The Rise of the Russian Empire: Russo-Armenian Relations

[Armenian]

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

After last week's Mig-29 incident and the recent comments regarding going to war over Abkhazia, it certainly looks like Moscow is drawing an official line in the sand. Unlike in the Baltics and in the Balkans, Moscow knows that the Caucasus is where Russia maintains a clear supremacy. Moscow also has the peace of mind knowing that the Armenian Republic is not going anywhere. Consequently, Moscow feels more confident in the Caucasus. As a result, policy makers in Moscow are gradually beginning to take advantage of the inviting geopolitical situation that is present on the ground today. Azerbaijan is essentially a hostage to Moscow; Armenia is a willing slave (although I would rather call Yerevan a willing partner); Georgia is clearly on Moscow's black list (hit list).

Armenian

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Russian Military Action in Abkhazia Possible - Russian Diplomat

If Georgia will start the military conflict in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, Russia will have to react through military means, Russian Foreign Ministry's special envoy for relations with CIS countries Valery Kenyakin said on April 25. Officials in Tbilisi have already condemned remarks as “a direct military intimidation.” “Russia is doing everything so that the military scenario is not enacted in a zone of Georgian-Abkhaz conflict, but if it would be unleashed, we will have to react including through military means,” Kenyakin was quoted by RIA Novosti as saying at a press conference in the news agency’s office in Moscow.

“If helpless people will be suffering, we will have to protect them,” he added. “Russia is for changing the territorial integrity of Georgia from a theoretical possibility into practical reality, this requires negotiations,” the diplomat noted, “currently, Georgia’s territorial integrity is a theoretical hypothesis.” “We are pushing the sides to negotiating process in the frames of existing [negotiating] formats, if somebody wants to rely on NATO’s force, we have something to respond with.” Kenyakin also said, he “had no confidence that US is working positively in terms of settlement of conflict situations” in Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

He did not rule out that “Georgia might start a military operation against Abkhazia in the nearest future.” Kenyakin also claimed “there has been no Russian fighter jet in Abkhazian skies on 20 April” and slammed the possible discussion of the matter at OSCE security forum. “Who would be discussing anything there [at OSCE]? We will again see the video clip which was distributed [by Georgia] to the UN Security Council members and will hear the political positions? Conclusions in this incident have to rely on expert’s opinions, not on dilettantes who can only air the political orders,” Kenyakin stated. The Russian diplomat’s remarks triggered a prompt reaction from Tbilisi.

“This is a direct military intimidation against Georgia,” MP Givi Targamadze, the chairman of the parliamentary committee for defense and security, said. “This is yet another sign indicating on Russia’s aggressiveness. Georgia is ready to protect itself from any type of aggression, including the one coming from Russia.” He also stressed that diplomatic efforts, including mobilization of international support was Tbilisi’s major tool to resist “Russia’s intimidations” and then he again repeated: “Georgia is capable to protect itself from Russia’s aggression.”

Davit Bakradze, who resigned from the foreign minister’s position on April 23 to run for the parliament, was in Berlin on Friday, where he held talks with the German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier. Speaking at a joint news conference with Bakradze, Steinmeier condemned Russia’s decision to establish official links with Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Later on Friday the Russian Foreign Ministry said that Minister Sergey Lavrov held phone conversation with the German counterpart and discussed bilateral ties, as well as some of the international matters. No reference on Georgia was made in the Russian Foreign Ministry’s press statement.

Earlier on April 25 Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, said that there was no crisis in Russo-Georgian relations. "I don't see a crisis in Russia-Georgia relations. We are witnessing a crisis in relations between the leadership of Georgia and Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The fact that Georgia's leadership is not able to establish a respectful dialogue with Abkhazia and South Ossetia but instead declared that it will join NATO to solve all its problems is seriously aggravating the situation," Lavrov said at a joint news conference with Finland's Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb in Moscow.

