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| Iskander high-precision missile system (RIA Novosti / Alexei Danichev) |
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Russia cannot see NATO expansion towards its borders as positive, as
under certain circumstances the possibility of military confrontation
remains, the Russian PM has said at the Euro-Arctic Council’s forum.When a reporter asked Dmitry Medvedev how the balance of forces in Europe will change if Sweden and Finland decide to enter NATO, the Russian Prime Minister answered that his country would have to react to such developments.
“This is their own business; they are making decisions in accordance with the national sovereignty doctrine. But we have to consider the fact that for us the NATO bloc is not simply some estranged organisation, but a structure with military potential,” the head of the Russian government said adding that under certain unfavorable scenarios this potential could be used against Russia.
“All new members of the North Atlantic alliance that appear in proximity of our state eventually do change the parity of the military force. And we have to react to this,” the top official noted.
At the same time, Medvedev told reporters that currently Russia and NATO have a working and effective body of cooperation – the Russia-NATO council.
The issue of NATO expansion towards Russian borders is also important as it is directly connected with the deployment of global missile defense system in NATO member countries, including former Warsaw Pact members, such as Poland and the Czech Republic. As US and NATO refused to provide Russia with legally binding guarantees that the ABM systems would not target Russian forces, Russia is opposing the move, warning of future tensions and the possibility of a new arms race.
Earlier this week US Secretary of State John Kerry spoke at a joint press conference with Poland's Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski and said that his country was not making any concessions to Russia as it altered the plans to develop and run the missile defense system.
"The United States of America has made zero concessions to Russia with respect to missile defense," news agencies quoted the top US diplomat as saying.
He added that the elements of the missile defense shield would be placed in Poland by 2018 and that this was part of NATO’s modernized approach to security.
The plans to deploy a missile defense system in NATO member-countries such as Poland and the Czech Republic caused strong protests from Russia and in 2008 then President Dmitry Medvedev announced that his country would deploy the newest Iskander ballistic missiles in the Kaliningrad Region – Russia’s westernmost exclave – and this move would render the planned defense system useless. In 2012 Russia allocated additional means to upgrade the Iskander systems announcing that this would allow the weapon to effectively counter the US anti-missile systems.
Russian media have reported that Iskander deployment to Kaliningrad should have started in the second half of 2012, but the military denied this and said it is still in the preparatory stage.
http://rt.com
4/6/13
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Στο Συμβούλιο Μπαρεντς 2013 της Ευρωαρκτικής περιοχής ο Ντμίτρι Μεντβέντεφ ....
ReplyDeleteΣτη συνεδρίαση του Συμβουλίου Μπάρεντς της Ευρωαρκτικής περιοχής στην πόλη Κιρκενες της Νορβηγίας, θα συμμετάσχει σήμερα, ο πρωθυπουργός της Ρωσίας, Ντμίτρι Μεντβέντεφ.
Παράλληλα, ο κ. Μεντβέντεφ θα έχει συνομιλίες με τον πρωθυπουργό της Νορβηγίας, Γενς Στόλτενμπεργκ, ενώ θα παρακολουθήσουν μαζί την άσκηση Μπάρεντς 2013, η οποία έχει ως στόχο την ανάπτυξη δεξιοτήτων και την απόκτηση εμπειρίας στη συνεργασία μεταξύ εμπειρογνωμόνων των δύο χωρών για την εξάλειψη και την πρόληψη της πετρελαιοκηλίδας.
Κατά τη συνεδρίαση του Συμβουλίου, η ρωσική πλευρά αναμένεται να προτείνει τη δημιουργία κοινού μηχανισμού χρηματοδότησης σχεδίων, τη συνεργασία σε επίπεδο καινοτομίας και εκσυγχρονισμού, και την ίση συμμετοχή των περιοχών στα διάφορα προγράμματα, καθώς επίσης την κατάργηση θεωρήσεων στις μετακινήσεις μεταξύ των δύο χωρών και τη βελτίωση του συντονισμού των Βόρειων περιφερειακών συμβουλίων.
http://rbth.gr/news/2013/06/04/sto_symboylio_mparent_2013_ti_eyroarktiki_perioxi_o_ntmitri_mentbentef_22545.html
4/6/13
Η Ρωσία είναι υποχρεωμένη να αντιδράσει στη συμμετοχή γειτόνων στο ΝΑΤΟ – Μεντβέντεφ....
