The Rise of the Russian Empire: Russo-Armenian Relations

[North Pole]

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

Russia's Topol ICBM hits target with new warhead in test launch

Source: http://en.rian.ru/russia/20080828/116349686.html

Yanks! Antimissile defense will not help!

Topol-M ICBM with scramjet reentry vehicle

YouTube - Topol-M ICBM with scramjet reentry vehicle

YouTube - Antimissile defense will not help!

Russian Topol-M launching a Satelite
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIzXI-mlJjs

[North Pole]

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

29/ 08/ 2008

Russia's LUKoil almost doubles U.S. GAAP net profit in 1H2008




Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin (L) and the president of Russia's second largest oil producer LUKOIL Vagit Alekperov

MOSCOW, August 29 (RIA Novosti) - LUKoil's net profit calculated to U.S. GAAP rose 91.1% year-on-year in the first half of 2008 to $7.29 billion, Russia's largest independent oil producer said.

"The increase in net income was due to favorable market conditions, high refinery margins and increases in refinery throughputs, as well as due to effective cost control," the company said in a news release.
Growth of net income was held back by appreciation of the ruble against the dollar, increase in transportation tariffs and growth of the tax burden.
Revenue from sales increased 59% to $56.89 billion, and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or EBITDA, was $11.08 billion, which is 74.5% more than in January-June 2007, the company said.
LUKoil sold 65.3 million tons of crude oil and petroleum products in the first half of 2008, representing no change year-on-year.


READ MORE -- http://en.rian.ru/business/20080829/116368136.html

Vanco and Lukoil have secured the Aban Abraham drillship to drill the Dzata Prospect, offshore Ghana, during Fourth Quarter 2008.

[Anoush]

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

The west will do as much for Armenia as in the past 90 years. I understand Armenian's comment and agree with him. Russia is Armenia's only ally and it will be the same as it has been. I don't think there is a need to fear otherwise.

[Armenian]

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

Russian weapons in the Middle East

Three events have come together independently. But they produced an intrigue that has hooked both politicians and media in the Middle East. Here is what happened. First, Moscow hosted MVSV-2008, an international show of weapons and military equipment. Then King Abdullah II of Jordan visited the show, met with designers and producers and had a discussion with President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. A few days previously, President Bashar al-Assad of Syria had flown in for talks with Dmitry Medvedev. The press and television in Amman, Damascus and Tel Aviv made much of the events, especially the Syrian visit. Israeli media claimed Bashar al-Assad had arrived on a purchasing spree, and his main aim was to buy the Iskander-E tactical missile system, in addition to Pantsyr-S1 and Buk-M2 ground-to-air missile systems and Su-30, MiG-29SMT and MiG-31E fighters. The Iskander missile had been promised to Damascus in 2001, and only a personal request by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to former President Vladimir Putin put a stop to its sale to Syria. But now that Israel has helped to train Georgian commandos and equip the Georgian army that attacked South Ossetia, Moscow is within its rights to "repay the debt" and provide Damascus with the system, the media in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv said.

Yet Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters during al-Assad's visit that Moscow "is ready to supply Syria only with defensive weapons, ones that do not upset the balance of strength in the region." This means Syria, as Moscow promised to Tel Aviv, will not get the Iskander system. Regarding ground- and air-based air defense units, including interceptor fighters, they are not considered offensive armaments and are immune from Russian-Israeli agreements. It is another matter that military technical cooperation between Moscow and Damascus needs re-evaluating. Syria owes Russia $3 billion for weapons supplied to it, and this on top of Damascus' $10 billion debt for armaments sold in Soviet times which Moscow forgave, incidentally, for a pledge to spend another $2 billion on arms purchases from Russia. Contracts currently being negotiated include Pantsyr and Buk missile systems, as well as Sukhoi and MiG fighters, but not Iskander missiles. The parties are also discussing the expansion of a Russian naval maintenance base at the Syrian port of Tartus. Any movement of Black Sea Fleet forces from Sevastopol to Syria, as some Middle East publications suggest, is, of course, out of the question. But a supply and maintenance center for warships on missions in the Mediterranean will come in handy for Moscow. In the Soviet era, the Soviet Navy's 5th Mediterranean Squadron made full use of this port.