"I hope that those people who are trying to artificially push Georgia into NATO understand it very well. I hope that these people know about Tbilisi’s categorical refusal to sign treaty on non-use of force [in Abkhazia and South Ossetia] proposed by the UN and OSCE. I would like to hear reaction of these people on the statements of the Georgian leadership that Georgian unmanned aircraft have been flying; are flying and will fly over the conflict zone in Abkhazia [reference to President Saakashvili’s statement], although this is banned by the UN Security Council.”

Source: http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=17692

In related news:

Russian military threat over NATO expansion

Russia has threatened to take military and other steps along its borders if the former Soviet states of Ukraine and Georgia join NATO. The armed forces Chief of Staff, General Yuri Baluyevsky, did not specify what those steps might be. He simply said measures would be put in place to "secure Russia's interests". At the recent NATO meeting in Bucharest, two new NATO members were agreed, but Ukraine and Georgia's candidacy was put on hold. However Ukraine's President Viktor Yushchenko received firm backing from the United States when George Bush said he wanted to see the two countries join NATO as soon as possible. Russia's response was swift and firm: President Putin made it very clear that he was opposed to the move. Earlier he had even threatened to target missiles at Ukraine.

Source: http://www.euronews.net/index.php?pa...e=480163&lng=1

[Armenian]

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

It's brewing again, perhaps coming to a boil now...

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Russia warns of harsh response to Georgian provocations

Georgia preparing military operation against Abkhazia: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3ZPElbY9i8

Russia's Defense Ministry issued a stern warning to Georgia on Tuesday over its actions in South Ossetia and Abkhazia, and pledged to deploy more Russian peacekeepers in the area. The ministry said that any violence against Russians in the breakaway Georgian republics would be met with tough reprisals from Moscow. "Any attempts by Georgia to use force to resolve the conflicts, or to employ violent measures against Russian peacekeepers or Russian citizens living in Abkhazia and South Ossetia will encounter an appropriate and tough response," the ministry said in a statement.

The statement also said Georgian aggression had forced Russia to take steps to increase peacekeeping numbers in the conflict zones, saying that, "the strengthening by Georgia of its forces in the immediate proximity to the conflict zones, threats of military force and... provocations on the part of Georgian authorities prevent Russian servicemen from performing their peacekeeping tasks." Russia's Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday that Georgia was preparing to launch a military operation against Abkhazia, saying that Tbilisi was massing troops, weaponry, ammunition, food and supplies in the upper Kodori region, on the border with Abkhazia. "The number of troops and police exceeds 1,500...

The composition of the contingent indicates that Georgia is preparing to launch a military operation against Abkhazia," the statement said. Meanwhile, Georgia denounced Russia's move as aggression and urged the international community to prevent an escalation of tension in the region, Prime Minister Vladimir Gurgenidze said. "We condemn Russia's decision to increase the number of peacekeepers in the conflict zones as an extremely irresponsible move, especially against the background of Russia's latest statements about Abkhazia and South Ossetia... We will consider every soldier and every technical unit arriving in the conflict zone as... a potential aggressor," Gurgenidze said.

"We call on our partners to denounce the Russian decision and take every possible measure to prevent an increase in the contingent, which will force an escalation of tension in the region," the Georgian PM said. Abkhazia and South Ossetia broke away from Georgia in 1991 following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Georgia is looking to regain control over the two republics. Russian President Vladimir Putin called earlier this month for closer ties with the breakaway republics. Putin's statement provoked an angry response from Tbilisi, which accused Russia of attempting to annex the two republics.

Georgia also claims that on April 20 a Russian MiG-29 Fulcrum fighter from the Gudauta military base in Abkhazia, where Russian peacekeepers have been stationed since the end of a bloody conflict in the early 1990s, shot down a Georgian drone, a claim Russia has denied. Russia said video footage of the alleged attack broadcast by Georgia was faked. A NATO HQ source, who wished to remain anonymous, said on Tuesday that NATO was "very concerned" about statements made by Russia pledging to protect Russian passport holders in Abkhazia.

However, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that Russia's measures to support the two breakaway regions' populations were not aimed at establishing control over the republics. "It is evident that Russia's steps are aimed at ensuring the fundamental rights of residents of Abkhazia and South Ossetia and not at establishing any control over the territories of the unrecognized republics," the ministry said on its website. Russia's envoy to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin, said the Russia-NATO Council would discuss on Wednesday the situation around Abkhazia and South Ossetia. He also called Georgian footage of the drone incident "cartoons."

Source: http://en.rian.ru/russia/20080429/106214189.html

Abkhazia Ready for Military Alliance with Russia

Abkhazia is ready for military alliance with Russia, Abkhazia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Shamba said in the interview with Mze TV Co. of Georgia.
The chance of forming a military alliance is more solid nowadays, the minister of unrecognized republic said, evidently referring to the recent lift of economic, financial, transport and other sanctions that had been imposed on Abkhazia. Meanwhile, Tbilisi has demanded anew to wind up Russia’s military base in Gudauta. Georgia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Grigol Vashadze said they called on the OSCE to conduct an international expertise of the Gudauta base. The base is to be transferred to Georgia after it, Vashadze said. According to Georgia’s military, the jet of the RF Air Force that took off Gudauta airport shot down Georgia’s spying drone in Galsky region of Abkhazia two weeks ago. The incident has materially aggravated the relations of Moscow and Tbilisi.

Source: http://www.kommersant.com/p-12427/r_...litary_treaty/

WTO Russia Working Group Ends

Georgian representatives made a serious attempt for the first time yesterday to block the negotiation process at an informal session of the working group on Russia in the WTO. Georgia is insisting that Russia not only allow Georgian customs officers access to checkpoints on the border with Abkhazia and South Ossetia, it turned out late in the day that Georgia also wants Russian President Vladimir Putin's instructions on establishing direct economic ties with those regions cancelled. A decision was about to be made yesterday on the fourth edition of the report on Russia's trade policy as the basis for the speedy resolution of the disputed issues remaining. Only Georgia disagreed.

Its delegation demanded that the remaining questions on agriculture, export duties and state corporations be resolved and that a decision on a new edition of the report be made at an official session of the working group. Georgia is blocking official meetings of the group; that is why the session was informal in nature. The chairman of the group, Icelandic Ambassador Stefan Johannesson, that they were examining a technical question that does not require general agreement. The Georgians countered that it was a procedural question that any member of the WTO has the right to veto. A source in the WTO secretariat called the Georgian move senseless and politically motivated. (WTO staff are not authorized to giver interviews, so they speak only on condition of anonymity.)

The Russian delegation thought the report was blocked until late in the day. In the evening, the Georgian delegation yielded and the report was adopted. The working group will meet again at the end of May to discuss the issues mentioned in the report substantively. Reuters reported that Georgian Deputy Economic Development Minister Vakhtang Lezhava stated that Georgia is demanding that Russia not enter into direct economic ties with Abkhazia and South Ossetia. A source in the Russia delegation told Kommersant that they were satisfied with the outcome of the session. Ukraine will also join the working group in May.

Source: http://www.kommersant.com/p887777/r_500/WTO_accession/

[skhara]

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

It's brewing again, perhaps coming to a boil now...

Yeah -- I read today that the Cossacks are ready to form a centralized command structure with other North Caucasian volunteers to help the Abkhaz.


I wonder if Moscow will try to stir trouble in Javakh.

[Armenian]

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

Russia, Georgia: Nearing a Flashpoint?

Summary

In recent days, Russia and Georgia have engaged in more of their ongoing tit-for-tat rhetoric. However, there are movements on the ground that could indicate efforts to bring tensions between Moscow and Tbilisi to a head. If this happens, there is a chance that the Russian-Georgian conflict could become a broader and more vicious battle.

