous."

Conflict over plans by the United States to build a missile defense shield (more...) in Europe continues to grow, with Moscow proving resistant to American attempts to include Russia and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice slowly losing patience with the "Soviets."

The rhetoric heated up Thursday as Putin, in his annual speech to both houses of parliament, said he was suspending Russia's obligations under the 1990 Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) treaty, in response to the US missile shield plans. He said the NATO signatories to the treaty were not respecting it, and criticized US plans to locate elements of the anti-missile defense shield in Eastern Europe, saying they create "real dangers and possibly unpleasant surprises." The US claims that the planned missile shield is intended to protect the US and its European allies from a ballistic missile attack from a so-called "rogue" state such as Iran.

READ MORE -

http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,479621,00.html

http://www.thegully.com/essays/america/img_usa/rice+bush.jpg

December

07-09-2007, 11:02 PM

U.S. may freeze financing of missile shield plans - senator

09/ 07/ 2007

MOSCOW, July 9 (RIA Novosti) - The U.S. Senate could freeze funding for the deployment of missile shield elements in Central Europe, despite recent statements made by the U.S. Secretary of State, a senior Russian senator said Monday.

Last Friday U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in an interview with CNBC television channel that the United States was not in favor of the Russian proposals, and will continue with its plans to deploy an antimissile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic.

In an interview published on the United Russia pro-presidential political party's Web site, Konstantin Kosachyov, chairman of the State Duma International Affairs Committee, said "at the current stage this statement was made not in the context of Russia-American talks, but rather in the context of U.S. internal politics."

In an initial response to the U.S. move, Moscow threatened to point Russian warheads at Europe and pull out of a conventional arms reduction treaty, the Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty (CFE), but seemingly softened its stance when Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed at a Group of Eight leading industrialized nations summit in Germany jointly use of the Gabala radar in the former Soviet republic of Azerbaijan.

The senator said that U.S. Congress, which is heavily influenced by the Democratic Party, has repeatedly raised doubts about the expediency of plans to deploy the missile shield in Central Europe.

"Moreover, we have information that this Wednesday the U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services will hold a session and as experts predict it is highly likely the session will decide to freeze project funds for the deployment of a missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic," Kosachyov said.

He said that under such circumstances it would be a painful defeat for the Bush administration, which is trying to demonstrate its confidence and drive.

"That is why I consider Condoleezza Rice's statement sad, because it was made before experts had even started their work," the senator said.

During his informal talks with George W. Bush last week Monday, President Putin proposed that the United States jointly use a radar being built in southern Russia, in addition to the early warning facility in Gabala.

http://en.rian.ru/world/20070709/68638471.html

December

08-14-2007, 08:05 PM

Russia strategic aviation holds exercise over Pacific, Atlantic

14/ 08/ 2007

MOSCOW, August 14 (RIA Novosti) - Units of the 37th Air Army of the Strategic Command have begun tactical exercises with test launches of cruise missiles over the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, an Air Force spokesman said Tuesday.

"In all, over 30 Tu-95 Bear-H strategic bombers, Tu-22 Backfire-C theater bombers and Il-78 Midas will be conducting flights August 14," Colonel Alexander Drobyshevsky said. "During the exercises, the crews will test launch cruise missiles over the Pacific and Atlantic oceans and fly to the North Pole."

The exercises, which will run through August 18, are held under the command of Major-General Pavel Androsov, the commander of the Russian Air Force's long-range aviation.

According to various sources, the Russian Air Force currently deploys 141 Tu-22 Backfire-C theater bombers, 40 Tu-95 Bear-H strategic bombers, and 14 Tu-160 Blackjack.

http://en.rian.ru/russia/20070814/71405929.html

http://img.rian.ru/images/7057/14/70571411.jpg

An Il-78T Midas tanker aircraft (above) and a Tu-95MS Bear strategic bomber (below). Strategic and tactical bombers, military transport planes, fighters, close support aircraft, attack and transport helicopters, and special-purpose aircraft will take part in the air parade.

http://img.rian.ru/images/7057/10/70571090.jpg

A Su-27 Flanker fighter (left) and a Tu-160 Blackjack strategic bomber (right).

