Re: The Rise of the Russian Empire: Russo-Armenian Relations
Russia-British ties hit post Cold War low
The relationship between Moscow and London has hit a post-Cold War low with the murder of a former Russian agent in London and exile Boris Berezovsky's call to overthrow President Vladimir Putin. "It is at this moment worse that it has been at any time, if you measure it in terms of political rhetoric, worse than since the end of the Cold War," Roderic Lyne, the former British ambassador in Moscow, told Agence France-Presse.
Ties took a sharp turn for the worse when Berezovsky told The Guardian newspaper earlier this month that "we need to use force to change this regime ... It isn't possible to change this regime through democratic means." The government in Moscow immediately renewed its call for the extradition of the Russian oligarch while its ambassador in London warned of a "new situation" between the two countries. "For Putin there is only one question to the UK government, the extradition of Berezovsky. Our relation with this country is based on one problem," said liberal businessman Boris Nemtsov, Russia's former deputy prime minister. Russian political analyst Igor Bunin recalled that ties also worsened with the radiation poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko, the former agent turned Kremlin critic who died an agonizing death on November 23 in London.
According to the Mail on Sunday, the British police are preparing warrants for the arrests of three Russians suspected of having poisoned Litvinenko with the highly-radioactive polonium 210. However, Moscow has already said it will extradite no-one. The showdown over Berezovsky is "only one in a number of items" undermining ties, Lyne said. Others include a range of human rights issues as well as "the concerns in western Europe over whether or not Russia intends to use energy as a weapon," he added. "But I think the most sensitive areas have been the area or territory of the neighbors of Russia and of the European Union, the countries coming into the European union and NATO," Lyne said.
Source: http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/a...?enewsid=71889
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Russia-British ties hit post Cold War low
The relationship between Moscow and London has hit a post-Cold War low with the murder of a former Russian agent in London and exile Boris Berezovsky's call to overthrow President Vladimir Putin. "It is at this moment worse that it has been at any time, if you measure it in terms of political rhetoric, worse than since the end of the Cold War," Roderic Lyne, the former British ambassador in Moscow, told Agence France-Presse.
Ties took a sharp turn for the worse when Berezovsky told The Guardian newspaper earlier this month that "we need to use force to change this regime ... It isn't possible to change this regime through democratic means." The government in Moscow immediately renewed its call for the extradition of the Russian oligarch while its ambassador in London warned of a "new situation" between the two countries. "For Putin there is only one question to the UK government, the extradition of Berezovsky. Our relation with this country is based on one problem," said liberal businessman Boris Nemtsov, Russia's former deputy prime minister. Russian political analyst Igor Bunin recalled that ties also worsened with the radiation poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko, the former agent turned Kremlin critic who died an agonizing death on November 23 in London.
According to the Mail on Sunday, the British police are preparing warrants for the arrests of three Russians suspected of having poisoned Litvinenko with the highly-radioactive polonium 210. However, Moscow has already said it will extradite no-one. The showdown over Berezovsky is "only one in a number of items" undermining ties, Lyne said. Others include a range of human rights issues as well as "the concerns in western Europe over whether or not Russia intends to use energy as a weapon," he added. "But I think the most sensitive areas have been the area or territory of the neighbors of Russia and of the European Union, the countries coming into the European union and NATO," Lyne said.
Source: http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/a...?enewsid=71889
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Senior UK diplomat and British gay rights advocate beaten up after campaign of Russian harassment
Anti-homosexual protesters in Russia attack British human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell. Mr Tatchell was punched, knocked to the ground, and kicked while protesting about gay rights with a group of European parliamentarians.
A senior British diplomat has been beaten by two unidentified assailants while on an official trip in provincial Russia. Nigel Gould-Davies, first secretary at the British embassy in Moscow, was attacked at 1am on Saturday as he walked across the theatre square in the Siberian city of Chita, police said. Mr Gould-Davies needed hospital treatment for bruises to his face. His glasses were broken in the attack and he was unable to see his assailants, police said. The beating is the second assault on Britons in Russia in two days, and follows an attack on Sunday by anti-homosexual protesters on the British human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell (picture above). Mr Tatchell was punched, knocked to the ground, and kicked while protesting about gay rights with a group of European parliamentarians. Yesterday embassy officials described the attack on Mr Gould-Davies as a random assault carried out by drunken teenagers celebrating the end of the school year.
But the assault follows sustained state-sponsored harassment by the pro-Kremlin youth group Nashi against Anthony Brenton, Britain's ambassador in Moscow. Activists have picketed the British embassy, disrupted meetings and jumped in front of the ambassador's car. The campaign started last summer after Mr Brenton attended a human rights conference. Mr Gould-Davies was at the end of a two-week lecture tour in Siberia. The diplomat had given lectures to university students on globalisation, and had also met with regional officials. Chita, 3,760 miles east of Moscow, is home to Russia's most famous inmate - Mikhail Khordorkovsky. Khordorkovsky was jailed for eight years for tax evasion and fraud in a case widely seen as politically motivated, and as punishment for his role in funding opposition parties ahead of 2003 Duma elections.
