The Rise of the Russian Empire: Russo-Armenian Relations

[Lucin]

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

Sargsyan: I can confirm that Armenia was always in favor of establishment of diplomatic ties with Turkey. It’s useless arguing and being eternal foes. If we start relations, it will be profitable for both of us. Moreover, my Turkish counterpart has said recently that Turkey has no enemies in this region, and Erdoghan even said that Turkey’s readying to talks with Armenia. So, in my opinion, president Gul’s visit to our country will make real grounds for our future negotiations. We can have hundreds of problems, but we can never solve them unless we start talks as normal civilized countries do.

Source: http://www.panorama.am/en/politics/2.../23/interview/

I don't know how we should take the President's words regarding Armeno-Turkic relations. Is he acting like a true politician or is this a big mistake from his part?

[Armenian]

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

I don't know how we should take the President's words regarding Armeno-Turkic relations. Is he acting like a true politician or is this a big mistake from his part?

I would not be too worried at this point, Sargsyan is not stating anything Armenian politicians have not been stating before. The pursuit of genocide recognition is still in effect and Nagorno Karabagh is still secure. There seems to be, however, another element to what has been occurring. If you recall, all this talk about developing unconditional relations between Yerevan and Ankara began soon after Sargsyan meet with Medvedev in Moscow last month. That is why I have a strong feeling that Moscow is directly behind this. I don't know what is Moscow's end game. It could be that Moscow has been preparing the geopolitical field in the region in anticipation of its incursion into Georgia. Moreover, if you noticed, Erdogan and Medvedev met just recently and Ankara immediately thereafter announced that it wants to set up a regional "Caucasus Alliance" that would include Turkey, Russia, Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan. What's more, Ankara was quite indifferent towards Tbilisi's plight. Ankara also delayed US navy ships from entering the Black Sea and made the curious comment several days ago about the US not being able to play "big brother" in the region anymore... These actions/statements by Ankara must have startled/surprised the West, particularly the US. Obviously, there is a major geopolitical shift occurring and something seems to be cooking in Moscow, perhaps in tandem with Ankara. Time will tell what this is all about. The stressing part is, our tiny landlocked Armenia will not have much say in any of this.

Here is an interesting geopolitical analysis from Turkey:

Strategic implications of Russian invasion

Russia's invasion of Georgia has been called the act that ended the “End of History,” referring to Francis Fukuyama's controversial 1992 book that postulated the final triumph of Western liberal democracy over totalitarian ideologies and the finality of mankind's ideological evolution. On a less metaphysical plane, it marked the end of a unipolar international system with the United States as the only superpower and the rise of a bipolar (U.S.-Russia) or tri-polar (U.S.-Russia-China) system. It certainly suggests that the United States, having done nothing substantive to help its close Georgian ally and Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, has become the strategically weaker relative to Russia (and thus, by implication, to China and even Iran).

Several factors explain this. The first is that the United States is stuck in Iraq, which has weakened it vis-a-vis Iran and the threats it faces from al Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Hostility to the war at home, in the Middle East and elsewhere in the world, has had negative effects on the U.S. image and its ability to galvanize the international community on any issue -- be it the Iranian threat or even support for Georgia. The second is that the U.S. economy is overburdened by the war in Iraq and by the huge increase in the cost of importing oil. U.S. armed forces are overburdened by fighting two wars, as is the federal budget that finances them. The U.S. needs Russian cooperation in dealing with Iran but has possibly forfeited the chances of achieving it by trying to install missiles in Eastern Europe, recognizing Kosovo and supporting Georgia up until the Aug. 8 invasion. Did the United States have any alternative? The only one was to send in troops to fight the Russians, but logistically and politically this was virtually impossible and everyone knew it.

Russian position advancing

While the United States' strategic position has been weakened since 2003, Russia's has improved thanks to two interrelated developments. The first was the transition from the weak regime of Boris Yeltsin to the increasingly strong one of Vladimir Putin. The latter, with his background in the KGB, proved a master in accumulating and exercising political power. He renewed and reinforced the political and economic clout of the central government, which had declined so drastically under his predecessors, taking back under public control vital assets in the hydrocarbon sector that had been privatized. As a result of the renationalization of hydrocarbon assets, the central government directly benefited from the rise in oil and gas revenues. While the fall of oil prices in mid-2008 will moderate this effect, some of the benefits have already been invested in strengthening and diversifying the economy and reducing its external vulnerability. Russia's external public debt was halved between 2003 and 2008. Moscow is, therefore, no longer subject to economic pressure from the International Monetary Fund, the European Union or anyone else.

Control of the Caspian basin

Russia's incursion into Georgia marked the first time since the invasion of Afghanistan in December 1979 that the main successor state to the U.S.S.R -- Russia – had attacked and occupied territory in a sovereign neighboring country. Its aim was not only to support pro-Russian South Ossetian and Abkhazian separatists, but also, and more significantly, to prevent the emergence of a Georgian alternative to Russian pipelines that transport gas and oil from Central Asia to Europe. The “Finlandization” of Georgia would give Russia control of the Azebaijani (Baku)-Georgian (Tbilisi)-Turkish (Ceyhan) oil pipeline which came on line in 2006. As pipelines are the economic lifelines of Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan, Russia would thus come to completely dominate the Caspian basin. All the oil and gas that Europe imports from Russia and Central Asia would pass through Russia or Russian-dominated Georgia. Russian bargaining power vis-a-vis the Europeans and the Americans would increase, particularly regarding an area of vital interest to the West over which Moscow has the advantage of geographic proximity.