King Abdullah's visit to Moscow did not produce as much excitement as the trip by Bashar al-Assad to Sochi, perhaps because problems between Jordan and Israel are not as serious as between Tel Aviv and Damascus. Discussions mainly focused on military-technical cooperation between Moscow and Amman, rather than on Middle East issues. This cooperation is now on the rise, Dmitry Medvedev said during the meeting. "Our relations are making good headway, this is our third meeting in six months and that points to the intensity of our contacts and good-neighbor relations," the president said, opening the discussion. "Trade between our countries grows steadily, although both countries would like to see it develop more quickly," Medvedev said. Jordan lives up to these words. In recent years it has bought from Russia two Il-76MF military transport planes worth a combined $100 million, and six light multi-role Ka-226 helicopters (at an estimated cost of $25 million), which will be assembled in Jordan under license. The two countries have even set up a joint venture, Oboronprom Middle East, to assemble 15 to 20 Ka helicopters a year.

Plans are also under way to set up a joint venture for the production of RPG-32 Hashim multi-caliber grenade launchers. The launcher was developed by the Bazalt Moscow State Research and Production Enterprise at the suggestion of Abdullah himself. It is designed to engage armored vehicles and defended gun posts from a distance of up to 700 meters with 72mm and 105mm grenades. It will be produced in quantity both in Russia and in Jordan. Trial specimens have already been sent to Amman and were highly praised. A manufacturing license contract is expected to be signed soon. Jordan has received a special $350 million credit from Russia for this purpose, although the sum is also supposed to cover repairs and upgrading of weapons previously supplied to Amman. Other equipment includes armored personnel carriers, fighting infantry vehicles, Kornet anti-tank missile systems, Igla ground-to-air missiles, and weapons for special operations - reconnaissance, sabotage and protection of the royal palace. King Abdullah is a former commando. He is an arms expert, and his buying of Russia's VSS silent sniper rifles and PSS silent pistols is good publicity for Russian arms-makers. It is not impossible that after his visit to Moscow, Amman will take delivery of Pantsyr-S1 ground-to-air missile systems, which are considered today among the most effective close-range air defense systems.

Russian weapons appeal not only to buyers in the Middle East. On August 23, the Russian president sent a message to President Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua, raising the matter of military-technical cooperation between the two countries. "Russia is interested above all in trade and economic cooperation between security-related agencies," the Russian leader told his Nicaraguan counterpart. "Military-technical cooperation between us offers a promising future." This means that the military equipment once supplied to Nicaragua by the Soviet Union and which needs repairing, upgrading or replacing could be replaced with more advanced weapons, if Managua is willing. And Managua is willing, as is clear from the close ties that exist between Ortega and Hugo Chavez. The Venezuelan leader is very pleased with Russian weapons. The target mentioned at the Russian Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation, of exporting $8 billion worth of Russian arms supplies in 2008, compared with $6.2 billion in 2007, does not seem too far-fetched.

Source: http://en.rian.ru/analysis/20080826/116285462.html

Russian military bloc steps up military exercises

Large-scale military exercises within the framework of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) will be held once every two years and will take account of the military-political situation in the collective security regions, including the Caucasus, the organization's deputy secretary-general, Valeriy Semerikov, told journalists on Saturday [23 August]. "It was decided at a session of the CSTO Defence Ministers' Council to hold large-scale military exercises once every two years. The next exercise, Rubezh [Border or Boundary], which ended yesterday in Armenia, will, thus, be held in 2010. It will certainly be large-scale," Semerikov said. "All the exercises will be held on a bilateral basis and will take account of the situation that exists in the collective security regions, including the Caucasus," he added. In between the large-scale exercises, he said, the CSTO countries will hold smaller-scale exercises, headquarter training sessions and bilateral exercises. The CSTO comprises Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

Source: http://groong.usc.edu/news/msg242354.html

[ara87]

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

None of you are upset that Armenia/Artsakh got totally shafted by Russia?

