The Rise of the Russian Empire: Russo-Armenian Relations

[Armenian]

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

Russia plans new ICBMs, nuclear subs

Russia's defense minister on Wednesday laid out an ambitious plan for building new intercontinental ballistic missiles, nuclear submarines and possibly aircraft carriers, and set the goal of exceeding the Soviet army in combat readiness.

Sergei Ivanov's statements appeared aimed at raising his profile at home ahead of the 2008 election in which he is widely seen as a potential contender to succeed President Vladimir Putin. But they also seemed to reflect a growing chill in Russian-U.S. relations and the Kremlin's concern about U.S. missile defense plans. Ivanov told parliament the military would get 17 new ballistic missiles this year — a drastic increase over the average of four deployed annually in recent years. The purchases are part of a weapons modernization program for 2007-2015 worth about $190 billion. The plan envisages the deployment of 34 new silo-based Topol-M missiles and control units, as well as an additional 50 such missiles mounted on mobile launchers by 2015; Russia so far has deployed more than 40 silo-based Topol-Ms.

Putin and other officials have described the Topol-M as a bulwark of Russia's nuclear might for years to come, and said it can penetrate any prospective missile defenses. Last week, Putin dismissed U.S. claims that missile defense sites Washington hopes to establish in Poland and the Czech Republic were intended to counter threats from Iran, and said Russia would respond by developing more efficient weapons systems. In 2002, Putin and President Bush signed a treaty obliging both sides to cut their strategic nuclear weapons by about two-thirds by 2012, down to 1,700 to 2,200 missiles. But Russian-U.S. ties have since worsened steadily over disagreements on Iraq and other global crises, and U.S. concerns about an increasingly authoritarian streak in Russia's domestic policy.

"The Russian leadership believes that a nuclear parity with the United States is vitally important because it allows it to conduct an equal dialogue on other issues," said an independent military analyst, Alexander Golts. A rising tide of oil revenues has enabled Russia to boost defense spending following a squeeze on the military in the 1990s. "The question now is whether the industries are capable of producing what the military needs," Ivanov said. Analysts warn that building any sizable numbers of new weapons would pose a daunting challenge to the defense plants that received virtually no government orders for a decade following the 1991 Soviet collapse.

"Links to subcontractors have been broken, and the defense plants now need to rebuild them to produce weapons," Golts said. Alexander Pikayev, a senior analyst at the Moscow-based Institute for World Economy and International Relations, said the military had failed to set the right priorities for weapons procurement in the past. Russia's defense budget, which stood at $8.1 billion in 2001, nearly quadrupled to $31 billion this year, Ivanov said. While this year's military spending is Russia's largest since the 1991 Soviet collapse, it is still about 20 times less than the U.S. defense budget. Ivanov said the military now has enough money to intensify combat training.

"Combat readiness of the army and the navy is currently the highest in the post-Soviet history," he said, adding the task now is to "exceed Soviet-era levels."

Ivanov said the military now has about 1.13 million servicemen, compared with 1.34 million in 2001. By 2015, the military plans to have about 1 million servicemen as Russia continues to reduce its bloated armed forces. "We can't go below that," he said. The Kremlin has rejected liberals' calls to abolish the draft, saying Russia needs a large number of conscripts to protect its huge territory. Ivanov said the weapons modernization program would allow the military to replace 45 percent of existing arsenals with modern weapons systems by 2015. As part of the plan, the navy will commission 31 new ships, including eight nuclear submarines carrying intercontinental ballistic missiles, Ivanov said. He played down recent failed launches of the Bulava missile being developed to equip these submarines. The Bulava, developed by the same design bureau that built the Topol-M, failed in three consecutive launches late last year.

"If we already had commissioned this missile and had failures, that would have been a nightmare," Ivanov said, adding that launch failures were "within the norm" in the testing phase. He also said the government would decide in 2009-2010 whether to start the construction of a new shipyard for building aircraft carriers. Russia now only has one Soviet-built medium-sized aircraft carrier capable of carrying about 30 jets and helicopters.

News Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070207/...jwL7Y4HoObOrgF

[Norserunt]

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

Putin rails against US foreign policy

Vladimir Putin threw down the gauntlet to the west in a confrontational speech on Saturday, attacking what he called "illegal" US unilateral military action and arguing it had made the world more dangerous. In a speech before an annual security conference held in Munich, he attacked the US for its use of "illegal" military force and its plans to build anti-missile defences in Europe, the expansion of Nato including countries that were formerly part of the Soviet Union, and a host of other western policies. To a shocked audience that included Robert Gates, US defence secretary, John McCain, US presidential contender, and a group of Washington lawmakers, Mr Putin declared the end of the unipolar world, which he described as a failure for the world and the US itself.

In a presumed reference mainly to the war in Iraq, Mr Putin said, "unilateral illegal actions have not resolved any single problem," emphasising the many more people who had been killed as a result of US military action. He added: "We don't have enough force to resolve anything comprehensively." He said that only the United Nations – not Nato or the European Union - could authorise the use of military force around the world, and even then it should be as a last resort. Mr Putin also called into question a nuclear missile disarmament treaty that formed the bedrock of arms reduction efforts during the cold war. He said he was concerned about the spread of medium range missiles around the world to countries such as North Korea, Iran, Pakistan and India.

In a worrying development for arms control advocates, he said that only the US and Russia had made commitments not to build such weapons – and said these commitments had to be revisited to ensure security. Under the 1988 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty agreed by Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev, the US and Soviet Union agreed to eliminate and renounce nuclear and conventional ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges of 500-5,500km. The Russian president said the treaty was outdated because it prohibited the US and Russia from possessing such weapons while other countries were not restricted in developing them.

"We are forced to think about guarantees of our security," Mr Putin said.

In 2005, Sergei Ivanov, the Russian defence minister and potential successor to Mr Putin, asked Donald Rumsfeld, then US defence minister, how the Bush administration would respond if Russia quit the INF treaty. US-based experts at the time were divided over whether he was representing the Kremlin, or just the views of the Russian defence ministry. Mr Putin's attacked Washington's missile defence plans, which he suggested could trigger an arms race. "We can't be happy with plans to deploy elements of anti-ballistic missile defences in Europe," he said. He cast doubt on the justification for such defences in Europe, saying no "problem state" had missiles capable of reaching European soil. The US has long said its missile defences were aimed not at major nuclear powers, such as Russia or China, but at "rogue" states with just a handful of missiles. Speaking in Seville earlier this week, Mr Gates said the rudimentary US missile defence system was not aimed at Russia.

"We have made quite clear that it is not directed at them," said Mr Gates. "In India, deputy prime minister [Ivanov] acknowledged that it posed no threat to Russia or its strategic interests."

Asked whether Washington would be prepared to sign a binding agreement saying the system was not intended as a defence against Russia, Mr Gates responded: "I don't know if that would be appropriate."

Mr Putin said Russia's decision to deploy new Topol M long range missiles in Russia were to ensure that Moscow's nuclear deterrent remained potent in the face of more developed US missile defences.

"If you say that your ABM system is not directed at us, our missiles are not aimed at you," he said. He said militarisation of space could have unpredictable consequences for world security and was unacceptable. To deal with this, Russia had drafted a treaty to prevent the placing of weapons in space, which it would send to its international partners in the near future, he said. He was critical of western countries for not ratifying a treaty signed in 1999 to reduce the number of conventional forces in Europe – and of US construction of so-called forward operating bases in Romania and Bulgaria.

Even in the investment field, Russia was discriminated against, he said. Foreign companies were responsible for the extraction of 26 per cent of Russian oil. But Russian companies faced obstacles when they wanted to invest abroad: the ratio of inward investment by foreign companies in Russia to outward investment by Russian companies abroad was 15:1. In almost the only conciliatory remarks in his presentation, he described President George W. Bush as a "decent man".

"One can do business with him…when I talk to him I assume Russia and the US will never be enemies and I agree with him."

John McCain, the influential Republican senator and potential candidate for the 2008 presidential race, hit back at Mr Putin's suggestion that the US was operating unilaterally under the assumption that the end of the cold war had produced a uni-polar world.

"Today's world is not unipolar," Mr McCain said "The US did not single-handedly win the Cold War in some unilateral victory. The transatlantic alliance won the Cold War, and there are power centres on every continent today. Russian leaders' apparent belief to the contrary raises a number of difficult questions."

Mr Putin did provide a glimmer of hope that Russia might put more pressure on Iran to respond more positively to efforts by the International Atomic Energy Agency to force Iran to resolve the standoff over its controversial nuclear programme. In his speech, Mr Putin said: "I don't understand why Iran has not responded positively and constructively to these [nuclear] concerns and the proposals by [IAEA chief Mohamed] El Baradei that would address these concepts".