Europe's dependency

By invading Georgia, Russia has also warned Baltic, Eastern European and Central Asian states of what would happen if they move too close to the West. It has been seen as the first step towards reestablishing Russian hegemony in the region. However, such a Russian grand design could backfire. The subsequent U.S.-Poland agreement to install an anti-missile defense system on Polish soil is one indication of the possible negative consequences for Russia of its aggressive foreign policy in its “Near Abroad.” However, larger EU states, particularly Germany, are wary of the pro-American and anti-Russian enthusiasm among the EU's new eastern members (German Chancellor Angela Merkel was careful to blame both sides for the Georgian crisis). This wariness stems, in part, from the fact that many of its members are dependent on Russia for gas supplies: Russia supplies 36 percent of German gas needs, 20 percent of France's and 25 percent of Italy's. It also supplies 100 percent of Georgia's, 66 percent of Ukraine's and 64 percent of Turkey's. Moreover, gas has become increasingly important in the EU and elsewhere as it is a greener fuel than coal or oil.

In light of these trends, what are the implications of the Georgian crisis for the Middle East? U.S.-Russian relations have deteriorated, and we will have to wait for a new administration in Washington to formulate its policies before much more can be said. U.S. standing among allied states from Eastern Europe to the Caucasus, Central Asia, Israel, Iraq and Afghanistan has been weakened insofar as it has been seen as unwilling or unable to respond to Russia. The main Middle East beneficiary of the invasion has been Iran. Russia now has fewer reasons to cooperate with Washington regarding Iran's nuclear program and may have created the conditions under which the EU will have even less influence in Moscow. Still, there are limits to Russia's influence in the region given separatist threats of Islamists in its southwestern regions. Hence, Russia's encouragement of Georgian separatists may one day backfire. For the West, the costs of external energy dependence include relying for supplies on regimes such as those in Russia and the Middle East. As the Georgian crisis has shown, this is proving very costly, and in more ways than one.

Source: http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/a...enewsid=113396

[Lucin]

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

I would not be too worried at this point, Sargsyan is not stating anything Armenian politicians have not been stating before. The pursuit of genocide recognition is still in effect and Nagorno Karabagh is still secure. There seems to be, however, another element to what has been occurring. If you recall, all this talk about developing unconditional relations between Yerevan and Ankara began soon after Sargsyan meet with Medvedev in Moscow last month. That is why I have a strong feeling that Moscow is directly behind this. I don't know what is Moscow's end game. It could be that Moscow has been preparing the geopolitical field in the region in anticipation of its incursion into Georgia...

Possibly. At the same time, it may also be an attempt from Moscow to corner further a Western-oriented Azerbaijan by moderating the hostile policy of his 'big brother' towards Armenia.

[Armenian]

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

Possibly. At the same time, it may also be an attempt from Moscow to corner further a Western-oriented Azerbaijan by moderating the hostile policy of his 'big brother' towards Armenia.

More on the "Caucasus Union" project...

Turkey to hold talks with Armenia on proposed Caucasian union project

Turkey has sped up its efforts on works to form a stability and partnership forum in the Caucasus and plans to hold talks with neighboring Armenia, which Ankara has no diplomatic relations for more than a decade. Armenia welcomed Turkey's plan to launch talks, Interfax reported.

"The talks would also be held with Armenia. The foreign minister (Ali Babacan) would meet his Russian counterpart (Sergei Lavrov) this week to hold talks. After those talks, the format of the contacts with Armenia would be shaped," Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan told reporters. There is no diplomatic relations between two countries, as Armenia presses the international community to admit the so-called "genocide" claims instead of accepting Turkey's call to investigate the allegations, and its invasion of 20 percent of Azerbaijani territory despite U.N. Security Council resolutions on the issue. Armenia welcomed Turkey's plans to launch talks, Interfax said. "Armenia has always advocated dialog and talks, especially over issues of cooperation and security in our region," Armenian Foreign Minister Edvard Nalbandian said in answer to questions from a Turkish newspaper, according to the Armenian Foreign Ministry's press service. Erdogan pays a visit to Azerbaijan to discuss his proposal of a forming a Caucasian union with Azeri President Ilham Aliyev. Turkey had proposed the formation of the "Caucasian Stability and Partnership Platform" to resolve the disputed issues in the region through diplomacy and to enhance economic ties after the clashes that erupted between Russian and Georgian forces. Erdogan said the proposal was welcomed by both the Russian and Georgian leaders. "The recent situation in Georgia had confirmed the urgent need of ensuring peace, trust and stability in the Caucasus. We as Turkey have crucial interest in doing that," he added. The United States has not been informed about such an initiative, Matthew Bryza, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs told on Tuesday. He added he was surprised by Turkey's efforts.