December

08-23-2007, 04:45 PM

NATO to give Georgia access to radar data

http://img.rian.ru/images/7049/41/70494114.jpg

23/ 08/ 2007

BRUSSELS, August 23 (RIA Novosti) - NATO is prepared to provide a number of its partners, including Georgia, access to its radar air data exchange system, a deputy NATO spokesman said Thursday.

Carmen Romero said non-classified data would be made available to Georgia, adding that the alliance has concluded agreements on integrating its system with those of a number of partners, including Georgia, Albania, Austria, Macedonia, Finland and Ukraine in 2003.

Romero said the ambassadors of member countries spoke in favor of concluding the agreement with Georgia Wednesday, but added the move was not related to recent border incidents involving purported Russian breaches of Georgian airspace.

Georgia's Foreign Ministry delivered a note of protest to the Russian Foreign Ministry Wednesday claiming Georgian airspace had been violated from Russia the day before. Russia has denied the claim.

Georgia has also accused the Russian Air Force of violating its airspace and dropping a missile on a village August 6, a claim Russia has also denied.

http://en.rian.ru/world/20070823/73969660.html

December

08-23-2007, 10:01 PM

Russian, U.S. ministers to talk missile defense in October

23/ 08/ 2007

MOSCOW, August 23 (RIA Novosti) - Russian and U.S. foreign and defense ministers will meet in October to discuss missile defense deployment in Central Europe, a deputy Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman said Thursday.

"The results of an expert working out of our proposals will be considered at this October's meeting of Russian and U.S. foreign and defense ministers," Boris Malakhov said.

The U.S. has said it wants to place a radar and a host of interceptor missiles in Poland and the Czech Republic to fend off what Washington sees as an impending missile threat from Iran and North Korea. However, Russia regards the plan as a threat to its national security.

President Vladimir Putin, during his two-day meeting with President George Bush at the Bush family home in Kennebunkport, Maine, last month, proposed incorporating a new radar, currently being built in southern Russia, into a missile defense system managed by the NATO-Russia Joint Permanent Council, of which Moscow and Washington are members.

Russia also said it is ready to upgrade its early warning radar in Gabala, Azerbaijan, which was also proposed as an alternative to U.S. missile plans, but Washington has repeatedly called it obsolete.

http://en.rian.ru/world/20070823/74008034.html

December

08-28-2007, 06:57 PM

Bulava missile not ready for mass production

27/ 08/ 2007

http://img.rian.ru/images/4259/44/42594435.jpg

MOSCOW. (Yury Zaitsev for RIA Novosti) - Four of the first six flight tests of the Bulava-M missile (where "M" stands for morskoi, or naval) were a failure. However, Admiral Vladimir Masorin, commander-in-chief of the Russian Navy, said the Bulava-M (SS-NX-30), a naval derivative of the land-based Topol missile (SS-27), had been approved for mass production.

Did he mean that a batch of missiles would be produced for more tests?
Masorin said the trial period of the Bulava would end in 2008 after two more tests this year. The outcome of these tests is not clear.

In Soviet times, 16 to 20 ground tests and then naval launches were stipulated for each new missile. Americans did likewise when designing the Trident I and Trident II missiles.
The decision of the Bulava designers to begin trials with submarine launches, bypassing ground tests and launches from a sea-based stand, appears opportunistic. This has never been done in naval missile designing before.

In the early 1980s, it took 16 missiles to hold the submerged and surface trials of the RSM-52 (SS-N-20 Sturgeon), a solid-fuel ballistic missile designed to carry 10 nuclear warheads, including nine launches from a naval stand and seven from a submarine.