The international community should provide incentives, he said, to show Iran that "cooperation is better than confrontation".

While criticising Mr Putin for making the "most aggressive remarks by a Russian leader since the end of the Cold War", Mr McCain welcomed his comments on Iran as a "positive note".

News Source: http://www.euro2day.gr/articlesfna/28500209/

Cool War as Russia muscles up

CONCERNS are growing over a new bout of East-West confrontation after Russia unveiled a big increase in military spending. Russia's move follows the US decision to locate parts of its controversial missile defence system in eastern Europe. Russia's hawkish Defence Minister, Sergei Ivanov, revealed an ambitious plan for new intercontinental ballistic missiles, nuclear submarines and possibly a fleet of aircraft carriers. He said Moscow also would revamp its early-warning radar system. This overhaul of Russia's military infrastructure would cost around 5000 billion roubles ($A243 billion) over eight years.

The sharp rise in expenditure comes at a time of growing coolness in US-Russian relations. President Vladimir Putin has been incensed by the Bush Administration's intention to site missile defence systems in Poland and the Czech Republic. The US says the installations are being built to shoot down possible long-range missiles fired by Iran or North Korea. But Mr Putin says the real target of the missile shield is clearly Russia and its vast nuclear arsenal.

Mr Putin is expected to deliver Russia's scathing response to the US plans in Munich, where leaders are gathering at the weekend. Defence and security leaders are to meet in the German city to wrestle with issues such as Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iran. Mr Putin and Mr Ivanov will deliver speeches, as will the new Pentagon chief, Robert Gates, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and Ali Larijani, the key Iranian official for Tehran's suspect nuclear program. Analysts said Moscow was worried the defence shield in eastern Europe could turn into a Trojan horse.

"This is irritating for Russia," said Yevgeny Miasnikov, a senior research scientist at Moscow's Centre for Arms Control. "When the Soviet Union collapsed, a vacuum was created in the countries of the former Warsaw bloc. The US has tentatively moved into the vacuum and is creating infrastructure that might threaten Russia.

"The Bush Administration's system is not justified. Iran doesn't have a missile capability yet to hit the US. The logical place to put a defence system would be in Turkey, or in Russia itself."

In his speech to Russia's parliament, Mr Ivanov said the military would get 17 ballistic missiles this year, compared with an average of four in recent years. The plan envisaged the deployment of 34 new silo-based Topol-M missiles and control units, as well as another 50 such missiles mounted on mobile launchers by 2015, he said. Russia has already deployed more than 40 silo-based Topol-Ms. Writing in a Munich newspaper yesterday, Mr Ivanov said: "The deployment of American missile defence in Europe has not only a military but also a symbolic significance. Fifteen years after the end of the Cold War, a situation is obviously being created in which the continent again can only manage with American protection and with reinforced American military presence."

New Source: http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/...24298469.html#

Russian general says: U.S. expansion in zone of influence top threat

MOSCOW - Russia's top military officer said the United States is expanding its economic, political and military presence in Russia's traditional zones of influence and described that as the top national security threat, the latest signal of a growing chill in relations. Gen. Yuri Baluyevsky, chief of the military's General Staff, said Russia now faces even greater military threats than during the Cold War and the nation needs a new military doctrine to respond to these challenges, according to a speech posted on the Defense Ministry's Web site Friday.

"Russia's cooperation with the West on the basis of forming common or close strategic interests hasn't helped its military security," Baluyevsky said in the speech, delivered at a recent security conference in Moscow. "Moreover, the situation in many regions of the world which are vitally important for Russia and near its borders has sometimes become more difficult."

Russian-U.S. ties have worsened steadily over disagreements on Iraq and other global crises, and U.S. concerns about an increasingly authoritarian streak in Russia's domestic policy and strong-arming of ex-Soviet neighbors. Baluyevsky referred to what he called "the U.S. military leadership's course aimed at maintaining its global leadership and expanding its economic, political and military presence in Russia's traditional zones of influence" as a top threat for Russia's national security.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has reacted angrily to U.S. plans to deploy missile defense sites in Poland and the Czech Republic, saying Moscow does not trust U.S. claims they were aimed to counter missile threats from Iran and will take relevant countermeasures. Both countries are former Soviet satellites that became NATO members. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, meanwhile, said Russia would find an "intellectual response" to the U.S. move and not plunge into a new arms race, according to an interview with Germany's Der Spiegel magazine posted on the ministry's Web site Friday.