Source: http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/english/w...d=244&sz=73342

Organization for Karabakh Liberation: "Turkish leadership should disavow the idea of Caucasus unity"

"The Organization for Karabakh Liberation disapproves the idea of Caucasus unity of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, his attempts to involve Azerbaijan into this process and an intention to hold talks with Armenia on the said issue", says the statement, released by the Organization for Karabakh Liberation. The statement says that Armenia holds Azerbaijani lands under occupation, does not disavow its territorial claims to Turkey and continues propaganda of the so-called "genocide" in the world. The Organization for Karabakh Liberation states that the initiative of the Turkish Premier either deliberately or indirectly aims at justifying the occupational actions of Armenia. "Unless Armenia gives up its occupational actions, there is no place for it in the Caucasus unit. The leadership of Turkey should realize it and abstain from undesired proposals. We consider that this initiative is bound to an intention to normalize relations with Armenia under pressure of the European Union. By this initiative Turkey attempts to resume talks and relations with Armenia", says the statement. The organization insists that the Turkish leadership should disavow the idea of the Caucasus unity, which does not serve the interests of either Azerbaijan or Turkey. The Azerbaijani authorities should abstain from this anti-national process.

Source: http://www.today.az/news/politics/47122.html

[Armenian]

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

The Ukraine will be subdued by a civil war.

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Ukraine Shines Its Weapons on Russia

Ukraine celebrated its 17th Independence Day yesterday. For the first time in seven years, military hardware rattled down Kreshchatik, Kiev’s main street. Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko in his holiday address to the country accused Russia of interfering in his country’s internal affairs and promised to raise the defense budget. But only NATO membership can save the country from the Russian military threat, he said. The day’s celebrations began yesterday morning with prayers for the country in St. Sofia Cathedral. The president has been leading prayers in this day since 2005. This year, he was joined not only by his wife and two daughters, but by Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, speaker of the Supreme Rada Arseny Yatsenyuk, ministers and legislators. In addition, representatives of all 19 of the religious faiths practiced in Ukraine took part in the ceremony, which lasted about an hour.

At 10:00, the military parade began, with Yushchenko participating as supreme commander. According to the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, 144 pieces of hardware, 22 planes and eight helicopters took put on show in the parade, as were about 3000 soldiers. Grad, Uragan and Smerch multi-launch missile systems, Osa ballistic missiles and Tunguska missile complexes, Su-25 bombers, MiG-29 and Su-27 jet fighters, Su-25 attack planes and Il-76 and An-26 military transport planes were seen. Yushchenko spoke on Independence Square (the Maidan) before the beginning of the parade. He expressed his unreserved support for Georgia and called on Russia to give up attempts to “change the world order and its democratic values.” He had a message for Russia. “We, the Ukrainian people are the lords of our land. No one will ever decide for us what language to speak in or what church to pray in. No one will ever tell us what road to take. No one will ever measure our borders, islands or peninsulas,” he said.

Leader of the opposition Party of the Regions Viktor Yanukovich had earlier accused the country’s leadership of “irresponsible actions” that dragged Ukraine into the middle of an international conflict and, as a result, “turned Russia from a friendly state and strategic partner into an enemy.” He intends to raise the questions of the responsibility of the Ukrainian leadership for the conflict in South Ossetia and to enquiry about how Ukrainian weapons came to be in Georgian hands. The real pro-Russian force in Ukraine may soon be Tymoshenko, however. Observers say that the Kremlin is putting it weight behind her in the next presidential elections. Russian President Vladimir Putin sent her congratulations on the holiday, which many considered significant. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev sent Yushchenko congratulations as well. He urged his colleague to make “a mutual account of interests in the fields of foreign policy and security.” The Russian president has also invited Yushchenko to the President’s Cup horserace on September 5. The race is traditionally attended by the leaders of the CIS member states.

Source: http://www.kommersant.com/p1016164/r...pendence_Day_/

Russia stokes pro-Kremlin feeling in Ukraine

Ribbons decorate bridal limousines, while guests wave the Russian flag in the muggy air hanging over the harbour. The Crimean port of Sevastopol is a Ukrainian city, but it is Russian to its core. Moscow's Black Sea fleet retained its historic base in the port after Ukraine's emergence as an independent nation in the 1990s. Moscow's war in Georgia has frightened the Ukrainian government, however, and President Victor Yushchenko has said he will not renew Russia's lease of the port when it expires in 2017. Russia's Georgian onslaught was deeply unpopular in many parts of Ukraine, but in Sevastopol, the sailors of the Russian fleet walk the streets in uniform and are hailed as heroes. A fervour of Russia patriotism has taken hold. Emboldened locals proclaim contempt for all things Ukrainian, newly confident of Moscow's future support for their wish to see the Crimean peninsula absorbed back into the Russian motherland.

Pro-Russian organisations are flourishing. "This city is totally Russian," said Mikhail Brytsyn, leader of the pro-Russian front organisation, the Slavic Party of Sevastopol. "People don't want anything to do with Ukraine here. Sevastopol is where we can reconstruct the historical truth and rejoin the whole of Russia. If Moscow wants, it will be able to do it, because it has the tools here." The Crimea, which is attached to Ukraine by a slender causeway, is fertile ground for such rhetoric. An estimated 100,000 of its 2 million inhabitants hold Russian passports, while a majority of the peninsula's residents are Russian speakers and would happily return to Moscow's fold. A swaggering entrepreneur, Mr Brytsyn recruits young men to his movement from the chain of snooker halls he owns, staging ultra-patriotic rallies. He makes no effort to hide strong Kremlin support, including funding, for his efforts. "We are a third force," he boasted, sitting in a quay-side restaurant. "We are the cordon that supports the Russian fleet. We will defend them against the Ukrainian bailiffs who want to end the fleet's lease in 2017."