ReplyDeleteΗ Ρωσία δεν μπορεί να αγνοήσει την αλλαγή της ισορροπίας δυνάμεων λόγω της συμμετοχής γειτονικών με τη Ρωσία κρατών στο ΝΑΤΟ, δήλωσε ο πρωθυπουργός Ντμίτρι Μεντβέντεφ στη συνεδρίαση του συμβουλίου των αρχηγών κυβερνήσεων των κρατών της θάλασσας του Μπάρεντς, απαντώντας σε ερώτηση για το πως θα αντιδρούσε η Μόσχα στην ένταξη της Φινλανδίας στο ΝΑΤΟ.
«Δεν μπορούμε να μη λαμβάνουμε υπόψη το γεγονός, ότι για εμάς το ΝΑΤΟ είναι ένας ξένος σχηματισμός, ο οποίος διαθέτει στρατιωτικό δυναμικό, που μπορεί σε μεγάλο βαθμό να χρησιμοποιηθεί εναντίον του κράτους μας σε περίπτωση δυσάρεστης εξέλιξης των πραγμάτων», - δήλωσε ο Μεντβέντεφ.
http://greek.ruvr.ru/2013_06_04/115018864/
4/6/13
Rasmussen's statement on South Ossetian-Georgian border politically motivated .....
ReplyDeleteMoscow says NATO secretary general's statement on South Ossetian-Georgian border politically motivated.
Moscow says that the statement of NATO Secretary General Andres Fogh Rasmussen regarding the situation at the South Ossetian-Georgian border was politically motivated.
"I think that this statement was rushed and politically motivated. It is regrettable that NATO again got into a propaganda trap set by those Georgian forces, which can not come to terms with the new reality in the region after August 2008," Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko told Interfax in Wednesday.
Rasmussen said earlier on Wednesday that he criticized placement of wire fences in South Ossetia at the border with Georgia.
"Building such fences is a violation of international law and of the 2008 agreements," Rasmussen told reporters. "It is simply not acceptable and we urge Russia to live up to her international obligations."
"The alliance is well aware that Russia is fulfilling its international obligations meticulously and acts in complete accord with the Russian-South Ossetian agreement on guarding the border jointly," Grushko said.
Grushko said that Brussels was also aware that fences were being built only at a number of potentially dangerous areas, not along the entire border.
"It is done to prevent unsanctioned border violations by locals and to decrease the number of detentions and in some cases arrests among other things," the official said.
"Finally, it would have been possible to ask how pressing issues of the border regime have been resolved previously, including those related to the attempts of Georgian border guards "to improve" the border line," Grushko added.
Voice of Russia, Interfax
Read more: http://english.ruvr.ru/news/2013_06_05/Rasmussens-statement-on-South-Ossetian-Georgian-border-politically-motivated-6234/
5/6/13
Russia: Iran deal will eliminate need for missile defense in Europe.....
ReplyDeleteRussian FM says that if international deal aimed at preventing Iran from nuclear weapons is implemented fully, there 'no reason' for missile defense plan.
Russia's foreign minister said Wednesday that an international deal aimed at preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons will in the long run eliminate any need for a missile defense system in Europe.
American officials have said the missile defenses it wants to install in Europe will protect NATO allies and counter any threat from Iran. Russia has long opposed the plan, and sees the system as a threat to the viability of Russia's own nuclear arsenal as a deterrent.
In Geneva earlier this month, leading world powers reached a deal with Iran to ensure that its nuclear program remains peaceful.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told reporters after a meeting Wednesday with NATO counterparts there's "no reason" for the missile defense plan if that deal is implemented fully.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/1.561675
5/12/13