Some of you are so pro-Russian, it's disturbing. Are you going to wait for North Pole to start submitting virulently pro-Turkish propaganda before you confront him?

Russia hinted that it would have recognized NK had we recognized Abk. & S.O. simultaneously however we didn't so they didn't

[Lucin]

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

Lucin jan, we don't know what is transpiring behind the scenes in Yerevan, Moscow, Washington or Ankara. So, let's please give it some time before we begin forcasting doom and gloom for Armenia. As I said previously, Sargsyan's move regarding Turkey is being orchestrated by Moscow. It seems as if Moscow is attempting to drive a wedge between the West and Turkey and one of the tools they seem to be using is Armenia, the other being oil/gas/trade. Nonetheless, what is happening in the world currently is a bit beyond our national "cause" which, by international standards, is a bit insignificant. Make no mistake about it, the global community is on the brink of a major world war. Do you honestly think that our national interests would matter in such a situation? We Armenians think too damn highly of ourselves...

Who doesn't? I think this trait is common among all people and Armenians are not an exception. In any case, significant or non-significant, Armenia and its interests is/ should be a priority for Armenians and it's quite natural. If today, I am pro-Russian it's only because I'm pro-Armenian... But I do understand that Armenia's fate is not totally in her hands...

[Armenian]

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

Who doesn't? I think this trait is common among all people and Armenians are not an exception. In any case, significant or non-significant, Armenia and its interests is/ should be a priority for Armenians and it's quite natural. If today, I am pro-Russian it's only because I'm pro-Armenian... But I do understand that Armenia's fate is not totally in her hands...

Lucin jan, I agree with you here. However, there is a difference here between feeling/thinking a certain way and expecting our politicians to act according to this feeling/thinking. Armenians need to be mindful of their geopolitical status before they begin making lofty demands. The Russian Federation is an opportunity for us to find peace, stability and prosperity. However, we need to engage Moscow fully, intimately and without conditions. Turks, who are closely involved with the West world, have been more proactive in their dealings with Russia than us Armenians. Despite the obvious fact that Armenia would not be able to survive (literally) in the Caucasus without Russian support, we still have Armenians (including politicians and nationalists) who think we need to play tough with Moscow. It's this kind of childish thinking that scares me. In final anaysis, our fate (the survival of our republic) is not fully in our hands. For better or for worst, we as a nation need to cast our lot with Russia.

[Armenian]

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

Iran backs Russia over Georgia

Iran has blamed Georgia for its confrontation with Russia and in a reference to Israel and the U.S., urged regional countries to unite against foreign interference. Iran’s Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said on Saturday Georgia caused the crisis because it miscalculated the reaction to its use of military power in South Ossetia. Speaking earlier on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit, Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the conflict would not have taken place had Georgia “not allowed countries from outside the region to interfere in their internal affairs.” Analysts say that wary of U.S. troop presence in Iraq and Afghanistan, Iran has reasons to welcome the reduction of American influence in its northern neighbourhood. Mr. Ahmadinejad further pointed to an Israeli hand in the Caucuses war. Iran’s Fars New Agency, quoting Israeli media reports, said Georgia had commissioned nearly 1,000 military advisers from Israeli security firms to train its armed forces. On Thursday, Mr. Ahmadinejad met Russia’s President Dmitry Medvedev on the sidelines of the summit. Apart from the developments in Georgia, the leaders discussed the situation arising out of the Iranian nuclear programme. Now, Russia has decided to send a delegation to discuss the completion of the Russian-aided Bushehr atomic power station. The director of the Russian Federal Atomic Energy Agency, Sergei Kireinko, is expected to head the visiting delegation on Sunday. Russia’s Ambassador to Iran had said after all tests are concluded by the end of this year, the plant would be operational in early 2009.