It is not an empty boast. The most powerful institution in town is the Russia navy, followed closely by the pro-Moscow city authorities. As a street level enforcer, Mr Brytsyn ranks next - ahead of any presence Kiev can muster. The Charge of the Light Brigade catapulted the Crimea into the British imagination. Despite their eventual defeat in 1856, the tsars held on to the outpost but their Soviet successors laid the ground for future problems by annexing to Ukrainian provincial rule in 1954. After the Soviet Union fell apart, Moscow was forced into the humiliation of seeking a 20-year lease on the home of its fleet, which was signed in 1997. Its future is now back in play. A Kiev think tank last week accused Russia of deliberately cultivating civil unrest in the Crimea. The Centre for Research on the Army, Conversion and Disarmament reported that Russia had created "all the pre-conditions" for war in the Crimea.

Sevastopol's streets are already in ferment. Its inhabitants vow to defend their interests from any possible Ukrainian threat. A permanent picket surrounds a statue of Catherine the Great, the 18th century empress who founded the port, supposedly because Kiev wants to tear it down. Last month tensions erupted into a violent showdown between the Ukrainian and Russian sides when a mob seized a bronze Ukrainian plaque and dumped it in the harbour. Mrs Makarova proudly clutched pictures of the incident, in which Russians broke through a line of Ukrainian marines. "This showed we are strong," the matronly politician said. "Ukraine does not respect us and our rights. We might have another Kosovo. We want Russia intervention to defend us and after Georgia we believe they will defend us." Ukraine's recent declaration that it will not renew the Russian lease on Sevastopol has inflamed anti-Kiev sentiment, as has its ongoing application to join Nato. "As long as the fleet is here, there will be no problems," said Anatoly LItvinov, 59, who works in the base. "I suspect people in the Ukrainian government do not understand the meaning of the fleet for Sevastopol. The fleet is a protection against everything, including Nato."

Paranoia over Ukraine's pro-Western president, Mr Yushchenko, abounds. There are unmistakable parallels with South Ossetia and Abzhakia in Georgia, where Russia nurtured local grievances against a democratic leader. "The Ukrainian politicians do not look after the people," said a tour guide. "They have destroyed friendly relations with Russia. They are losers. Yushchenko is worse than hell." Russia has spared no expense to lavish its largesse on Sevastopol. On a ridge above the city, a huge campus of white tower blocks has been built as an outpost of the Moscow State University, despite Kiev's protests. Perhaps too late, pro-Ukranian forces have emerged to challenge the Crimea's slide towards Russia. Oleg Yatshenko, one of the pioneers of Ukraine's 2004 democratic Orange Revolution, has brought Ukrainian students to Sevastopol. He laments the absence of foreign backing, however. "The Russians support separatists here," he said. "We want to take them on. We want to protest against the break-up of our country but everybody, including the local administration, is against us."

Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...n-Ukraine.html

[Armenian]

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

The following is a very level minded commentary by the professor of international relations at the University of Southern California..

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A Superpower Is Reborn

THE psychodrama playing out in the Caucasus is not the first act of World War III, as some hyperventilating politicians and commentators would like to portray it. Rather, it is the delayed final act of the cold war. And while the Soviet Union lost that epic conflict, Russia won this curtain call in a way that ensures Washington will have to take it far more seriously in the future. This is not just because, as some foreign-policy “realists” have argued, Moscow has enough troops and oil to force us to take into consideration its supposedly irrational fears. Rather, the conflict in Georgia showed how rational Russia’s concerns over American meddling in its traditional sphere of influence are, and that Washington had better start treating it like the great power it still is.

As the cold war ended, the Russians voluntarily, if grudgingly, gave up their cordon sanitaire in Eastern Europe, but they still view it as a necessary zone of protection. The United States brushed off the Russian complaints over the deployment of American missiles into Eastern Europe and Washington’s effort to extend NATO membership to Ukraine and Georgia. But Russians have a good point that, to them, this is as if Moscow had signed up Cuba and Venezuela in a military pact and then tried to plant missiles there pointing north. It was inevitable that the Russians, now restored to prosperity by their oil and gas resources, would push back somewhere, and the hot-headed Georgian president, Mikheil Saakashvili, gave them an easy excuse. What has followed in Washington is a field day of self-righteous indignation as politicians on both sides of the aisle line up to proclaim their solidarity with the little guy and deplore the interference of bullies in nations that just want to be left alone.

But such grandstanding ignores an old truth of geopolitics: great powers live by different rules than do minor ones. They demand respect — and obedience — from their weak neighbors. Sometimes they are explicit about this, as was United States Secretary of State Richard Olney when, in 1895, he declared, with respect to the Monroe Doctrine, that “today the United States is practically sovereign on this continent, and its fiat is law upon the subjects to which it confines its interposition.” Moscow cannot be expected to show any less concern about the political orientation of the former constituent republic on its critical southern frontier. Great powers zealously guard what they benignly refer to as their “sphere of influence.” This may be a shame, but it is the way the world works, and always has. And no country has been more insistent than the United States in demanding that its interests be respected by its neighbors. Latin Americans can attest to that.