Embassy officials yesterday said there was no link between Mr Gould-Davies's trip and Khordorkovsky. An embassy spokesman said: "We can confirm that an assault took place against a British diplomat in Chita. We are in close contact with him. We look to the authorities to ensure that the perpetrators are caught." In Moscow, three Russian gay activists appeared in court yesterday following Sunday's demonstrations, which saw the arrest of 25 campaigners, including the German Green MP Volker Beck and the Italian MEP Marco Cappato. The mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, yesterday wrote to Moscow's mayor, Yuri Luzhkov, urging him to lift the ban on gay parades in the city that prompted Sunday's protest. He also called for all charges against the gay rights demonstrators to be dropped. "I am writing to convey my deep concern at the reported physical violence against and arrest of Peter Tatchell," Mr Livingstone wrote, adding that gay parades were now "the practice in most cities around the world".
Yesterday Mr Tatchell said he was still recovering. He said the Moscow police had "stood and watched" while far-right skinheads kicked him to the ground and punched him. "Even today I'm woozy. My eyesight is pretty poor. It's difficult to see clearly," he told the Guardian. "It's almost on a par with the beating I received at the hands of Robert Mugabe's thugs in 2001. This time I wasn't knocked unconscious and left in the gutter. But I ended up with a much bloodier face and severe bruising and swelling." Mr Tatchell yesterday registered a complaint about his treatment with Moscow police. Officials, however, defended the actions of riot police. "The city authorities did the right thing by prohibiting the parade and thus preventing clashes between opponents who are numerous in this country and advocates of sexual minorities," said Mikhail Solomentsev, a spokesman for Moscow's mayor.
Video of Attack: http://www.queerty.com/news/russias-...ride-20070529/
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/russia/art...d=networkfront
Anti-homosexual protesters in Russia attack British human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell. Mr Tatchell was punched, knocked to the ground, and kicked while protesting about gay rights with a group of European parliamentarians.
A senior British diplomat has been beaten by two unidentified assailants while on an official trip in provincial Russia. Nigel Gould-Davies, first secretary at the British embassy in Moscow, was attacked at 1am on Saturday as he walked across the theatre square in the Siberian city of Chita, police said. Mr Gould-Davies needed hospital treatment for bruises to his face. His glasses were broken in the attack and he was unable to see his assailants, police said. The beating is the second assault on Britons in Russia in two days, and follows an attack on Sunday by anti-homosexual protesters on the British human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell (picture above). Mr Tatchell was punched, knocked to the ground, and kicked while protesting about gay rights with a group of European parliamentarians. Yesterday embassy officials described the attack on Mr Gould-Davies as a random assault carried out by drunken teenagers celebrating the end of the school year.
But the assault follows sustained state-sponsored harassment by the pro-Kremlin youth group Nashi against Anthony Brenton, Britain's ambassador in Moscow. Activists have picketed the British embassy, disrupted meetings and jumped in front of the ambassador's car. The campaign started last summer after Mr Brenton attended a human rights conference. Mr Gould-Davies was at the end of a two-week lecture tour in Siberia. The diplomat had given lectures to university students on globalisation, and had also met with regional officials. Chita, 3,760 miles east of Moscow, is home to Russia's most famous inmate - Mikhail Khordorkovsky. Khordorkovsky was jailed for eight years for tax evasion and fraud in a case widely seen as politically motivated, and as punishment for his role in funding opposition parties ahead of 2003 Duma elections.
Embassy officials yesterday said there was no link between Mr Gould-Davies's trip and Khordorkovsky. An embassy spokesman said: "We can confirm that an assault took place against a British diplomat in Chita. We are in close contact with him. We look to the authorities to ensure that the perpetrators are caught." In Moscow, three Russian gay activists appeared in court yesterday following Sunday's demonstrations, which saw the arrest of 25 campaigners, including the German Green MP Volker Beck and the Italian MEP Marco Cappato. The mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, yesterday wrote to Moscow's mayor, Yuri Luzhkov, urging him to lift the ban on gay parades in the city that prompted Sunday's protest. He also called for all charges against the gay rights demonstrators to be dropped. "I am writing to convey my deep concern at the reported physical violence against and arrest of Peter Tatchell," Mr Livingstone wrote, adding that gay parades were now "the practice in most cities around the world".
Yesterday Mr Tatchell said he was still recovering. He said the Moscow police had "stood and watched" while far-right skinheads kicked him to the ground and punched him. "Even today I'm woozy. My eyesight is pretty poor. It's difficult to see clearly," he told the Guardian. "It's almost on a par with the beating I received at the hands of Robert Mugabe's thugs in 2001. This time I wasn't knocked unconscious and left in the gutter. But I ended up with a much bloodier face and severe bruising and swelling." Mr Tatchell yesterday registered a complaint about his treatment with Moscow police. Officials, however, defended the actions of riot police. "The city authorities did the right thing by prohibiting the parade and thus preventing clashes between opponents who are numerous in this country and advocates of sexual minorities," said Mikhail Solomentsev, a spokesman for Moscow's mayor.
Video of Attack: http://www.queerty.com/news/russias-...ride-20070529/
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/russia/art...d=networkfront
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