Russian officials have assailed the United States and its NATO allies for their refusal to ratify an amended version of the Conventional Forces in Europe treaty which regulates the deployment of military aircraft, tanks and other heavy non-nuclear weapons around the continent. Russia has ratified the amended version of the treaty signed in 1999, but the United States and other NATO members have refused to do that until Russia abides by its commitment to withdraw troops from the ex-Soviet republics of Moldova and Georgia. Russia said the link was irrelevant, and threatened to opt out of the treaty.

In remarks posted Friday, Lavrov said that the failure to ratify the amended document had "led to very serious imbalances between the armed forces," since the arsenals of former Soviet allies which that have joined NATO were counted alongside Soviet weapons in the original 1990 CFE Treaty. Amid growing distrust of U.S. intentions, Russia's lawmakers and commentators reacted nervously to comments by U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates naming Russia as a potential threat.

"We don't know what's going to develop in places like Russia and China, in North Korea, in Iran and elsewhere," Gates told a House of Representatives committee meeting earlier this week, according to a Pentagon transcript. The daily newspaper Gazeta on Friday said that Gates' statement could "go down to history books as a starting point for a new twist of the Cold War."

Viktor Ozerov, the head of the defense committee in Russia's upper house of parliament, said Gates' comments signaled "U.S. attempts to draw our nation into a new arms race," the Interfax news agency quoted him as saying. "We will have to find an asymmetrical response."

News Source: http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradent...d/16667804.htm

[Armenian]

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

Russia To Modernize Armenia Base

Russia plans to modernize the weaponry and other equipment of its troops stationed in Armenia, a top Russian military official said on Wednesday at the start of a three-day visit to his country’s closest regional ally. General Vladimir Mikhaylov, commander-in-chief of the Russian Air Force, said Moscow is already repairing technical facilities as part of a “gradual re-equipment” of its military base headquartered in the Armenian city of Gyumri. The Russian military intends to supply it with new equipment, he told reporters in Yerevan, refusing to go into details.

Mikhaylov’s comments will likely be welcomed by official Yerevan which regards the Russian military presence as a key element of Armenia’s national security doctrine. As recently as in late December, Defense Minister Serzh Sarkisian expressed hope that the Russian base will be modernized this year with “the most modern weapons.” Sarkisian said he will be “twice as happy” if some of those weapons are transferred to the Armenian army. The Gyumri base has already been boosted with some of the hardware belonging to Russian troops that are being pulled out of neighboring Georgia. The transfer was completed late last year amid protests from Azerbaijan.

Mikhaylov arrived in Yerevan to preside over an annual meeting of the air defense chiefs of Russia, Armenia and four other ex-Soviet states making up the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO). The meeting will be followed by the inauguration of the newly upgraded Russian-Armenian system of air defense which was launched almost eight years ago. Mikhaylov’s deputy, Lieutenant-General Aytech Bizhev, revealed recently that Russia helped to modernize Armenia’s anti-aircraft capabilities last year. He said Armenian specialists will now be able to operate the Russian S-300 missile systems that were deployed in Armenia in the late 1990s.

(Photolur photo: S-300 missiles deployed near Gyumri.)

News Source: http://www.armenialiberty.org/armeni...5591A54E06.ASP

[ArmenianKid]

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

The Russian and Armenian militarys for that matter have terribly low moral because of living conditions and low wages.
Until they fix that i wouldn't expect much.

[Armenian]

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

Russian died reporting on arms sales to Iran, Syria



MOSCOW — A journalist who plunged to his death from his apartment building window faced threats while reporting on a sensitive story that Russia planned to sell sophisticated missiles to Syria and Iran, his newspaper reported Tuesday. Ivan Safronov, a military affairs writer for the daily Kommersant, died Friday after plunging from a stairwell window between the fourth and fifth stories. Kommersant reported Tuesday that Safronov had told his editors he was working on a story about Russian plans to sell weapons to Iran and Syria via Belarus.

