The Rise of the Russian Empire: Russo-Armenian Relations

[Le Tour]

Re: The Rise of the Russian Empire: Russo-Armenian Relations

Russia Is Behind Serbian Extremists, Holbrooke Said

Riots near the U.S. embassy in Belgrade is the result of Russia’s support of Serbian extremists, said Richard Holbrooke, top foreign advisor in the presidential campaign of Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and once the negotiator in the Balkans. "The fact that [declaring independence has] not happened as peacefully as people had hoped is the direct result of the incitement to violence by extremist elements in Belgrade, implicitly and privately supported by the Russians,” Richard Holbrooke told CNN in live air. Holbrooke, chief architect of the Dayton peace accords for former Yugoslavia, is notorious for his anti-Russian rhetoric. Far back past April, when the Ahtisaari plan was under discussion, Holbrooke said: “Kosovo will become independent. It's inevitable. But the Russians are encouraging the hard-liners in Belgrade by opposing the Ahtisaari plan and that is very unhelpful. And if the Ahtisaari plan is not approved by the UN Security Council when it comes up for decision next month, there will be violence in Kosovo, and that will be the consequence of Russian actions, and they should be held fully accountable for that if it happens.”

Source: http://www.kommersant.com/p-12111/Holbrooke_Serbia/

Lie and in the meantime kill as many people as possible to get what they want !!! Ask Tony Blair he knows all about that kind of thing.

https://www.le-tour-driven-worldwide.com

[Armenian]

Re: The Rise of the Russian Empire: Russo-Armenian Relations

Medvedev Name a Problem for Clinton

Oops! Hillary lashes out at 'Medvedveda, whatever': http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiyTPKlAF-8

Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton, who has argued she would be stronger on foreign policy than rival Barack Obama, stumbled over the name of First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev in a debate Tuesday. When asked whether she knew the name of President Vladimir Putin's certain successor, Clinton struggled. "Um, Med-medvedova, whatever," she finally said. Obama, who fielded a second question, did not pronounce the name. In Tuesday's debate, both candidates criticized President George W.Bush's policies on Russia. "I can tell you that he's a handpicked successor, that he is someone who is obviously being installed by Putin, who Putin can control, who has very little independence," Clinton said. "This is a clever but transparent way for Putin to hold on to power, and it raises serious issues about how we're going to deal with Russia going forward." Obama criticized Bush for neglecting the U.S.-Russia relationship after first saying he had seen Putin's soul. "[Bush] then proceeded to neglect our relationship with Russia at a time when Putin was strangling any opposition in the country, when he was consolidating power, rattling sabers against his European neighbors as well as satellites of the former Soviet Union," Obama said. He said Medvedev "is somebody who was handpicked by Putin." Putin has not held back about his feelings about the former U.S. first lady. "A state official must at least have brains," he snapped at a press conference earlier this month when asked about Clinton's comment that former KGB officers do not have souls.

Source: http://www.themoscowtimes.com/storie...02/28/012.html

Medvedev Hits Trail After Hillary Clinton’s Flub

Perhaps you can forgive Hillary Clinton for stumbling over the name of Russia’s likely next president in Tuesday’s debate with Barack Obama. Dmitry Medvedev, the man billed to replace President Vladimir Putin after elections this Sunday, only began officially campaigning yesterday. In the 24-hour break from his official–and heavily-covered–duties as first deputy prime minister on Wednesday, Mr. Medvedev spent the day with voters, discussing pension reform and other issues frequently covered in his ministerial pronouncements, the Russian media reported. All federal news stations devoted significant coverage to Mr. Medvedev’s sole campaign appearance held in Nizhny Novgorod on Wednesday, prompting further complaints from other candidates in the race about media bias, Vedomosti wrote.