Analysis

As Russia continues its struggle to define its ability to act outside of its own borders and reclaim its periphery, Stratfor has long watched Georgia and its two secessionist regions as the most likely conflict point Moscow would start with. As the noise between Russia and Georgia continues escalating over the Georgian secessionist regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, some interesting shifts and opportunities have arisen that could lead both sides to push for the situation to finally come to a head. First there is the typical noise between both sides:

* Georgia said April 21 that the Russian air force shot down a Georgian unmanned aerial vehicle.
* Russia’s State Duma held talks April 25 on recognizing Georgia’s two secessionist regions’ independence from Tbilisi.
* One of Georgia’s breakaway regions, Abkhazia, said April 28 that it is expanding its military agreements with Russia, though no details were given.
* Georgia announced April 29 that it is ceasing its talks over Russia’s bid for World Trade Organization membership — something Tbilisi vetoed in 2006.

However, this sort of noise and diplomatic threats have been going on between Moscow and Tbilisi since 1993, with the breakpoint that could lead to an actual open conflict always seemingly near. Neither Georgia nor Russia has made the move yet to actually turn this ongoing tit-for-tat into something more; both sides have been aching to escalate the conflict, but either domestic problems, international constraints or bad timing has held them back.

Georgian Troop Movements, Russian Threats

But while the diplomatic moves and rhetoric rise, each side is taking a few actual steps that signal something more concrete is happening. During the past week, Georgia has moved 1,500 personnel — a mixture of soldiers and police — up against Abkhazia’s Kodori Gorge, one of the areas that has long been a conflict point among Georgia, Abkhazia and Russia. The Georgian forces are reportedly not accompanied by a heavy amount of artillery. The gorge is on the border between Georgia and the de facto independent Abkhazia, and is the only strip of Abkhaz territory not under Abkhaz control. The Kodori is populated by the Svans, a fiercely independent people who opposed Abkhaz rule — something Georgia has used to its advantage. Kodori has been under Georgian control off and on, with the rest of Abkhazia patrolled by Russian peacekeepers. Kodori is one of the few levers Georgia can use against Abkhazia.

The Russian Defense Ministry released a lengthy and detailed account April 29 of Georgia’s moves and what the Russian response will be. In the press release, the ministry says Russia will install more peacekeepers in this conflict zone, building 15 additional posts near the gorge — though there is no word on exactly how many more troops will be sent to Abkhazia. This is not the first amassing of troops by either side, however. Sources in Georgia told Stratfor that there has been some talk within Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili’s administration on whether this would be the time to attempt to push Russian forces from the country. Saakashvili sees these next few months as a time when Moscow will be completely preoccupied with other things, since Russian President Vladimir Putin will be handing over the reins to President-elect Dmitri Medvedev on May 7 and the internal Kremlin clan war is in full swing due to the power transition.

But the question is, even if Russia is too preoccupied, can the Georgians succeed in taking back Abkhazia with the current Russian and Abkhaz forces there? Georgia’s military has been embarrassingly defeated in the past in Abkhazia. And despite participating in operations in Iraq and some training evolutions with U.S. forces — both in Georgia and abroad — it is not clear that Tbilisi commands a military capable of imposing a military solution beyond its borders.

Chances for Broader Conflict in the Caucasus

Georgia could try to get international forces involved in its struggle. One of the few ways to do this would be to lure the Abkhaz into attacking Georgia on the latter’s turf. But there is no need for the Abkhaz to attack Georgia, especially within Georgia proper — unless Georgia provokes them by attacking the other Georgian secessionist region, South Ossetia. Though the Abkhaz and South Ossetians are separate ethnicities, the Abkhaz have always pledged to rush to South Ossetia’s rescue if they thought their fellow secessionists were under attack — and this pledge is not just rhetoric, since the Abkhaz have traveled across the Caucasus to aid other secessionist groups before.

