The Rise of the Russian Empire: Russo-Armenian Relations

[Armenian]

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

Allied Relations with Russia Vitally Important for Armenia

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Russia, in the person of the reasonable part of its leadership, is trying to maintain its presence and influence in the Caucasus. It’s important for Russia to prevent destabilization in the North Caucasus, deployment of NATO military bases and projection of military force inland, first vice-president of the Academy of Geopolitical Studies, Colonel General Leonid Ivashov stated in an interview with PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.

In his words, Armenia is Russia’s monument point in the South Caucasus. “At the same time it’s vitally important for Armenia to have allied relations with Russia. If Armenia relies on promises made by the West it will lose its state system and independence,” Ivashov said. He remarked that Armenia has the right to establish relations with whom it wishes. “But if it conflicts with Russia’s interests it can transform cooperation into the level of mutually beneficial relations without any political or economic preferences. However such situation will conflict with Armenia’s national interests and result in the isolation of the republic and even in its collapse,” the Russian scientist said.

Leonid Ivashov reminded that numerous Armenian Diaspora lives in Russia. “I think it could make a great contribution to the development of the Russian-Armenian allied relations,” he noted.

Source: http://www.panarmenian.net/news/eng/print/?nid=17440

[Armenian]

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

Top Missile Designer Says Russia's Covered

By Nabi Abdullaev
Staff Writer

In a rare news conference, the designer of Russia's intercontinental ballistic missiles dismissed on Thursday a warning that Russia was falling behind the United States in the number of active nuclear warheads it has and said his Topol-M and Bulava missiles would serve as a sufficient deterrent until at least 2040.

"I assure you that the number of active warheads the strategic nuclear forces will have in 2015 and even in 2020 will be no less than 2,000," said Yury Solomonov, head and chief designer at the Moscow Institute of Thermal Technology, Russia's leading designer of intercontinental missiles.

Solomonov's assertion came in response to speculation in analytical circles that the number of Topol-Ms commissioned every year would have to be quadrupled to leave Russia with 1,700 operational warheads by 2012.

President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President George W. Bush signed the Strategic Offensive Reduction Treaty in 2002, which requires both sides to cut their nuclear arsenals to 1,700 to 2,200 warheads by 2012.

Russian defense analysts are concerned that the number of Russian nuclear weapons could fall below the treaty's lower threshold because only five to six single-warhead Topol-Ms are being rolled out every year, while an increasing number of Soviet-made missiles carrying multiple warheads are being decommissioned.

To compensate for the decommissioned missiles, the military will announce later this year a plan to adapt the Bulava missile, which can carry six warheads but is designed for nuclear submarines, for land launches, Solomonov said. He refused to elaborate.

Adapting the Bulava for land launches is a logical and feasible strategy, said Vasily Lata, a retired lieutenant general and defense analyst at the PIR Center, a security think tank.

"It could be put into reality in two to three years, given adequate financial support from the state," Lata said.

The design of the Topol-M and Bulava should remain superior to all ballistic missiles operated by foreign countries for the next 15 to 20 years, and they will form the core of the Russian nuclear forces for the next 35 years, Solomonov said. "Russians can sleep peacefully through 2040," he assured reporters.

He said the two missiles were second to none in surviving a nuclear strike or an attempt to destroy them by laser beams.

They also can easily penetrate any missile shield, including the fledgling U.S. national missile defense system, Solomonov said.

Bulava and Topol-M drop their engines much faster than their U.S. analogs, making them hard to detect early, he said, adding that this and other features would allow the re-entry vehicles to pierce any missile shield "with a probability of one."

Solomonov said that the first land-based mobile regiment of Topol-Ms would be commissioned this year. So far, about 300 Topol-Ms and the less-advanced Topol missile systems are deployed in land-based silos.

The first 12 Bulava systems will be commissioned in 2008 on the Yury Dolgoruky nuclear submarine that is now being built in Severodvinsk, he said.

Two Bulavas have been test-launched, and at least eight more will be fired before the missile can be commissioned, he said.

Russia's strategic nuclear forces will replace their last Soviet-era weapons with Topol-Ms and Bulavas by 2015, and the two missiles will be commissioned through 2020, Solomonov said.