Even the debate between Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama likely garnered more media attention than any given to the remaining three candidates in Russia’s presidential race in the last few days. The Russian press, which has been paying particularly close attention to the presidential primaries in the United States, becomes especially excited when the topic of debate turns to Russia, even if neither candidate can recall the name of the main presidential candidate here. Though most outlets that covered the debate remarked on Mrs. Clinton’s hiccup, none seemed to dwell on it. Nezavisimaya Gazeta even wrote that senator from New York was “sufficiently informed” on the current situation in Russia, while the state-run newspaper Rossiiskaya Gazeta did not even mention the slipup in its coverage. Team Putin-Medvedev, however, has not passed on the chance for a few digs at the candidates in the United States. In a likely shot at John McCain–far from the Kremlin’s favorite in this year’s presidential contest–Mr. Medvedev this week said he would work with any future U.S. leader that did not have “semi-senile views.”

Mr. Putin’s response to Mrs. Clinton’s assertion last January that he has no soul was characteristically terse, as the Moscow Times reminds us: “A state official must at least have brains,” he said. In Nizhny Novgorod, Russians arrived from all over the country to get a glimpse of Mr. Medvedev, who appeared without a tie and talked with voters about their most pressing issues, the First Channel reported. The main question: “What will you do, so that we can live better?” His responses ranged from fighting corruption, promoting a multiparty system, raising pensions (this will take time, he said, because of rising inflation “that came to us from abroad”) and improving Russia’s higher education system, Gazeta reported. Most important, he said, he will maintain stability and continuity. “If I am entrusted with heading the state, then I will be required to continue the course that has shown its effectiveness, the course of President Vladimir Putin.”

Source: http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/200...clintons-flub/

[Armenian]

Re: The Rise of the Russian Empire: Russo-Armenian Relations

Putin’s Anointed Heir Shows Hints of Less Icy Style

Dmitri A. Medvedev, the man chosen to be the next Russian president, sat surrounded by soldiers. It was Feb. 23, Defenders of the Motherland Day, and Mr. Medvedev had traveled to the parade grounds of the Tamanskaya Motorized Rifle Division outside Moscow. The division has long been a fixture of Russian political life. Its battalions have marched for decades in formation in Red Square. Eight years ago, as President Vladimir V. Putin introduced himself to the world, its platoons fought for the capital of Chechnya, helping to forge Mr. Putin’s persona as a leader of icy resolve. Now, Mr. Medvedev, the presidential successor personally selected by Mr. Putin, is creating his own public identity according to a choreographed script. And here, in a mix of Soviet and Russian symbols, the man rising to Kremlin power avoided the stern themes that have often accompanied Mr. Putin’s appearances. He wanted to talk about living conditions, for soldiers and civilians alike. “Let’s talk about the problems that exist,” he said to the soldiers beside him before a bank of television cameras. “Let’s have a normal conversation. Please.”

The outcome of the monthlong presidential campaign, which culminates Sunday, when voters will cast ballots, is already known. Barring something extraordinary and unforeseen, Mr. Medvedev, 42, an unprepossessing bureaucrat who has never held an elected office, will win by a landslide and become the Kremlin’s new leader. Mr. Medvedev, who lacks the imposing K.G.B. résumé of his sponsor, has said he will appoint Mr. Putin as his prime minister. As he has become the country’s second most-watched man, he has implicitly presented himself as both a Putin loyalist and a president-in-waiting who will wield power in a manner more gentle than the world has seen under Mr. Putin’s brand of rule. Whether this is a pose is an open question. Mr. Medvedev, in commentary outside of official Russian circles, has been cast as a puppet, a president who will labor according to Mr. Putin’s command. But he has made unanticipated moves. In a speech on Feb. 15, he said liberty was necessary for the state to have legitimacy among its citizens. And he has laid out domestic policy goals in what seems like a communiqué to Russia’s expanding consumer class.