Though the Abkhaz have handed the Georgian forces repeated defeats, Georgia can take on South Ossetia, whose people are not as organized, trained or militant as the Abkhaz. The only trick would be to seal off South Ossetia’s only solid connection to Russia — the Roki Tunnel — which supplies South Ossetia from Russia’s North Ossetia. If the Abkhaz actually crossed into Georgia proper to aid South Ossetia, it would be taken as a formal invasion. In a situation like this, Georgia could ask for international assistance, getting the United States or NATO involved, but it remains to be seen whether those international forces would actually get involved in a match that involves the heavyweight of Russia. This is the main reason why Tbilisi is wary to act.

But as the Georgian government considers the possible ways it could boot out the Russians once and for all and take back its secessionist regions, Moscow might not be as internally preoccupied as Tbilisi thinks. Yes, the Kremlin is embroiled in a power struggle, but it has made some contingency plans of its own to aid Abkhazia against the Georgians.

Sources in Moscow told Stratfor that in Russia’s autonomous region of Chechnya, the only two Chechen military battalions not under Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov or the Russian Defense Ministry have been preparing, arming and training in case they are needed to be deployed to Abkhazia. These forces, named the Vostok and Zapad battalions, are made up of former Chechen militants that trained in Georgia’s Pankisi Valley (a former safe haven for Chechen militants) and fought in the first Chechen war against Russia. However, they all turned pro-Russian during the radicalization of Chechen militants in 1999, and the Russian military has been training them in order to make them knowledgeable of both military and guerilla warfare tactics. Currently their numbers range between 2,000 and 4,000.

Any of the Chechen, Russian or Abkhaz forces alone would be enough to overwhelm the Georgian military, but put together they would comprise a force that could turn a potential minor conflict into a much broader, larger and more vicious war.

Source: http://www.stratfor.com/analysis/rus...ing_flashpoint

[Armenian]

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

Russia upgrades its strategic bombers

On April 29, representatives of the Kazan Aircraft Production Association (KAPO) presented the 121st Heavy Bomber Regiment of the Russian Air Force's 37th Army with a brand-new Tupolev Tu-160 Blackjack strategic bomber. The warplane is named after Vitaly Kopylov, who headed the company in 1973-1993. Russia now has 16 front-line Tu-160 bombers, each of which can carry 12 X-55 subsonic nuclear-tipped cruise missiles with a range of over 3,000 km. Each bomber can carry up to 40 metric tons of ordnance, including conventional X-55 missiles. Before December 1991, the Soviet Union had 36 Tu-160 bombers. After the break-up of the U.S.S.R., Ukraine seized 20 of these in the city of Priluki. Under the Lisbon Agreement between Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, the United States and Russia, the former three countries were not allowed to have any nuclear weapons or their delivery vehicles. Twelve Ukrainian strategic bombers were eventually cut up in the presence of international inspectors and journalists.

After protracted talks, the remaining eight Tu-160s were transferred to Russia as payment for Kiev's gas debts. However, the planes had to be overhauled at KAPO, which is still upgrading some of them. According to official military documents, the Tu-160 is intended to "launch conventional and nuclear weapons against vital targets in remote regions and in the deep rear of continental theaters of war." Unlike the Boeing B-1 Lancer bomber, the Tu-160 has never taken part in such military operations. Instead of being part of the Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD) concept, the Tu-160 serves to deter possible aggression. From the late 1980s and until the early 1990s, Tu-160 bombers flew regular patrol missions over the Arctic, Atlantic and Pacific oceans. They carried no weapons, although Moscow did not tell anyone about this.

The Air Force high command said its strategic bombers, which resumed flying regular patrol missions over the Arctic, Atlantic and Pacific oceans from August 17, 2007, carried only dummy weapons. Their crews conduct bombing runs over Russian territory. Russian strategic bombers flying routine missions in the North Atlantic are shadowed by NATO fighters. Colonel General Alexander Zelin, commander-in-chief of the Russian Air Force, said this was also a good way to train NATO crews. Both sides do their best to avoid direct confrontation. The NATO pilots keep their distance. In fact, the professionalism of Russian and Western air crews has so far prevented any emergencies. The media sometimes report incidents involving Russian bombers buzzing U.S. aircraft carriers. According to General Zelin, Russian pilots do not violate any international agreements or safety precautions.