The deals, if concluded, could upset the balance of power in the Middle East and strain Russia's relations with Israel and the United States, which strongly objected to earlier Russian weapons sales to the two countries. Kommersant reported that Safronov, 51, had recently told colleagues he was warned he would face a criminal investigation for possibly releasing state secrets if he reported allegations that Russia had struck a deal to supply Iskander missiles to Syria.

"Ivan Safronov said he was not going to write about it for a while because he was warned that it would create a huge international scandal and the FSB (Federal Security Service) would launch a criminal case on charges of breaching state secrets," the newspaper said. Safronov did not say where the warning came from, according to Kommersant, but he had repeatedly been questioned by the FSB — the KGB's main successor agency. Prosecutors have said nothing about Safronov's death, except that they are investigating it as a suicide.

The death comes amid a rash of attacks on journalists who write about official corruption, Chechnya and other abuses and amid fears that, under President Vladimir Putin, Russia is backsliding toward authoritarianism. Investigative reporter Anna Politkovskaya, a Kremlin critic, was shot dead in Moscow in October. The U.S.-based Committee to Protect Journalists said that 13 journalists have been killed in contract-style murders since Putin took office in 2000.

News Link: http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/printDS/172382

[Armenian]

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

Yerevan-Moscow relations can be described as strategic partnership

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenia and Russia have enjoyed friendly and strategic relations during 15 years that passed since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two states, Russian Ambassador to RA Nikolay Pavlov told a news conference in Yerevan. Relations are dynamically developing in political and economic fields, he said. “Bilateral visits of leaders of the states and governments are very important since they suppose discussion of regional problems, bilateral relations and cooperation on the international arena,” Pavlov said.

“However, there are some difficulties in economic cooperation, specifically absence of transport communications between Armenia and Russia. Nevertheless the commodity turnover between our states reached $426 million against $350 million in 2005. The amount of Russian investments in the Armenian economy is growing. The activities of Gazprom, Armenal and VTB (Vneshtorgbank) as well as Vympelcom’s coming to the Armenian telecommunication market can serve as an example. As to starting of 5 Armenian enterprises conveyed to Russia within “Property for Debt” treaty, this is an issue of concern not only for Armenia but also for Russia. The work of the Armenian-Russian intergovernmental commission on economic cooperation in aimed at resolution of these problems,” the Russian diplomat said.

The Russian Ambassador also pointed out to the efficient Armenian-Russian cooperation in military field. “Russia guards Armenia’s state borders with Iran and Turkey, Armenian servicemen study in Russian institutions. Furthermore, Russia supplies Armenia with technical equipment at reduced prices,” Pavlov underscored.

[Armenian]

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

China-Russia: Roots of friendship grow deeper



Monday was the start of the“Year of China in Russia", an event to help promote Chinese culture in China's northern neighbor. This follows "The Year of Russia in China" that was help through 2006. It was one packed with of reminiscence and discovery for all Chinese. It's always exciting to make friends from afar. And when Russia set up a cultural feast for China last year, it stirred up profound feelings. Rarely can another country be such an emotional trigger. But exchange between the two nations goes way back. China came to know Russia through the Bolshoi ballet, Gorky novels, and masterful oil paintings. And this year's comprehensive display of Russian culture made cross-border ties still more secure.

The mention alone of the Bolshoi stirs images of magnificent operas and ballets. To open the Year of Russia in China, the world-famous troupe held their biggest show ever on foreign soil. Many more quality shows followed, with the theme of "Classic Forever, Heritage and Development." There were theatrical offerings, like "For Every Wise Man, There's Enough Simplicity" and "Petty Bourgeois," to Shostakovich's 1928 opera "The Nose." Chinese actors look up to Russian theater, and have taken their own bold steps, doing full justice to the country's classics. For the 100th anniversary of the birth of Shostakovich, the Beijing Music Festival dedicated an entire series to the composer. Russia's oldest and most prestigious orchestra, the Mariinsky, played the Festival Overture at the opening ceremony.

News source: http://www.cctv.com/program/culturee.../100591.shtml#

In related news:

Russia, China Look for Greater Ties With India

Russia and China have called for expanding trilateral cooperation with India. Triangular interaction "enhances mutually beneficial economic cooperation among the three nations, strengthens their coordination in facing new challenges and threats, especially that of international terrorism, [and] contributes to the cause of promoting peace and stability in Asia and throughout the world," Russian President Vladimir Putin and President Hu Jintao said in a Joint Declaration signed after their talks in the Kremlin.