Mr. Medvedev has also struck a campy pose — hamming it up with Deep Purple, the British heavy metal band whose music was popular in Soviet times — that suggested a dormitory-life playfulness that is decidedly not Putinesque. His words and behavior have raised unexpected but pervasive questions. Does Mr. Medvedev mean what he seems to say? Can he ease the grip on Russian political life that has been a central characteristic of Mr. Putin’s rule? And if he does, will he clash with Mr. Putin, his principal source of power? Analysts are split. Michael A. McFaul, director of the Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law at Stanford University, said Mr. Medvedev had a more Western orientation than many Kremlin insiders. But he suggested that his official embrace of freedom was more packaging than substance. “That’s public relations,” he said. “That’s not strategic shift.” Sergei Markov, a political scientist who is close to the Kremlin and a member of Parliament, said Mr. Medvedev, a lawyer with roots in St. Petersburg, had an affinity for the West. He expects that Mr. Medvedev will push for more political freedom, to a point.

“Medvedev will try to encourage political competition within the system without destabilizing the system,” he said. “How he does this, we will see. But I think stability will be the priority.”

He also said the model Mr. Putin had chosen for his transition from Russia’s highest office, and Mr. Medvedev’s flashes of liberal inclinations, could lead to unintended divides in Russia’s circles of power. That, he said, is a reason Mr. Medvedev will push only so far.

“The Russian government has weak institutions,” Mr. Markov said. “A split between two personalities could destabilize the political situation, and because politics plays a main role in the Russian economy, if there is a split it could destabilize the economy, too. So that is a major risk.”

As Russians and analysts contemplate the future with Mr. Putin out of the presidency, the contrasts between him and the president-to-be, and between the Kremlin’s latest words and its recent history, are visible in many ways, no less than in the very context of the discussion. The election season here is not an election season as a Westerner would understand it. It is a certification. Mr. Medvedev, who is a first deputy prime minister and chairman of the board at Gazprom, Russia’s gas monopoly, has toured the country without the distractions of competition, in part because the government blocked the sole true opposition candidate from the ballot. There are three other candidates: Gennadi A. Zyuganov, the Communist Party leader, who has been marginalized in part by Mr. Putin’s popularity and his mastery of Soviet nostalgia; Andrei V. Bogdanov, the almost unknown head of an even less powerful Democratic Party; and Vladimir V. Zhirinovsky, an ultranationalist who has served as an unofficial jester in the Kremlin’s court.

The remnants of the organized opposition have suggested that these candidates are a troika encouraged to run by the Kremlin to create the appearance of a race. Polls predict that they may capture as little as a combined 20 percent of the vote. With no viable candidate to compete against, the Kremlin has used the prelude to the formalities of inauguration to introduce a new leader. Mr. Medvedev, who emanates intelligence and calm but little intensity, is one step short of supreme; only Mr. Putin remains above him. State-controlled television covers him extensively and warmly. There is little public contest over ideas about Russia’s course, much less questioning of Mr. Medvedev’s qualifications to be the next leader of a country with 140 million people, a nuclear arsenal and the world’s largest hydrocarbon reserves. Instead, Mr. Medvedev has used the campaign as an open microphone, outlining an agenda to make Russia — which has rebounded from the financial crisis of the 1990s but has enduring problems with infrastructure, public health, corruption and an economy that relies on resource extraction — a vibrant and economically diversified state.

He has promised to improve schools, build housing, encourage business and amend the tax code in ways that will encourage household and social stability, including offering tax breaks for retirement savings, charitable donations and education and medical costs. Changes, he says, are on the way. He has said he will modify the health care system to allow more choice. And he has challenged the persistent sense that Russia’s government, whose bureaucracy has expanded under Mr. Putin and remained inefficient and corrupt, is inevitably elephantine and beyond the ability of citizens to change. Much of his agenda overlaps domestic plans Mr. Putin has himself outlined, including fighting corruption and reversing Russia’s poor state of public health But the differences between the men’s styles can be stark. When Mr. Medvedev arrived to meet the soldiers here, he had to walk past a huge banner that bore Mr. Putin’s face beside scenes of weapons and combat.