Although Moscow is not obliged to notify its NATO partners about all upcoming patrol missions involving Tu-160 and Tu-95 Bear bombers, it does so on a regular basis. General Zelin said bomber crews commanded by young captains and majors would fly up to 20-30 patrol missions per month, and that 40 missions had been flown in January-March 2008. He said 40 crews had been trained to fly in polar regions without any visible landmarks or reference points, and that pilots had logged an average of 60-80 hours in mid-air. The Vitaly Kopylov strategic bomber will help implement combat-training programs. The Russian Air Force is to receive four to five more upgraded Tu-160s before the year is out.

Source: http://en.rian.ru/analysis/20080430/106294211.html

[Armenian]

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

SEASONS OF RUSSIAN CULTURE TO BE HELD IN ARMENIA UNTIL LATE 2008

Mikhail Shvidkoy, the Head of the RF Federal Agency of Culture and Cinematography, is in Armenia at the invitation of the RA Ministry of Culture. Within the framework of the visit, on April 23, an agreement on organization and holding of Seasons of Russian Culture in Armenia in 2008 was signed between the Ministry and the Agency. As RA Minister of Culture Hasmik Poghosian mentioned, Armenian-Russian cultural relations have always been high-level. The Minister said that many events will be organized both in Armenia and in Russia within the framework of bilateral cooperation. In particular, Armen Jigarkhanian's and Fomenko's theaters will perform on tours in Armenia. The latter will present the War and Peace and Family Happiness performances to spectators. And Moscow A. Chekhov Art Academic Theater will take part in the Shakespeare Festival to be held in Yerevan presenting the Hamlet performance. Besides, according to H. Poghosian, a series of events dedicated to the memory of renowned Armenian composer Mikayel Tariverdiyev will be organized within the framework of the agreement. M. Shvidkoy, in his turn, said that companies of actors, who have never been to Armenia, will also perform on tours in Armenia this year. "Cooperation of Armenian and Russian artists continues and we try to find new ways of cooperation, as well as to deepen and strengthen bilateral cultural relations for even more," he said.

Source: http://groong.usc.edu/news/msg230519.html

[Armenian]

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

Russia beefs up Abkhazia forces

Extra Russian troops are now being deployed in Georgia's breakaway Abkhazia region, Russia says. The defence ministry said the fresh units were joining peacekeeping troops in the Tkvarcheli district, in line with an existing peace accord. The statement, quoted by Itar-Tass news agency, did not say how many extra troops were being deployed. Nato has accused Russia of increasing tension in Abkhazia, where separatists broke away from Georgia in the 1990s. Russia has kept a peacekeeping force in Abkhazia and another breakaway region, South Ossetia, under an agreement made following the wars of the early 1990s. Russia is known to have about 2,000 troops already in Abkhazia, and about 1,000 in South Ossetia. Moscow has accused Georgia of preparing to invade Abkhazia. Earlier, Georgia condemned Russia's decision to forge closer ties with the separatist authorities there. "The steps that have been taken [by Russia] and the rhetoric have increased tensions and undermined Georgia's territorial integrity," Nato spokesman James Appathurai said on Wednesday. He urged both Moscow and Tbilisi to avoid harsh rhetoric. Russia said Georgia was massing 1,500 soldiers and police in the upper Kodori Gorge, the only part of Abkhazia which remains under government control. Georgia denies any build-up of its own forces in the area, and says that Russia is taking provocative action.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7377049.stm

[skhara]

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


West must stand up to Russia or risk crisis - Georgia

http://in.reuters.com/article/worldN...33352420080501

TBILISI (Reuters) - The "moment of truth" has come for Europe to resist hardliners in Russia who are bent on stopping the spread of democracy in the former Soviet Union, Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili said on Thursday.