News source: http://www.india-defence.com/reports/2967

Russia, China planning 150 projects worth over $20 Bln

Moscow. March 29. (Interfax-China) - Russia and China are planning projects worth over $20 billion, including the Federation Tower in Moscow, a glass plant in the Tver region, and ships for the Far Eastern Shipping Company, Aeroflot's General Director Valery Okulov said at the second session of the Russian-Chinese Business Council (RCBC) in Moscow on Wednesday.

News source: http://www.interfax.cn/displayarticl...SIA-INVESTMENT

Russia, China aim for Red Planet

China will launch a joint mission with Russia to Mars, a "milestone" in space co-operation between the two countries. The agreement was signed during a three-day visit to Russia by China's president Hu Jintao. The move follows pledges by Moscow to work more closely with the Chinese on missions to Mars and the Moon. A small satellite developed by China will piggyback on the Russian launch of a spacecraft called "Phobos Grunt", probably in October 2009. In a statement, the China National Space Administration said the agreement "indicates the two sides have taken a key step forward to working together on a large space programme."

News source:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/h...re/6506539.stm

[Armenian]

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

RUSSIA NOT INDIFFERENT TO POLITICAL PROCESSES IN ARMENIA

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "Russia is not indifferent to political processes
in Armenia, specifically on the threshold of election," said Sergey
Markov, Director of the Institute for Political Studies. "First,
Armenian nation is a fraternal nation and it's not all the same for
us how this fraternal nation lives.

Second, we are developing a multisided cooperation with
Armenia. Armenia is a member of the CIS, CSTO and EurAsEC. It's our
strategic partner in the Transcaucasus and we highlight stability in
an allied state. The problem of stability emerged after the untimely
death of the Prime Minister. The post will be most likely assumed
by Serge Sargsyan, the incumbent Defense Minister and one of the
Republican Party leaders. This appointment will presume pro-Russian
line of the Armenian leadership but at the same time will lead to
intensification of the election struggle," Sergey Markov said.

"Russia should influence on the Armenian election without penetrating
into the republic's sovereignty. But Russia should not be more modest than U.S. and EU. I think it's high time to stop witnessing how our fraternal nations
are being invaded by outer influence centers and anti-Russian policy,"
the Russian expert said.

When asked how Russia should exert influence, Sergey Markov said,
"First of all we should send observers to Armenia to reduce the
republic's dependence from politically 'engaged' OSCE observers,
who arrive with prepared answers to all questions. Besides, Russia
should support some parties and candidates. We know that most of
Armenian citizens stand for priority of relations with Russia and
they have the right to know Russia's opinion," Kreml.org reports.

[Armenian]

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

The following article underscores the strategic importance of moving away from the US Dollar. Iran, Venezuela and Russia have gradually begun to implement such measures. If and China joins them in the future, that is precisely when American power and influence - worldwide - will begin to go into remission.

The international danger posed to the US Dollar by Iran, Russia and others today is coming at a time when the US treasury is severely stressed with debt that is running in the many tens of trillions of US Dollars. The US Dollar is also losing ground to the increasingly popular Euro. What's more, Iran's wise move may actually be playing into the hands of politicians in Europe who would like to see the Euro gain further value.

United Russia backs ban on "dollar", "euro" terms among MPs

MOSCOW, April 14 (RIA Novosti) - The pro-presidential United Russia faction backs a proposal by the head of Russia's Public Chamber to ban MPs and officials from using the terms "dollar" and "euro" in domestic economic debates, a faction top official said Friday. "This is a very timely initiative," Vyacheslav Volodin said commenting on the initiative voiced by academician Yevgeny Velikhov Thursday. "We believe we should use only the word 'ruble'." "If today government members [and] deputies calculate expenses and revenue in foreign currency, speak and think about foreign currency, we will never establish our national currency," he said. "We need to start with ourselves, to convince society that our ruble is the most stable currency, and that it's strengthening," Volodin said. Volodin said the lives of Russians could improve if officials dealing with finance and economics were to begin counting everything in rubles.

Source: http://en.rian.ru/russia/20060414/46423009.html

[Armenian]

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

The real enemy of Russia is the West

The "encirclement" of the Russian Federation has been a fundamental part of the western world's political formulations since the fall of the Soviet Union. The political establishment in the west fears Russia more than it fears any other entity, including China and the Islamic threat - which in realty does not exist. The west does not fear China because China is greatly dependent upon foreign oil and its trade with America to survive. Moreover, China is surrounded by India, Russia, Japan and the American Naval fleet, thus there is a balance of power in the region.