“The work of a real man — to defend homeland, family and loved ones,” the banner read. Mr. Putin, an exercise buff and martial arts expert, can emanate a catlike fitness and a comfort with conflict. Mr. Medvedev is trim but has no similar aura. He walked briskly by the poster, looking at the ground. Unlike Mr. Putin, Mr. Medvedev, in most of his appearances, has also avoided dwelling on foreign policy or Russia’s tensions with the West. Western capitals are hoping for a shift from Mr. Putin’s assertiveness. But aside from a statement of support for Serbia and a refusal to recognize Kosovo, Mr. Medvedev has not offered point-by-point proposals of how he will manage Russia’s role in the world.

Few analysts expect significant changes. “Personalities change, but that doesn’t change a nation’s interests,” said Boris Kagarlitsky, director of the Institution for Globalization Studies and Social Movements in Moscow. Mr. McFaul, of Stanford, said he also expected the United States and Russia to still face diplomatic difficulties when Mr. Medvedev moves to the Kremlin, no matter what his inclinations may be. “He’s more pro-Western, and more Western in his attitudes, than any of the other candidates out there,” he added. “Having said that, he is weak.” One senior Western diplomat said that those following Russia closely have come up with a possible test of whether Mr. Medvedev will marshal power. In the summer, the Kremlin will send a delegation to the Group of 8 meeting in Japan. Already informal bets are being taken, he said. Will Mr. Putin attend, or Mr. Medvedev, or both?

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/28/wo...rssnyt&emc=rss

[Angessa]

Re: The Rise of the Russian Empire: Russo-Armenian Relations

I'm not to fond of Mr Medvedev, I Don't really like his personality or him that much. But If President Putin support him, it must be for a very really good reason. I have to wait and see how he turns out. But if he can follow President Putin plan so far and do things he stated in speachs than I changed my mind. But I am very worried how he stand up to west on media outlits and in public.

On another note does It make anyone else's really annoyed or anger seeing the deceitful lies they produce in the western media agianst us. What worst is the comments on those articles from them like this one.

""This says more about Russia, than it does about La Clinton, or America, for that matter. You see, Russia is obsessed with the US — even the
signs on store windows there say, in English,
“SALE.” They see America as a great success story,
and would like to be like us. But we are “foreign-
ers,” and therefore the enemy, due to centuries-
old zenophobia. Their hatred (the Russians’ word)
rises to the point of expecting an “invasion,” whe-
ther from the East or West is unclear, by the US.

The fact HRC did not get Putin’s choice for Presi-
dent of Russia quite correct only shows Russia is
not constantly on our minds, as is America for the
Russians. Meanwhile, Russia’s leaders, like the
miscreant in the schoolyard who interrupts a play,
vainly do what they can to gain the attention of
their far-away competitor. "

This is most silly, foolish and Ignorant thing and seems like brainwashed fool. The only time I see english signs is for tourist. I wonder if he knows the British speak english also?

[Armenian]

Re: The Rise of the Russian Empire: Russo-Armenian Relations

I'm not to found of Mr Medvedev, I Don't really like his personality or him that much. But If President Putin support him, he must be very really good reason. I have to wait and see how he turns out.

I agree. Medvedev does not look or act presidential. I feel he is more of a corporate executive, in looks and demeanor. However, Putin, I am sure, knows what he is doing. Medvedev could very easily become the 'soft' face of Moscow that western nations would prefer to see. With the resurgence of the FSB and individuals like Putin, Lavrov and Ivanov working in and around government Medvedev will be well guided and grounded.

On another note does It make anyone else's really annoyed or anger seeing the deceitful lies they produce in the western media agianst us. What worst is the comments on those articles from them like this one.

It's an insult to even refer to the vast propaganda/tabloid apparatus of the West as "media," especially in nations that speak English. In my opinion, the current state of the news media in the West is worst than that of the party sponsored news outlets of the Soviet Union. When you see western news reports you simply have to read between the lines to understand. Simply put, observe western news media to see how and why they are conditioning their populations, not to get the news.