Link: http://www.themoscowtimes.com/storie...04/14/012.html

[Armenian]

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

RA Defense Minister: Armenian-Russian Military Relations Should Constantly Develop

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The level of the Armenian-Russian military cooperation is very high and covers a wide scope of issues, Armenian Defense Minister Serge Sargsyan stated in an interview with “Krasnaya Zvezda” Russian newspaper. “We should not stop at the achievement we have made. On the contrary, we should constantly develop these relations. We possess the appropriate legal and historical base and wish. I hosted my Russian counterpart Sergey Ivanov in January and we discussed the prospects of the Armenian-Russian relations,” he remarked. “I would like to say that Armenia by no means develops the relations with NATO at the expense of the Armenian-Russian cooperation that expands in all directions.

But we understand we should be familiarized with the experience of other states,” the RA Defense Minister stated. In his words, special place in the Armenian-Russian relations is given to 102nd Russian military base that was located by proposal of the Armenian party. “Do you remember early 1990-ies when military units were seized in the post soviet republics or Russia itself conveyed the property of the bases to them. At that time by our suggestion half of the property was conveyed the Armenian party, on the rest 50% a military base was formed. If Armenia took the decision it was important for it,” Serge Sargsyan said.

Source: http://www.panarmenian.net/news/eng/?nid=17496

[Armenian]

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

Russian bombers flew undetected across Arctic - AF commander

MOSCOW, April 22 (RIA Novosti) - Russian military planes flew undetected through the U.S. zone of the Arctic Ocean to Canada during recent military exercises, a senior Air Force commander said Saturday. The commander of the country's long-range strategic bombers, Lieutenant General Igor Khvorov, said the U.S. Air Force is now investigating why its military was unable to detect the Russian bombers.

"They were unable to detect the planes either with radars or visually," he said.

Khorov said that during the military exercises in April, Tu-160 Blackjack bombers and Tu-95 Bears had successfully carried out four missile launches. Bombing exercises were held using Tu-22 Blinders. By the end of the year, two more Tu-160s will be commissioned for the long-range strategic bomber fleet, Khorov said.

Both new planes will incorporate numerous upgrades from the initial Soviet models, the commander said. The bombers will be able to launch both cruise missiles and aviation bombs, and communicate via satellite.

Source: http://en.rian.ru/russia/20060422/46792049.html

[Armenian]

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

Russia tests missile

Moscow, April 23 (AP): Russia test-launched a missile today and a military commander said US missile-defence plans could threaten the strategic balance between the former Cold War foes, Russian news agencies reported. Russia's Strategic Rocket Forces, which are responsible for the country's ballistic missiles, successfully launched the K65M-R missile from a testing ground at Kapustin Yar in the southern Astrakhan region, the ITAR-Tass news agency reported.

The commander of the forces, Col.-Gen. Nikolai Solovtsov, said the main purpose of the launch was to test "a uniform warhead for land- and sea-based ballistic missiles" and newly developed elements of a system designed to penetrate missile defenses, Interfax reported.

Solovtsov said plans for a US missile-defence system "could upset strategic stability", the agency reported, suggesting that the test was part of an effort to ensure that Russian missiles are capable of foiling any US shield. He said the test involved optic and radar measurement systems that reproduce similar US systems, according to Interfax.

President Vladimir Putin has boasted that Russia has missiles capable of penetrating any missile defence system, specifying that they can change their flight path on approach to a target. Solovtsov said the system being tested today would make missiles more difficult to spot and their trajectories more difficult to predict.

Source: http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus...0604231024.htm

[Armenian]

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

In Moscow, buzz over arms race II

An article in premier US foreign policy magazine has Russians worried about nuclear threat.

By Fred Weir | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor

MOSCOW - The cold-war paradigm of Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD) between the US and Russia never really went away, and experts warn of a replay of the old superpower arms race.

"There are many nuclear-armed countries in the world, but only Russia and the US have this MAD relationship, in which each sees it as necessary to maintain the means to deter the other," says Dmitri Suslov, an analyst with the independent Council on Foreign and Defense Policy in Moscow. "We need to get away from that, to find a new basis of stability, but I'm afraid we're not going in that direction right now."

An article in the current issue of US journal "Foreign Affairs" rang alarm bells in Moscow this month. "The Rise of US Nuclear Primacy" argues that the deterioration of Russia's nuclear arsenal, coupled with recent US technology breakthroughs, means Russia can no longer count on deterring the US with its nuclear capabilities.