READ MORE -

http://en.rian.ru/analysis/20070827/75176580.html

Launch Of The British Trident Missile II D5

Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfpmhAF6_YE&mode=related&search=

Blair: we must renew Trident
http://www.guardian.co.uk/nuclear/article/0,,1963536,00.html

The Trident missile, named after the trident, is a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) which is armed with nuclear warheads and is launched from SSBNs, nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines. Trident missiles are carried by fourteen active US Navy Ohio class submarines and, with British warheads, four Royal Navy Vanguard class submarines.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trident_missile

Trident - Britain's weapon of mass destruction

December

09-14-2007, 01:47 AM

Russian, U.S. officials to discuss Gabala radar in October

13/ 09/ 2007

BAKU, September 13 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian and U.S. defense and foreign ministers will discuss the joint use of the Gabala radar Russia leases from Azerbaijan in October, the Russian ambassador to Azerbaijan said Thursday.

"Experts will report their conclusions at a '2+2' meeting that is tentatively set for October," Vasily Istratov told a briefing in Baku.

Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry said Wednesday Azerbaijani-Russian-U.S. consultations on the joint use of Gabala will be held September 18, adding that Russian, U.S. and Azerbaijani delegations will include both technical experts and diplomatic officials, and that the Azerbaijani team will be led by Deputy Foreign Minister Araz Azimov.

Istratov said experts from the General Staff, the Space Forces and the Foreign Ministry will take part in the consultations from Russia.

The United States said in January it was planning to deploy components of its global antimissile defense system in the Czech Republic and Poland to avert possible strikes from "rogue states," such as Iran and North Korea.

But Russia, already unnerved by NATO expansion to former Warsaw Pact member states, has condemned the plans as a threat to national security and a destabilizing factor for Europe. Moscow warned that its response would be commensurate and effective.

READ MORE -

http://en.rian.ru/russia/20070913/78556276.html

December

09-18-2007, 08:52 PM

U.S. not yet ready to decide on Gabala radar

18/ 09/ 2007

BAKU, September 18 (RIA Novosti) - The U.S. cannot yet say if the Gabala radar will replace American missile defense facilities in Central Europe, the deputy director of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency said Tuesday.

After his visit to Gabala Tuesday, Brigadier General Patrick O'Reilly said the U.S. is only studying the radar's parameters, and will analyze them later. "This was a technical level visit to give our experts an opportunity to get a tour of the facility and a briefing on its capabilities. There were no formal negotiations or consultations," he said.

The United States said in January it was planning to deploy components of its global antimissile defense system in the Czech Republic and Poland to avert possible strikes from "rogue states," such as Iran and North Korea.

But Russia, already unnerved by NATO expansion to former Warsaw Pact member states, has condemned the plans as a threat to national security and a destabilizing factor for Europe. Moscow warned that its response would be commensurate and effective.

At the G8 summit in June, President Vladimir Putin offered the U.S. the use of the Gabala radar, which Russia leases from Azerbaijan, as a compromise solution in the ongoing dispute. The radar, located near the town of Minchegaur, 120 kilometers (75 miles) from the capital Baku, was leased to Russia for 10 years in 2002.

O'Reilly also said he believes that Gabala, like other complicated missile defense facilities, functions well separately, but added that its interaction with other facilities should be studied. He also said that the issue will be discussed by U.S. and Russian experts at a meeting in Moscow on October 10.

O'Reilly said the U.S. had offered Russia the chance to visit American missile defense facilities in Colorado, Alaska and California to contribute to cooperation in the sphere.

The Gabala radar has been operational since early 1985. With a range of 6,000 kilometers (3,700 miles), it is the most powerful in the region and can detect any missile launches in Asia, the Middle East and parts of Africa.

In turn, Major-General Alexander Yakushin, first deputy chief of staff of the Russian Space Forces, said he is sure the U.S. is interested in dialogue on the use of the radar station.