[Armenian]

Re: The Rise of the Russian Empire: Russo-Armenian Relations

Russia's foreign policy under Vladimir Putin: achievements and failures

Achievements:

1. Russia regained its status as a leading world power. Economic revival and stable economic growth have increased Russia's international prestige. Some countries like Russia and other countries don't; some are helping it to spread its influence and others are resisting it. Its views now carry far more weight in the international arena than they did in the 1990s, when Moscow's opinion on international crises was generally ignored. This goal has been achieved without a substantial increase in nuclear or other capacities, or not only due to such increases. Russia's increased importance as an exporter of oil and gas also played a role, along with the inclusion of Russia in the group of the most rapidly developing emerging economies (the BRIC, comprising Brazil, Russia, India and China). One more important factor was the rehabilitation of the "sick man of Europe," which many people did not expect to see.

2. Restoration of Russians' self-confidence. A nation's well-being is a key element of its coexistence with other nations and a crucial goal of its foreign policy. Today all Russians, whether at home or abroad, from ambassadors to tourists, feel that they are citizens of a large, strong, growing and respected state. In the 1990s, it was said that Russia was governed from Spaso House, the U.S. ambassadorial residence in Moscow. Today every Russian and foreigner knows that Moscow may disagree with Washington, or other capitals, on foreign or domestic issues, and uphold its stance without facing negative consequences. Few states can do this now.

3. Resistance to the wave of color revolutions in neighboring states. When manipulations of public opinion during elections brought anti-Russian regimes to power in neighboring states, some people thought that this would provoke the dissolution of the CIS and an economic and political crisis in Russia. They were disappointed. A failed "tulip revolution" in Kyrgyzstan, accompanied by chaos and pogroms in the capital, frightened the local political elites and population but strengthened Russia's stance in Central Asia. The color revolutions in Ukraine and Georgia lost their appeal following subsequent negative events there. Russia's foreign policy emerged as the victor in these crises because it reacted calmly to them, proving that sometimes it is better to do nothing.

4. Preservation of integration mechanisms (CIS, CSTO, etc.) and establishment of new ones (SCO). Russia's policy towards the former Soviet states during the 1990s was unsustainable and bound to change, as became evident at the beginning of Vladimir Putin's first presidential term. The only question was what policy would replace it. It became clear over the last eight years that the majority of post-Soviet states need some CIS functions and mechanisms, and so they are being reformed. At the same time, the military union of several CIS states - the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) - was preserved, and Russia is changing the post-Soviet policy of supplying cheap energy to political allies. It is developing new relations with Kazakhstan and a new model of international cooperation in Central Asia, which involves not only the former Soviet states in the region but also China (the Shanghai Cooperation Organization). Foreign policy in the post-Soviet space is being increasingly split into a Western and a Central Asian policy, which are quite separate and, therefore, more realistic.

5. Restoration of lost positions in traditional zones of influence (Vietnam, the Middle East, India, China) and development of ties with new partners (Latin American countries). In the 1990s, Russia's foreign policy lost its global reach. Partner relations established in the Soviet era were broken and foreign trade shrank, while pro-market reforms in Russia put trade in the hands of private business, for the first time in decades. The Russian authorities in the 1990s did not have a clearly defined view of economic and political goals in different parts of the world. The situation changed under Putin, with state-controlled and private businesses establishing ties in nearly all countries, supported by a special policy of promoting their interests.

Failures:

1. Inability to become the top partner of close neighbors such as China and India. Russia's economy was not strong enough to become the leading influence even in countries that would have welcomed this. The era of unions formed for political reasons is over, and the ability of business to become a competitive leader in foreign markets is now crucial. Russian business has neither the experience nor the resources for attaining this goal. Russia is not the top partner for any of its main economic partners (such as Germany and China, as well as the CIS, notably Kazakhstan). At best, it is one of their 10 largest partners. This has weakened Russia's ties, including political ones, with these states.