The Russian Federation, on the other hand, stretching from ocean to ocean, controls massive amounts of oil, natural gas and precious metals. As a result, Russia is self-reliant to a great degree. In addition, geographically, Russian is ideally located to directly impact various political theaters such as Europe, Middle East and Asia. Moreover, they continue to have have great military clout in the world. Under the leadership of Putin, Russia is making a gradual come back onto the international scene. Russian nationalism is on the rise. We may be witnessing the rise of a new Russian Empire.

Once one realizes just how much the establishment in the western world fears Russia, the conflicts in the bloody Balkans, Chechnya and Central Asia will make much more sense. Russia is the only serious longterm geopolitical threat to power brokers within the western world. However, the "elite" in the west will first need to break apart Russia's satellite nations like Iran, Syria, Serbia and Armenia before they can begin direct work against Russia. In the meantime, they will be fighting Russian influence via proxies.

Let's closely watch Russian-American relations regarding Iran, China, India and South America.

Besides being a massive nuclear armed military power, Russian strength is augmented by its abundant access to raw materials and natural resources such as oil, gas, coal, precious metals, industrial metals, precious gems, fresh water, timber, etc. Russia also possesses the knowhow to fully utilize her resources within the military industry, the social sector and the economy. Thus, the exploitation of Russia's natural resources will play an important role in its rise as a world power within the future. In the same context, the exhaustion of various resources within the western world, especially within Western Europe and North America, will be the fundamental reason for their eventual decline.

The bloody conflict within Chechnya was fundamentally a power struggle to wrestle Russia's strategic underbelly away from its control and Chechens were being used towards that very purpose by Western powers. Had the Russian Federation lost its control over Chechnya, the vast oil and gas resources of the strategic Caspian Sea region would have been effectively placed under a ZOG controlled Washington. It was no surprise that the anti-Russian movement within Chechnya was rather openly supported, financed and organized by the nations of Georgia, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Pakistan and perhaps Saudi Arabia. And, who is the backbone of the aforementioned nations? The answer is - the United States of America.

As the Soviet Union was collapsing more than a decade ago, there were concerns within the US State Department that a new alliance of "Byzantine" (i.e. Orthodox) nations would emerge from the ashes of Communism. As a result, when inevitable wars began to brake out during the early nineteen nineties between the former Yugoslav nations and between the Armenians and Azeri Turks, it was quite obvious where the geopolitical alliances were to be drawn.

In the Caucasus, officials within Washington and Ankara tried very hard to defeat the Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh by aiding the Azeris. Fortunately, the effort failed miserably as the Armenians with Russian help totally crushed their opponent. Unfortunately, however, Washington’s ambitions succeeded within the Balkans. With the Russian Federation unable to intervene, Washington spearheaded a massive bombing campaign against Serbia in the spring of 1999. As Washington was assisting the “Muslims” within Bosnia and Kosovo by killing “Christians”, they were conveniently eliminating Serbian power in the region that had long been considered by the US State Department as the last pro-Russian “Orthodox” bastion in Central Europe.

As such, the ongoing Russo-Chechen wars has been primarily over geostrategic formulation and “oil” and nothing much else. The territory of Chechnya controls vast and vital oil/gas routs that Russia desperately needs within its political influence. The aforementioned territory and oil/gas routes have also been very much sought after by Washington and its small group of allies for over ten years now. And that, in essence, explains why Washington, Ankara, London, Tbilisi, Baku and Tel Aviv have been for many years directly and indirectly supporting the Chechen independence movement within Russia, and not to mention the Taliban movement within Afghanistan throughout the nineties.

Thus, a new cold war between Russia and Washington, through proxies, has been ongoing for many years now. I call it -- Cold War II.

Within the geostrategic formulations of Moscow and Washington in this conflict, the nations of Turkey, Georgia, Armenia, Serbia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Syria, Iraq, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and the Russian region of Chechnya are essentially front lines and pawns. This explains the exceptionally close relationship between the nations of Russia, Moldova, Armenian, Tajikistan and the Islamic state of Iran, forming roughly a north-south alliance, and the close relationship between the nations of Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey, Pakistan, Israel and America, forming an east-west alliance. Thus, it's no wonder that the current global crisis we are seeing is being primarily centered over these regions in question.