Moscow has sparked an international crisis by ordering extra troops and equipment to Abkhazia, a Black Sea province which threw off Georgian rule in the 1990s. It says the forces are needed as peacekeepers because Tbilisi plans an invasion.

NATO has dismissed the invasion claim and Washington says Russia's action risks destabilising the whole Caucasus region, a key transit route for energy supplies to the West.

But Saakashvili told Reuters that Europe needed to react more strongly to stop the crisis escalating into a major threat to international peace and stability.

"This is not just an attack on a piece of Georgian territory," Saakashvili said in an interview, conducted at his half-finished new presidential palace on a hill overlooking central Tbilisi.

"This is an attack on what some politicians in Moscow regard as the dangerous virus of democracy and freedom spreading in Russia's neighbourhood."

Russian President Vladimir Putin had sent in the troops and ordered closer links with the separatists because he wanted to punish the West for recognising the independence of Kosovo and expanding NATO, Saakashvili added.

"They clearly have said -- and this was reiterated by Putin to me -- this is a response to the Kosovo precedent, this is a response to Western neglect of Russian positions and this is a response to the perceived threat of NATO enlargement in this region," Saakashvili said.

The Georgian leader said NATO's decision not to set Georgia and fellow ex-Soviet state Ukraine on the road to full membership immediately at a summit last month had sent a dangerous signal to hardliners in Moscow that they could act.

He urged Europe to use "all its diplomatic arsenal to deter the aggressive instincts of some politicians in Moscow", adding later that "these people have never reconciled themselves to the dissolution of the Soviet Union."

Putin hands over the presidency next week after eight years to his chosen successor and long-time ally Dmitry Medvedev, and Saakashvili said domestic Russian politics was contributing to Moscow's tough stance on Abkhazia and the other pro-Russian separatist province in Georgia, South Ossetia.

Saakashvili also faces a challenge on the home front.

Georgia holds parliamentary elections in just under three weeks but the president said he was confident of maintaining a majority for his ruling National Movement party.

The West's main election watchdog criticised last January's presidential election in Georgia, in which Saakashvili won a second term, and the opposition accused the president of rigging the result -- a charge he strongly denied.

Saakashvili's democratic credentials were tarnished after police used tear-gas and batons to break up a peaceful protest against his government last November and troops stormed an opposition television station, taking it off the air.

But he promised to make the parliamentary election "as clean as we can" and insisted Georgia's free market reforms and pluralism were a model for the former Soviet Union -- a region still mostly ruled by long-serving, authoritarian leaders.

"We want to turn Georgia into the Dubai or Singapore of this part of the world but think Dubai and Singapore with democracy," Saakashvili said.

[Armenian]

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

Russia-Belarus Accent Defense

Russian Defense Minister Anatoli Serdiukov highlighted the Russia-Belarus joint defense potential on Wednesday, declaring it a key factor to counteract any aggression or threat to either country's security. Serdiukov spoke at a two-day ministerial meeting in Minsk and called to unify defense resources to reverse common threats. The NATO extension, the planned sites of the US anti-missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic, intensification of the tension in the Middle East and other conflicts urge close military coordination, he said. Serdiukov assessed the dynamic cooperation between Moscow and Minsk in the defense sphere as excellent and successful. Belarusian Defense Minister Leonid Maltsev said the decisions in defense policy and in strengthening military relations create a solid base for long-term, mutually advantageous cooperation. He also highlighted both bilateral relations and those within the Collective Security Organization Treaty, composed of Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. After welcoming the visiting minister, President Alexander Lukashenko asserted that Moscow does not have a more reliable partner in the West than Belarus and that joint creation of a regional troop speaks for itself and proves united positions. We will react together, with common positions toward the challenges and threats that surround us, said Lukashenko. The head of State asserted there were never issues between the Russian army and that of his country. Both ministries signed an inter-government agreement for shared technical assistance to the Russia-Belarus regional troop group, also established at the time of the ministerial meeting.