2. Inability to become a global leader in lifestyle, culture and arts. This is not only a failure of Russian foreign policy. We must admit that Russia today cannot do what the Soviet Union did in the sphere of winning hearts and minds abroad. The territory in which the Russian-language is spoken is shrinking, and the prestige of Russian culture and arts abroad is declining. In this sphere Russia's foreign policy (or rather, related sectors) is lagging far behind many other countries, which have a multitude of technologies to promote their cultures beyond their national borders.

3. Inability to elaborate an effective policy of relations with the Russian diaspora abroad. New ideas appeared in that sphere in the early 1980s, but to this day the millions of Russians living abroad have not become drivers of Russia's development in economic and other spheres, unlike the Chinese and Indian diasporas.

4. Loss of influence in Georgia and Ukraine. Moscow proved unable to mobilize the seemingly huge resources of goodwill in neighboring states, including those with a large ethnic Russian population. Moreover, it has taken actions that worsened the position of its supporters in those countries, and the situation was further complicated by the successful actions of its opponents. It apparently caught the "American disease" - an over zealous feeling of righteousness and renewed strength. A stark example is sanctions against Georgia, which infuriated Georgians, even those who were dissatisfied with their government's policies.

5. Defeat on the market for military-technical cooperation (Algeria, India). During the 1990s, this sphere of international cooperation kept afloat nearly half of Russia's foreign policy, notably its relations with countries with which trade was lagging, such as China. It was seen as the core of a new model for foreign trade based on the export of technologies rather than raw materials. The volume of military exports increased in the early 2000s, but other arms suppliers also stepped up competition. However, this cannot be said to be the only reason that buyers of Russian-made weapons and equipment often refuse to take delivery of them and complain of unjustified delays. The never-ending reforms in the sector have not brought the desired goal of improving the prestige of Russian-made weapons any closer.

Source: http://en.rian.ru/analysis/20080228/100269538.html

[Armenian]

Re: The Rise of the Russian Empire: Russo-Armenian Relations

Russian rocket forces plan 11 launches in 2008

Russia's Strategic Rocket Forces plan to make 11 training and testing launches in 2008, a senior official said on Wednesday. "We plan to make 11 training and testing launches of strategic missiles in 2008, including from the Yasnino missile unit grounds with a payload to be put into orbit," the commander-in-chief of the Strategic Rocket Forces, Colonel-General Nikolai Solovtsov was quoted by the Itar-Tass news agency as saying. "The RS-12M, RS-18, and RS-20 launches are planned for 2008 to extend the service life of missiles, two launches as part of state RS-24 testing, three launches to confirm the reliability of ICBMs that have been removed from combat duty, with spacecraft to be simultaneous put into orbit, and one launch to test future missile hardware," he said. "A program tentatively called Dnepr is underway now owing to the heavy RS-20 ICBMs. RS-20 rockets are launched both from Baikonur and the pilot and testing base of the Yasnino unit through close collaboration between military specialists and Russian and Ukrainian enterprises. The international space corporation Kosmotras headed by Director General Vladimir Andreyevis responsible for this work," Solovtsov said.

Source: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/20...nt_7682200.htm

[Angessa]

Re: The Rise of the Russian Empire: Russo-Armenian Relations

I agree. Medvedev does not look or act presidential. I feel he is more of a corporate executive, in looks and demeanor. However, Putin, I am sure, knows what he is doing. Medvedev could very easily become the 'soft' face of Moscow that western nations would prefer to see. With the resurgence of the FSB and individuals like Putin, Lavrov and Ivanov working in and around government Medvedev will be well guided and grounded.

Your right maybe its more of a step to win hearts and the minds abroad. Which is very important task ahead. We need get people look passed the propaganda and do the research and think. Becuase I know for instance there many polish people who support Russia, Serbia an hate there government. Russia needs to show to the world are culture, history and cities , art music
and morals. Since I know many american and British have no single clue really about Russia other than they assume it's a snowy wasteland. Or the horrible sins and crimes there nation has done and supported. With that you tube channel, I know many American and British were converted from the propaganda into loving and supporting Russia.