The limits of Russia’s post-cold-war retreat have apparently been reached, and the reversal of the power equation has gone too far to be sustained. Today’s leaders in Moscow are determined to protect what they perceive as their vital interests. The task for American leaders is not to pretend that these interests do not exist or can be safely ignored. Rather, it is to work out a modus vivendi based not on wishful thinking or dreams of even greater glory, but on the sober facts of power realities. The first essential step for the leader of the Western alliance is to tone down the bombast and restore a dialogue with Russia. Our peripatetic secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, should have jetted off to Moscow, not Tbilisi. Careless talk about throwing Russia out of the Group of 8 economic powers will only backfire against the West’s own interests. The whole point of such organizations is not that they are a reward for obliging behavior, but rather that they provide a forum for dealing with common problems.

Second, we should shelve loose talk about bringing either Ukraine or Georgia into NATO — at least until we are willing to invite Russia itself. NATO is essentially still a cold-war military pact seeking a new identity that it has not yet found. Admitting these two former Soviet republics would be interpreted by Moscow as anti-Russian provocation — and rightly so. And even if it didn’t provoke a new cold war, it would create serious tensions within NATO itself. Third, we should meet with our NATO partners to work out a common approach to the problem of ethnic separatism. We handled this badly in the Balkans by facilitating the violent dismemberment of Yugoslavia along ethnic lines, and then, over vociferous Russian objections, recognizing the rebellious Serbian province of Kosovo as a separate state. The tearing apart of nations along ethnic lines is not a problem limited to the Balkans. Strong separatist movements exist in several European states, such as Britain, Italy and Spain, and may soon tear Belgium apart. Is this a development that we want to facilitate?

At a time when this nation is bogged down in two costly and seemingly endless wars in the Middle East and Central Asia, it would not seem prudent to pick a fight with Russia over a rebellious, territorially ambitious former province. And it might be wise to recall the warning of John Quincy Adams in 1821 that by going “abroad in search of monsters to destroy” to support the territorial ambitions of others, the United States would “involve herself beyond the power of extraction in all the wars of interest and intrigue, of individual avarice, envy and ambition, which assume the colors and usurp the standard of freedom.”

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/24/opinion/24steel.html

Defying the Whole World

(A Russian soldier stands near a Russian APC in Poti on August 23, 2008. Russian forces were still deployed deep inside Georgia, keeping their grip on a strategic port city, as Moscow brushed aside Western accusations it was failing to abide by a ceasefire deal. Russia withdrew tanks, artillery and hundreds of troops from the heart of Georgia on August 22, saying it had now fufilled all obligations under a French-brokered agreement aimed at ending the two-week-old conflict. But Russian troops were still controlling access to the western port of Poti and also established a checkpoint just 10 kilometres (seven miles) north of the key city of Gori)

Yesterday Russia demonstrated that it is not going to compromise in its current confrontation with the West. NATO got a notification from the Russian Defense Ministry about complete termination of military cooperation with the alliance, and Russian military detained France’s Ambassador to Georgia at the entrance to Gori. Finally, the congresses of the Abkhaz and Ossetian people called on Russia to recognize the breakaway republics’ independence, and Russian Foreign Minister hinted that this appeal has been taken into account in Moscow. On Monday both chambers of the Russian parliament may take corresponding decisions. All day long the Russian authorities demonstrated that they are not going to defuse the tensions in the confrontation with the USA and the West in general, and that Moscow is not afraid of whatever sanctions. On the contrary, Russia responded to all the threats by following its line of escalating the conflict, that is reacting to the criticism related to the situation in Georgia as well as the USA and Poland’s signing the agreement for interceptors deployment.

Yesterday Russian Foreign Office Chief Sergey Lavrov censured NATO in connection with the latest meeting of the alliance’s Foreign Ministers, whose final statement reads, “We have determined that we cannot continue with business as usual.” “Russia’s help is critical to the alliance,” the Minister stated. “After the NATO meeting, where a document regarding the relations with Russia was adopted, the alliance’s representatives contacted the Russian party persuading us not to terminate the cooperation in Afghanistan.” Basing on this position, Sergey Lavrov issued an ultimatum to the North-Atlantic alliance suggesting that it should make a choice between Georgia and Russia, “If these priorities lead to complete support of Saakashvili’s bankrupt regime, and if breaking the relations with Russia is the price they are ready to pay – let it be.” Yesterday the Foreign Offices of Norway, Estonia and Latvia reported receiving the notifications from the Russian Defense Ministry saying that Moscow terminates military cooperation with NATO. Later NATO spokesperson Carmen Romero confirmed this information.