Source: http://www.hindu.com/2008/08/31/stor...3155371400.htm

[Lucin]

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

I must say, you choose very carefully and nicely different pieces of news/ analysis, and put them in a logical, neat order based on several elements (importance, relevance, etc.). I like that, you are very 'clean'.

Oh and some of the pics are so funny. It 'compensates' for the seriousness of a political thread.

[Armanen]

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

Oh, can’t we be friends?

Sep 1st 2008 | BRUSSELS
From Economist.com


Europe’s leaders try to unite against Russia

IF IN doubt, turn to a cliché for help. The French government declared on Monday September 1st that the European Union considers its relations with Russia to be at a “crossroads”, because of the crisis in Georgia. That warning —sounding bold, but largely empty of substance—captured the mood as 27 leaders arrived in Brussels for an emergency one-day summit devoted to the recent fighting in the Caucasus.

Such summits are rare: the last one was called in 2003 to debate the Iraq war. Some optimistic diplomats have suggested that the very sight of so many leaders assembling to debate relations with Russia amounted to a strong signal.

But early draft conclusions circulated by France, which holds the rotating presidency of the EU, were striking for what they left out. True, the first draft of the declaration noted that Russia had yet to live up to important bits of a ceasefire deal brokered by President Nicolas Sarkozy with his Russian counterpart, Dmitry Medvedev, notably by leaving Russian troops across the heart of Georgia. Yet strip away the diplomatic verbiage and the entire document could be summed up with the plaintive line: “can’t we be friends?”

EU leaders like to talk about unity. But their unity comes at a price. Gordon Brown, the British prime minister, headed to Brussels calling for work on a new partnership and co-operation agreement with Russia to be suspended. Other leaders, such as the Italian prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, ruled out any talk of economic or diplomatic sanctions against Russia. After all, said Mr Berlusconi, Russia was a fast-growing energy giant with the “nuclear potential to destroy ten times the population of the world”.

As a result of such deep divisions, French draft conclusions played it safe to the point of parody. The EU was asked to agree that it would be “vigilant” about Russia’s conduct between now and a planned meeting with Russian leaders in November. If Russia did not stick to its peace deal, this might lead to “decisions on the continuation of discussions on the future of relations”.

EU leaders are likely to offer Georgia various consolatory gestures of friendship: a bit of aid, money for rebuilding smashed ports and bridges, a possible free-trade area and eased rules on securing EU visas. The EU will probably send a few hundred policemen to join an observer mission already up and running under the auspices of the OSCE, a Cold War-era security and co-operation forum of which EU countries, Russia and Georgia are all members.

The French proposals also pleaded with Russian leaders to understand that it was in their country’s own interest “not to isolate itself from Europe”. The proposals contained no reaction to the statements made by Mr Medvedev on Sunday about how Russia sees its own overseas interests, including its right to protect the “life and dignity” of Russian citizens wherever they are. Mr Medvedev added that Russia intended to pursue its interests in “privileged” corners of the world, either near its borders or in its historic sphere of influence.

Such prudence by the EU plays well in corners of the continent which are comfortable with relying on Russia for lots of energy—including Germany, Italy, Bulgaria and Greece. It also soothes public opinion in countries, such as France or Spain, which simply are unwilling to fall out with Russia.

But there are other bits of the EU which are home to many Russian citizens, such as Latvia, or which have historical memories of being invaded by Russian armies seeking to defend Russian minorities. That awkward fact was noted, publicly, by Radek Sikorski, the foreign minister of Poland.

He said that Europe’s reaction to the Georgia crisis was an important test for millions of EU citizens in the ex-Communist centre and east of the continent, who were “unnerved” by Russia’s recent actions. A failure to reach a “united, credible” response would “damage” the union’s claims that it should be taken seriously in foreign policy or defence.

Alas, being both united and credible is a tall order for the EU, when it comes to ties with Russia. Expect the search for unity to trump credibility, as so often before.