The authors, American professors Kier Lieber and Daryl Press, say Russia's fraying radar and satellite systems "would give Russian leaders at most a few minutes of warning before American weapons destroyed Russia's retaliatory forces." By contrast, they say, the US is actively modernizing its nuclear arsenal with stealthy and highly accurate new weaponry. "Unless they reverse course rapidly, Russia's vulnerability will only increase over time," the authors say.

While Russian experts concede there's truth in the article, the reaction to it in Russian security circles was "very nervous," says Mr. Suslov.

"Many people think it's not a coincidence, that such an article was 'ordered' by someone," he explains. "At the very least, this article has postponed any chance of talking about removing the MAD framework from our relations with the US."

President Vladimir Putin issued a statement following the article's publication last month, insisting that Russia will increase its weapons spending and do whatever necessary to keep its strategic edge. "Maintaining the minimum level of nuclear armaments required for nuclear deterrence remains a top priority," he said.

But Vitaly Shlykov, a strategic analyst formerly with the Soviet military intelligence agency GRU, says the Foreign Affairs article was "a major blow to Putin's prestige. It made him look vulnerable to charges ... that he doesn't pay enough attention to Russia's defense. Now he will pull out all the stops and spend whatever necessary to modernize Russia's nuclear deterrent."

At a press conference last week Alexei Arbatov, a senior arms control expert with the Carnegie Center in Moscow, said that Russia today has 39 percent fewer strategic bombers, 58 percent fewer intercontinental ballistic missiles, and 80 percent fewer nuclear missile submarines than the former Soviet Union had in 1991. Mr. Arbatov said Russia should step up its production of the newest Topol-M missiles from the current rate of eight per year to about 30 annually. "I'm not calling for an arms race, but for modernization [of Russia's strategic nuclear forces]," Arbatov said.

Yuri Solomonov, Russia's top missile designer, said last week that Moscow will "notify Washington within two months" of key changes in Russia's strategic forces, which could include stepped-up missile production and new types of weapons.

Russian experts say that President Bush's 2001 decision to withdraw from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty made Moscow determined to deploy a new generation of nuclear missiles that could penetrate any possible US defense shield. Those weapons are now coming online, they say, with the first regiment of mobile Topol-M intercontinental ballistic missiles, which feature warheads that can evade interceptors, due to become operational this year. By 2008, Russia will begin stationing its new Bulava missiles, each carrying six independently-targeted warheads, on a new fleet of nuclear submarines.

"Russia is no longer capable of competing on the same level as the US, but you do not need to copy the same technologies or have the same number of missiles to respond," says Danil Kobyakov, an analyst with the independent PIR Center in Moscow, which specializes in nuclear issues. "Russia can retain its basic ability to destroy the US in retaliation for an attack; that's the logic of MAD."

Former Russian Prime Minister Yegor Gaidar, who now heads a prominent liberal institute in Moscow, has warned that the perception of Russian (and Chinese) vulnerability projected by the Foreign Affairs report might even prompt a revival of cold war-style military blocs. "If someone had wanted to provoke Russia and China into close cooperation over missile and nuclear technologies, it would be difficult to find a more skilful and elegant way of doing so," Mr. Gaidar wrote in a letter to the Financial Times this month.

The old arms race was eventually reined in by a net of arms control treaties between the superpowers. Though most of those treaties are now redundant, a 2002 agreement between Putin and Bush committed to reduce their strategic arsenals to 2,200 warheads each by 2012, but placed no limits on technological innovations. Currently, Russia has 3,800 strategic warheads and the US 4,530.

Some Russian experts say the shadow of MAD can be banished only through fresh US-Russia talks that would lower nuclear stockpiles to fewer than 1,000 strategic nuclear weapons apiece. "We can only eliminate MAD if we eliminate those weapons," says Mr. Kobyakov. "Even if you have good relations and good intentions, as long as you have those potentially devastating nuclear forces, there will always be fear and suspicion of the other side."

Link: http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0424/p07s02-woeu.html

[Armenian]

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

Aleksander Solzhenitsyn, nobel laureate accuses US, NATO of encircling Russia

Moscow, April 28 (AP): Nobel laureate and former Soviet dissident, Aleksander Solzhenitsyn, in a newspaper interview accused the United States and NATO of seeking to encircle Russia, and praised President Vladimir Putin for working to restore a strong state.

In a rare interview, the reclusive 87-year-old author, who rose to prominence for his accounts of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin's repression and labour camps, told the liberal weekly 'Moscow News' that NATO's ultimate aim was the loss of Russia's sovereignty, according to a full text of the interview posted on its web site edition on Thursday.