Sergey Lavrov reiterated that it is Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili who delivered a blow to his country’s territorial integrity. “We are not trying to stage it (the recognition of South Ossetia and Abkhazia by other states – Kommersant),” Sergey Lavrov argued. “We show respect for the members of the world community, and it’s not inherent in our political culture to organize staged demarches.” In fact it means that Russia is ready to recognize the breakaway republics alone. It appears even more probable taking account of the fact that the parliaments of both South Ossetia and Abkhazia adopted appeals to the Russian President about recognizing their independence on Wednesday. Yesterday the resolutions were sanctioned by the congresses of the Ossetian and Abkhaz peoples. Given that President Medvedev has stated on several occasions that Moscow will support whatever decisions of Sukhumi and Tskhinvali, it can mean that Russia is ready to recognize both republics. The State Duma and the Federation Council have scheduled emergency meetings for Monday, where they’ll consider the recognition. Sources with the Union of Russia and Belarus Office informed Kommersant that now different scenarios of Russia’s patronage of the two republics are studied. One of them envisages including Abkhazia and South Ossetia in the Union of Russia and Belarus. But to do it, it’s necessary that Minsk should recognize Sukhumi and Tskhinvali.

Sergey Lavrov also stated that Russia complies with the peace plan worked out by France’s President Nicolas Sarkozy. It need be reminded that, according to the document, Russia is to pull out its troops to South Ossetia being able to patrol temporarily in a strip of up to 6.2 miles, or 10 kilometers, outside. French and German diplomats, who’re trying to advocate Russia in the West, reported yesterday that Moscow promised to accomplish the withdrawal of its troops by Friday midnight. Yesterday the Russian party demonstrated that it doesn’t appreciate France and Germany’s intercession that much. French Ambassador to Georgia Eric Fournier was detained by Russian peace-keepers at the entrance to Gori. AFP reports that they prevented the diplomat from entering Gori during three hours. Giving his commentary regarding the matter, Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation Colonel General Anatoly Nogovitsyn said that it was the Ambassador’s fault because he should have informed the Russian military about his visit in advance. Mr Nogovitsyn added that OSCE Chairman and Finnish Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Stubb avoided such an incident yesterday because he had notified the Russian military of his visit to Gori in advance.

For all that, Russia has certain claims to the OSCE as well. Mr Nogovitsyn stated yesterday that the staff of the OSCE field mission had been warned of Georgia’s plans to invade Tskhinvali, but hadn’t told Russia’s peacekeepers about it. The accusation was denied by the organization’s spokesperson Mikhail Yevstafyev, “Neither the OSCE headquarters nor the OSCE mission Georgia had any information about the parties’ determination to use force. The OSCE mission in Tskhinvali functioned till we had to evacuate the staff, which was on August 8.” With its new demarche, Russia shows that it is not going to win over the governments and organizations which haven’t criticised it yet. Apparently, the USA has to respond with something. It has three days to do it – on Monday The State Duma and the Federation Council convene their sessions.

Source: http://www.kommersant.com/p1014291/r...s_to_the_West/

[Armenian]

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

The Zionist West Has Met Its Match - Putin, Medvedev & The Russian Bear

The BBC scenes from Georgia on Friday, August 22, 2008 clearly showed columns of Russian armor leaving Georgia. Sort of. Those Russian units are now going to occupy South Ossetia...and the new protective perimeter that Russia has cleared out and will now enforce with whatever lethal force is necessary. Russian General Nogovitsyn was on BBC clearly stating: "Russia will continue to enforce the peace in this area. Our troops are withdrawing; no one will be allowed to put armor or heavy artillery in this area EVER AGAIN. As the map clearly shows, WE (Russia) are in total control." He added: "Russia is pulling out on its terms and at its pace." BBC then switched to a Zionist West British talking-head (Michael Wooldridge) grumbling that the Russians were not following the script from the Georgia-US screenplay.

NATO warships are having an 'exercise' in the Black Sea. Meanwhile, the Russian fleet has made it clear it is not going to allow any re-arming of Georgia. If that happens, Georgia will be toast. What was comical was that right behind those Russian armored units were OSCE Jeep Cherokee Police vehicles but were apparently not allowed to come any further than the edge of this new Russian Peacekeeping Zone to protect Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Even though OSCE voted on Tuesday to not provide 'peacekeepers' in the New South Ossetia, they have flooded Georgia with new Jeep Cherokee police units. Read on and you will understand why OSCE is NOT WELCOME inside the New South Ossetia unless they are there to clearly document the war crimes that were just inflicted on South Ossetia. OSCE just proved to Russia that it is not to be trusted. For those who have been reading these essays, and can remember what I have disclosed, I ask that you take the time to read this one very slowly and think. Use the brain you were born with to think and see clearly what is really going on.

I have never in my life feared there would be a nuclear war between the US and Russia...until just recently. The US and their EU allies have now reached the point of failure and desperation. They will tell any lie, they will commit any unspeakable crime. They have committed war crimes in Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq and just this month in South Ossetia. Russia just drew the line in the sand...it stops or the biggest xxxx-storm ever on this planet is what is coming next. Russia has just made it abundantly clear that Russians are not going to be subjected to war crimes and genocide by these Zionist New World Order thugs any longer. Russia has just made it abundantly clear that the territorial integrity of Russia and those wishing to live as friends and citizens of Russia WILL BE ABSOLUTELY RESPECTED BY THE ZIONIST WEST and WILL BE DEFENDED - ABSOLUTELY - BY RUSSIA.

This is the New Russia...not the Cold War USSR.