"The work was fruitful, at least we heard words of gratitude from our American colleagues, and the work that was done allowed us to switch from discussions and briefings to the practical matters," he said.

http://en.rian.ru/world/20070918/79372857.html

December

09-20-2007, 01:47 AM

Russia still worried by U.S. missile defense plan - chief of staff
19/ 09/ 2007

http://img.rian.ru/images/6503/17/65031742.jpg

PSKOV, September 19 (RIA Novosti) - Moscow views the U.S. missile defense program in Central Europe as anti-Russian, but has sufficient capability to counter it, a top military official said Wednesday.

The United States said in January it was planning to deploy components of its global missile defense system in the Czech Republic and Poland to avert possible strikes from "rogue states," such as Iran and North Korea.

"The missile defense system that is being deployed in Europe is clearly aimed against Russia. I am ready to prove that with facts and figures," said Army Gen. Yury Baluyevsky, chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces.

"If we accept American logic, Iran will produce missiles within the next five or seven years, but what will the radar stations be doing there in the meantime? What will their functions be? The answer is obvious: [the U.S.] is only interested in Russia's capability," he said.

Gen. Baluyevsky said the Russian military has everything that is required to ensure national security, adding that the Armed Forces will be downsized, becoming leaner but meaner.

Russia, already unnerved by NATO expansion to former Warsaw Pact member states, has condemned the U.S. plans as a threat to national security and a destabilizing factor for Europe. Moscow warned that its response would be commensurate and effective.

Gen. Baluyevsky said previously the decision to go ahead with the deployment of U.S. missile defense elements in the Czech Republic and Poland is a big mistake, in particular urging Prague to delay the decision until after presidential elections in the United States, set for November 2008.

He said Washington might review Iran's missile threat, which was one of the reasons for its decision to deploy missile defense elements in Europe.

"We believe that, based on realistic assessments of threats from the south, additional measures may be implemented on the deployment of additional missile defense elements in Europe, and we will stand firm on this position," he said.

http://en.rian.ru/russia/20070919/79621007.html

December

11-10-2007, 02:26 PM

U.S. missile defense radar in the Czech Republic.

INFOgraphics

Washington insists that a missile shield in Europe is needed to protect the U.S. and its NATO allies from potential missile attacks coming from Iran or North Korea, despite Russia's objections.

http://en.rian.ru/infographics/20071108/87170481.html

Scorpion

11-10-2007, 03:47 PM

December

11-10-2007, 04:04 PM

Can anyone explain this to me? It seems clear that our missle defense plan poses 0.0000% of a threat to russia's deterrent. So can anyone tell me why this is supposed to start an international arms race? The only thing I can think of is that russia is just looking for a reason to flex its muscles and maybe pick a few fights.

If tomorrow American president will decide to invade Russia than she cannot strike back at NATO countries because Russia's missiles will be nullified.
NATO will simply bomb Russian cities for AS LONG AS it wants, just as they bombed Yugoslavia in 1999:

NATO bombing of Yugoslavia: bombing the industry

http://youtube.com/watch?v=i_bC_ri7WKg

NATO bombing of Yugoslavia: Bombing of a civilian bus

http://youtube.com/watch?v=UbPuICx7A1g

Bibliography on NATO aggression
January 05, 2000

Since the beginning of NATO aggression on Yugoslavia, numerous books were published, which analyze, from different points of view, the economic, social, political and psychological consequences of the brutal, illegitimate and illegal destruction of a sovereign country. Compiled in early December on the basis of the Serbian National Library data, the bibliography is incomplete because numerous books are being published and new ones regarding this topic announced daily.

TARGETS - victims and resistance (I and II)
In Serbian and English
Belgrade, Yugoslav Army Press Center, 1999

http://www.serbia-info.com/news/2000-01/05/16625.html

1812 - Napoleon invaded Russia...
1941 - Hitler invaded Russia...
Who is next?....