Source: http://www.plenglish.com/article.asp...D)&language=EN

Belarus Orders Expulsion Of 10 U.S. Diplomats

Belarus ordered 10 of 15 U.S. diplomats in this capital city Wednesday to leave the country within 72 hours. The Belarus foreign ministry summoned the head of the U.S. mission, Jonathan Moore, and told him that the 10 diplomats are persona non grata. Moore said he would comply with the order. Diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Belarus have been tense following Washington's November ban on U.S. citizens from working with Belarussian oil company Belneftekhim and the freezing of the oil firm's assets in the U.S. The sanctions were imposed due to alleged human rights violations committed by the Belarussian government against opposition members. In March, Belarus expelled the U.S. ambassador, Karen Stuart, in retaliation for the sanctions on Belneftekhim, a major revenue source for the country.

Source: http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7010811310

U.S. mulls closing Belarus embassy, official says

The United States has warned Belarus it is considering forcing Minsk to withdraw all its diplomats from the United States in retaliation for Belarus' expulsion of 10 U.S. envoys, a U.S. official said on Thursday. "We made it quite clear both here and in Minsk that one of the options being considered was simply to pull our remaining staff out and then require them to do the same," said the U.S. official, who spoke on condition that he not be named. The U.S. warning was issued a day after Belarus announced it was expelling the 10 U.S. diplomats in a deepening dispute over human rights and sanctions.

The United States has protested the expulsions as unjustified but has refused to retract economic sanctions on Belarus that Washington imposed last year to back up demands for Minsk to release detainees. State Department spokesman Tom Casey told reporters the Bush administration was still considering how to respond to Belarus but he did not expect any announcements on Thursday. "We have told them that we are considering the full range of options in terms of our respective diplomatic presences," Casey told reporters. "At this point we have not made a decision to formally ask them, or informally ask them, to reduce staff further," Casey said. He said however that it would be "hard to have a functioning embassy" in Minsk when the expulsions would effectively leave the post with just four U.S. diplomats.

Washington and the 27-member European Union accuse Belarus of flouting democratic freedoms. They have imposed sanctions on the former Soviet republic, including an entry ban on President Alexander Lukashenko, whom they accuse of manipulating votes to secure re-election last year. He has been in power since 1994. Relations between the United States and Belarus soured in the last year after Washington imposed sanctions on the national oil products firm Belneftekhim.

The U.S. ambassador left Belarus in March at the urging of authorities. Belarus has rejected allegations that it flouts human rights, and says its record is on a par with the United States. Belarus said on Wednesday that the 10 U.S. diplomats must leave because Washington had failed to comply with a demand to reduce the embassy's staff, the second this year. U.S. officials have said a resumption of dialogue is possible if Belarus releases its most prominent detainee, Alexander Kozulin, jailed for 5-1/2 years for helping stage mass protests against Lukahenkos' re-election.

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/domes...43797520080501

[Azad]

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

"WASHINGTON — John McCain dropped a little-noticed bombshell into his March foreign-policy address: Boot Russia from the G-8, the elite club of leading industrial democracies whose leaders try to coordinate economic policies.

One major problem: He can't do it because the other G-7 nations won't let him.

But the fact that he's proposing to try, risking a return to Cold War tensions with the world's second-largest nuclear power after 20 years of prickly partnership, raises questions about McCain's judgment. It also underscores that many of his top foreign-policy advisers are of the same neo-conservative school that promoted the war in Iraq , argue for a tougher stance toward Iran and are skeptical of negotiating with North Korea over its nuclear program...."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcclatchy/20080501/wl_mcclatchy/2927033

I am surprised that they even wrote anything in those lines. It should be the Soros's camp.