Most people above room temperature are now beginning to see quite clearly that the United States and some of its allies are, in fact, war criminals. It recently came out that France was behind the genocide in Rwanda...while the French UN ambassador was pontificating about the horrors of that very genocide. These people lie as easily as they blink their eyes. They are sub-human in their regard for their fellow man. They are war criminals in suits, fancy offices with fancy sounding titles. I am getting many emails from people who are just now, almost 10 years after the crime, seeing clearly that the US and certain EU buddies committed genocide on the Slavic Serbian Christians of Kosovo. I have known for many years that the last thing the Russians want is another calamitous war. Between Bolshevik Zionist Communism they lost 30-40 million people who would not kneel down to the Zionist god of communism. Due to World War II, they lost another 20 million after Zionists helped to create Nazism. I am now convinced that if the Zionist New World Order does not get its way...and they are failing miserably to get their way...they will take the entire world down with them rather than fail.

We are now facing the most dangerous mindset of the Zionists: "If we (the Zionists) cannot have it all no one will have it." They are like a bunch of punk juvenile delinquents who refuse to let anyone on this planet freely choose how they want to live. Now, for the first time...EVER...Russia is in position to build a nation with a lifestyle similar to that of the US and EU...in some ways even BETTER because they are refusing to let Zionism in the door. The Zionist West assumes that only it has a right to such a comfortable lifestyle. Watch closely and you will see such a mindset when they mumble or boast or brag...their arrogance is palpable. The Zionist West essentially feels Russia must OBEY it...and that Russia needs a 'regime change.' Read the Zbigniew Brzezinski TIME article again...and pay attention to his arrogant air of 'superiority' over the Slavic Russians. Of course, it is the Zionist West which is clearly and blatantly the aggressor...but Zionists use their mass media monopoly and huge influence over governments to point the finger of blame at Russia - because it will NOT roll over and obey.

The Grand Chessboard is lost. Russia won.

Zbigniew can pontificate and use all the big fancy words he wishes but that will never change the fact that his idiotic plan was DOA. It was stillborn in his delusional mind. That DC used such a doomed scheme for a strategic plan is to its everlasting shame and proves DC is unfit to lead the world. The fraud Global War on Terror and the mass genocidal wars for oil are lost. The result? About 5.5 billion people are turning their backs on the US, Canada, UK, EU (mainly France and Germany) and Zionist Israel. This lunacy of backing Israel blindly for 60 years to the severe and brutal detriment of many Islamic nations in the Middle East (and now the Islamic peoples of the Caspian Basin, Iran and Pakistan) has proven to be a colossal mistake and monumental failure of US foreign policy. There is only so much belittling, demeaning, humiliating, abusing, maiming and killing any peoples of any land will tolerate. The US is no longer welcome in much of this world. The US is not hated for its freedoms. It is hated for its policies and what these butchers think they alone have the right to do to other nations, other human beings.

I was living in the Washington DC area when Desert Storm happened. I knew it was not adding up, something was amiss and lies where being piled upon lies to sell that story to America. It took years for the truth to come out. I was in direct contact with the White House almost every day during 1991-1992 and the bits and pieces I was getting did not add up to the truth. Since I knew about Bridas Corporation and their business dealings long before 9-11, I knew when Bush pointed the finger at Afghanistan that what the US (and their allies in Europe) wanted were those vast amounts of oil and natural gas in the Caspian Basin. They had to have that pipeline. That is why NATO is now in Afghanistan and Barky (Brzezinski) was in Europe telling them that they had to contribute more to this bogus Global War on Terror. It is their 'duty' as citizens of the Zionist New World Order. That pipeline deal is 7 years behind schedule and the Taliban control more of Afghanistan each day.

Every move to corner or provoke Iran has failed.

I have known about Operation Gladio for many years. NATO's Secret Armies were conducting terrorism by NATO, the US and UK against innocent civilian populations (in West Europe) and then they pointed the finger of blame at Russia...when Russia had nothing to do with it. If you want to become ILL at the deceit of the US, UK and NATO, get a copy of 'NATO's Secret Armies' by Dr. Daniele Ganser, PhD. The man did his homework and what is in the book is from investigative reporters, court cases and government documents. It happened, the US and UK as terrorists against innocent people in Europe. I have talked to Dr. Ganser and he has been on my email update list since I returned to the EU. Maybe Jeff Rense can air him sometime because the information is crucial for people to see the TRUTH. That is why Kosovo did not surprise me. Here was practically all of Europe chiming in to go kill Serbian Christians and then to invade to pretend to get rid of those 'Christian-hating Muslims.' Just two years later, 9-11 and the ill-conceived Global War on Terror were launched. It was another Operation Gladio, but was really Operation Kill Christians under the code name of Operation Kosovo UNMIK and NATO. In their evil minds they were not killing Christians, they were killing Slavic people. The elitist snobs of the Zionist-controlled EU think they are much better than Slavic people, and the Russians are Slavic and so are the Serbs.