Concerning the so-called "Al-Qaeda" organization:

I withhold absolute judgment until more conclusive and compelling evidences regarding them are made available - and this may not occur for many years to come. However, let us not forget that Al-Qaeda was the “monster” created by the American secret services in Pakistan with the sole intention of fighting the Soviet Union in Afghanistan. It perplexes me, nonetheless, that Al-Qaeda, in true Islamic fashion, does not concentrate its “terror” efforts against the Zionist state of Israel, which should quite naturally be considered “the” archenemy by an Islamist organization. The reality is that virtually every operation that the "Al Qaeda" has performed from the Balkans to the Caucasus to India has benefited the agenda of ZOG, including the very peculiar events that occurred on September 11, 2001. I believe there is much more to the speculations surrounding Al-Qaeda than we are being told. I guess that when history is written a few generations from now, if there is anything left to be written about, mankind will better understand what has been transpiring within the world recently.

The western world world is Russia's greatest threat. The Islamic fanatics are also being used by the west to destabilize the Russian Federation. Just analyze the creation of various Islamic groups such as the Taliban, Al-Qaeda, the KLA, the Bosnians military and the Chechen resistance and you will see an unmistakable anti-Russian agenda. The aforementioned armed Islamic groups were all in one way or another created, organized, financed and diplomatically supported by London, Washington, Tel Aviv with Riyadh, Islamabad and Ankara plying supporting roles. Also look at Washington's role in Uzbekistan, Afghanistan and the Persian Gulf and look at what they are attempting within the Ukraine, Georgia and Azerbaijan. Within the big picture, Islamic "terrorists" are simply foot soldiers within a greater "western" agenda.

As I mentioned above, during the collapse of the Soviet Union Washington feared an emergence of united Orthodox front made up of nations like Russia, Ukraine, Serbia, Georgia, Armenia. Washington also greatly feared the military and economic potential of an independent Russia. Just by looking at the way these geopolitical chess pieces were set at the time, one should have been able to forecast in 199o where more-or-less the next major conflicts would occur. It was obvious that as soon as the Soviet Union collapsed, Washington, London, Tel Aviv, Ankara and several others would attempt to establish a foothold within the Caucasus, Balkans, and Central Asia.

In addition to the conflict in Chechnya, the Russian has been under constant attack for the past fifteen years within different arenas:

Starting with Gorbachev's treason, that which was funded by the West; the elevation of Yeltsin "the drunk" by the west as president of Russia; Russia's western backed xxxish oligarchs sucking the blood of the nation; NATO expanding none stop against the Russian Federation; America's ZOG controlled "Media's" engaging in endless criticisms and attacks against Russian authorities; funding of western NGOs that are essentially covers for espionage operations and anti-Russian propaganda; American radar and missile stations being moved into former Soviet nations; the funding of various social revolutions in Eastern Europe and the Caucasus.

There is a group of nations today that fear the great potential of the Russian nation and will not stop at anything to undermine it. These nations want to eliminate Russia from playing a role within political formulations regarding the Mideast, Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia. These nations want keep Russian hands away from oil exploitation in the region and they want to secure the rights to servicing China's gargantuan energy dependency.

I suspect that Putin, if he continues his nationalistic policies, might become a direct target. If Washington had its way, Putin would be the next Milosevic or the next Saddam. But, obviously, Russia's immense nuclear stockpiles and its large military will force Russia's antagonists to use indirect measures to fight the Russian Federation. For economic, political and geostrategic reasons, Russia will not and cannot retreat from the Caucasus. Doing so would be an eventual death blow to the Russian Federation and may in turn have dire consequences for many other nations within the region, not the least of which is the Republic Armenia.

However, as usual, Russia's main danger is herself. As always, Russia is vulnerable to civil war and domestic disorder. If Russia's enemies realize their agenda in the region, we will see them encouraging and supporting separatist minorities within the Russian Federation, similar to what they did with the Chechens throughout the 1990s. Unfortunately, Russia has always been ruled by 'personalities' - not national institutions like in the west. And therein lies Russia's longterm danger.

Therefore, who will replace Putin during the next presidential elections is the fundamental question, one that not only will decide the future of Russia but also that of many other nations within the region.

Armenian