It's an insult to even refer to the vast propaganda/tabloid apparatus of the West as "media," especially in nations that speak English. In my opinion, the current state of the news media in the West is worst than that of the party sponsored news outlets of the Soviet Union. When you see western news reports you simply have to read between the lines to understand. Simply put, observe western news media to see how and why they are conditioning their populations, not to get the news.

haha I agree with you again, I don't watch many western news programs and I come on here to see what there articles say. So i can assume there the same kind of thing and I heard bad things about Fox. ( Also do I send articles to you to post or do I put them up my self)

[Armenian]

Re: The Rise of the Russian Empire: Russo-Armenian Relations

Since I know many american and British have no single clue really about Russia other than they assume it's a snowy wasteland. Or the horrible sins and crimes there nation has done and supported. With that you tube channel, I know many American and British were converted from the propaganda into loving and supporting Russia.

There are many good and honorable people in the US, Britain, Germany, France, etc., most of them, however, are naive sheep, ignorant masses that blindly slave for the Western elite.

So i can assume there the same kind of thing and I heard bad things about Fox. ( Also do I send articles to you to post or do I put them up my self)

Fox News is the Neocon/Zionist party news apparatus in the US.

And of course you can post articles relating to Russia, especially if it has to do with Russian geopolitics and Russian-Armenian relations. I want you to do that. Why do you even ask me? I am not the autocratic ruler of this discussion board

[Armenian]

Re: The Rise of the Russian Empire: Russo-Armenian Relations

Ariel Cohen: Kosovo’s independence may push Moscow toward Armenia in supporting Nagorno-Karabakh

Ariel Cohen, Ph.D., Senior Research Fellow at the Heritage Foundation, commented on the recognition of Kosovo’s independence and its influence on Nagorno Karabakh conflict to APA’s US bureau. “Russia has made Kosovo a major issue in its relations with the West. President Vladimir Putin and other Russia policy makers, anxious to find points of confrontation with Europe and US, have demanded that the Kosovo issue would be decided in the UN Security Council, where Russia (and China) has a veto power. Russia may retaliate by recognizing independence of Abkhazia, which is part of Georgia, and of South Ossetia. It may also tilt toward Armenia in supporting Nagorno-Karabakh. If that will be the case, the tension between Azerbaijan and Armenia may drastically rise. The West should clarify to the authorities of Russia, Armenia, South Ossetia, Abkhazia and Karabakh, that declarations of independence will remain unrecognized, and that steps to the contrary will meet with counter- actions. For example, countries which recognize these enclaves may have their diplomatic representations reduced and economic aid reviewed. Russia’s position has three roots.

First, it Russia views itself as a historic ally of Serbia. After all, it was because of this relationship the czarist Russia has declared war on Austro-Hungarian Empire in World War I, and ended up in collapse. Secondly, Russia would like to be an "indispensable power" in deciding major issues in Europe and in the world. Therefore, any solution that does not meet with Moscow’s approval is to be opposed. Thirdly, there is the issue of international law. Moscow claims that only the UN Security Council should be allowed to recognize new states, as the UN Charter claims.

Moreover, Russia, which is the host country to a number of secessionist and separatist movements, predominantly Muslim, does not want to see this successful precedent on its doorstep. Moscow does not want the criteria applied to Kosovo, to be applied to Chechnya and other Islamic lands in North Caucasus. Russia is suspicious that Kosovo independence is recognized based on intimidation and armed struggle of the Kosovars and on Europe’s fears that it must capitulate to their threats. Dozens of separatist movements in the world, from the Abkhaz to the Kurds, from Karen in Burma to Uyghurs in China, would be encouraged by the example of Kosovars. Albanians, Russia points out, already have one state which is a UN member. Now they will have two, and with the future success of Albanians in Macedonia, they may end up with three. Finally, both Belgrade and Moscow say that the West should support a democratic Serbia, not criminalized and militaristic Kosovars. Repercussions over the Kosovo conflict will surely poison relations between Russia and the West for years to come,” Ariel Cohen said.

Source: http://en.apa.az/news.php?id=44719