Remember back even in the Clinton Administration the 1993 bombing of WTC, 'terror', 'terrorists', 'ethnic cleansing of Christians', etc. We have to intervene in Bosnia to defend the Christians. What a mockery! That sleazy bastard Clinton had the CIA and Zalmay Khalilzad arming the Muslims to go kill the Christians that sleazy bastard Clinton said he was going to save. I have been wondering why OSCE was the first one to intervene in this Georgia fiasco. That was an odd emissary to send for such a serious matter, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. It is merely another NGO and front company for the Zionist New World Order. Most do not know that Russia is a member of that group. You see, that way the EU can claim they have influence 'all the way to the Pacific Ocean' since the Russia land mass ends at the Pacific Ocean.

Source: http://www.rense.com/general83/match.htm

[RSNATION]

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

So let it be written, so let it be done

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article4605568.ece

From Times Online
August 25, 2008


Russian parliament votes to recognise Georgia breakaway regions

The Federation Council voted 130-0 to ask President Dmitri Medvedev to recognise South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states. Russia's lower house of parliament, the Duma, followed shortly after with a 447-0 vote in favour of recognition.

The votes throw down the gauntlet to the West over its support for the democratic regime of President Mikheil Saakashvili in Georgia. The final decision will rest with Mr Medvedev, who has already declared his readiness to "make the decision which unambiguously supports the will of these two Caucasus peoples".

It remains to be seen if he will defy intense international pressure by recognising the two regions. The United States, European Union and Nato have all backed Georgia's territorial integrity, including South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

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The Kremlin is certain to point to the precedent established in Kosovo, against Russia's ally Serbia, to justify any decision to recognise the two regions. But Mr Medvedev may stall any decision and use the parliamentary vote as a political lever to extract concessions over the continuing presence of Russian "peacekeepers" on Georgian soil.

Having fought two bitter wars to crush Chechnya's aspirations for independence from Russia, the Kremlin will also be nervous about establishing a precedent for separatist sentiment within its own borders.

The West has demanded a full withdrawal of Russian troops stationed at "peacekeeping" checkpoints deep inside Georgia, something Moscow rejects. The deputy chief of the general staff risked a further backlash today by telling reporters in Moscow that soldiers would inspect cargo coming in and out of Georgia's Black Sea port of Poti.

"The Russian contingent is carrying out patrolling duties in Poti. Within the framework of those tasks is the regular inspection of cargo which is brought in and out of the port. These checks are carried out on a regular basis," Colonel-General Anatoly Nogovitsyn said.

President Saakashvili accused Russia of attempting to "change Europe's borders by force" following the war over South Ossetia. He told the French newspaper Liberation that the move would have "disastrous consequences" for Russia too.

"It is a classic invasion which has nothing to do with international law," he said, adding that the ceasefire negotiated by President Sarkozy of France had been a "rescue operation" that prevented Russian tanks entering the Georgian capital Tbilisi.

South Ossetia's separatist leader, Eduard Kokoity, told the Federation Council that Russia had averted "genocide" in his region, which had more grounds than Kosovo to claim independence. Abkhazia's president Sergei Bagapsh said: "Neither Abkhazia nor South Ossetia will ever again live in one state with Georgia."

Experts suggested that Mr Medvedev would avoid full recognition, though the influence of Vladimir Putin, the Prime Minister, may be decisive in ignoring Western pressure.

Mr Putin detests Mr Saakashvili and was very visibly in charge of the military operation against Georgia, relegating Mr Medvedev to a spectator.

"Right after the conflict with Georgia, Russia would look very indecent if it immediately annexed South Ossetia and Abkhazia," Yevgeny Volk, of the US-based Heritage Foundation, said. "Russia will be perfectly content if they are pseudo-independent states," Mr Volk added, drawing a parallel with Northern Cyprus, which is only recognised by Turkey.

The EU has grown increasingly exasperated at Russia's refusal to withdraw its troops completely from Georgia. Mr Sarkozy, who holds the rotating EU presidency, yesterday called an emergency summit for September 1 to discuss relations with Russia.

But divisions within Europe over the best response to Russia's first military intervention since the end of the Cold War were quickly exposed in remarks by Bernard Kouchner, the French Foreign Minister. He told France Inter radio that, despite problems in the relationship, "we are not talking about sanctions" against Russia.

[crusader1492]

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

Great article! although there was one disconnect:

The author touts that Russia is the stalwart nation fighting the Zionist new world order, but then he goes on to say:

I have been wondering why OSCE was the first one to intervene in this Georgia fiasco. That was an odd emissary to send for such a serious matter, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. It is merely another NGO and front company for the Zionist New World Order. Most do not know that Russia is a member of that group. You see, that way the EU can claim they have influence 'all the way to the Pacific Ocean' since the Russia land mass ends at the Pacific Ocean.

Perhaps Russia is still trying to rid itself of the Zionist infiltration it has suffered so greatly under.

[Armenian]

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

Great article! although there was one disconnect: The author touts that Russia is the stalwart nation fighting the Zionist new world order, but then he goes on to say: Perhaps Russia is still trying to rid itself of the Zionist infiltration it has suffered so greatly under.

All roads lead to Rome. As I have said in the past, virtually all of the international institutions (financial, political and security) are in essence controlled by the West, specifically by Washington DC. As a result, to function normally, nations today are forced to find a niche within these international institutions. This is the reality of how the global system currently works. Although Russia is to a great extent self-reliant, it is no exception to the aforementioned reality.