"Though it is clear that present-day Russia poses no threat to it, NATO is methodically and persistently building up its military machine - into the east of Europe and surrounding Russia from the south," Solzhenitsyn was quoted as saying.

"This involves open material and ideological support for 'colour revolutions' and the paraxodical forcing of North Atlantic interests on Central Asia," he reportedly said, adding that there was "little substantial difference" between the actions of the US and NATO.

"All this leaves no doubt that they are preparing to completally encircle Russia and deprive it of its sovereignty," Solzhenitsyn was quoted as saying.

Russia was furious at what it saw as Western encroachment on its home turf after a series of peaceful revolutions brought opposition leades to power in the former Soviet republics Georgia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan.

Link: http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus...0604280921.htm

[Armenian]

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

“The US is concerned over Russia’s growing presence in the South Caucasus”:

The country that tries to solve the Karabakh problem by force will be expelled from the Council of Europe, Azeri Press reports PACE President Rene van der Linden as saying. Van der Linden does not consider the CE membership possible for the country that would use armed force to resolve the conflict, if a new war breaks out in Nagorno Karabakh. In this case PACE will have to discuss the possibility of that country’s further membership in the CE. Van der Linden urges the parties to the Karabakh conflict to stop their bellicose statements and to realize that the conflict can be resolved only by peaceful measures. Van der Linden also says that if Azerbaijan holds non-democratic elections, the mandate of its PACE delegation will be reviewed.

In his turn, head of the public and political department of the Azeri president staff Ali Gasanov says: “If they in the Council of Europe want to freeze the powers of our delegation, let them do that. But nobody has the right to threaten us.” “Azerbaijan is an independent state and has its own state interests. And nobody, including PACE President Rene van der Linden, has the right to threaten us,” says Gasanov. (Echo)

The two radar stations built in Azerbaijan with the US’ support are intended for strengthening the frontier control, Trend reports Azeri Foreign Minister Elmar Mamedyarov as saying in Washington. He says that “those stations are part of our program to protect Azerbaijan’s state frontier.” Mamedyarov explains that the problem of frontier control arose after the collapse of the Soviet Union. “Now we are an independent state and must do it by ourselves, particularly, protect our sector of the Caspian Sea. And here we certainly cooperate with the US.” Mamedyarov confirms that in the framework of this cooperation Washington provides Baku with special equipment.

“All this equipment will go into Azerbaijan’s property.” He notes that the project to build radar stations has no direct relation to the security of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline and the energy projects in the republic. “We do cooperate to ensure the security of the BTC, we have several programs. But they are parts of the general measures to fight terrorism and to protect oil platforms, as most of our oil comes from the sea. We are interested in the US’ experience, and the Americans share it with us,” says Mamedyarov. He says that the Azeri-US military cooperation is “quite good in principle.” “The US helps us to reform our army so that we can face the present risks and challenges in the region.” “In this context our cooperation is quite active,” says Mamedyarov.

The US is concerned over Russia’s growing presence in the South Caucasus, US congressman, chairman of the sub-committee on foreign assignments Jim Kolbe said at a news conference in Baku on April 13. One of the first questions was about Section 907 (Adopted in Oct 1992 and cancelled by the Senate in 2001, Section 907 of the Freedom Support Act forbade the US government to provide direct assistance to Azerbaijan because of that country’s blockading Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh — REGNUM).

[...]

Regnum: http://www.regnum.ru/english/cultura/625801.html

[Armenian]

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

ZATULIN: RUSSIA IS NOT INTERESTED IN SOMEBODY TRAINING IN SOUTH CAUCASUS LIKE IN IRAQ

Among South Caucasian countries only Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh are
interest in maintaining the status quo in the region, Member of the
Russian State Duma, Head of the CIS Countries' Institute Konstantin
Zatulin has declared at the international conference called "Caucasus
without Conflicts and Terrorism. Dialog of Civilizations at Caucasian
Crossroad."

According to him, Azerbaijan is not interested in maintaining the
current situation, as its interests concerning its territorial
integrity are infringed. "Today, elites of nations criticize the
Soviet rule, but they take from the past what is profitable for them,
in particular, Georgia and Azerbaijan like the borders they had under
the Soviets," the MP noted. According to Zatulin, Georgia is not
interested in maintaining the status quo either: "it is interested in
soonest settlement of Abkhazian and Ossetian conflicts in its favor."

According to Zatulin, Armenia has no internal problems that could bring
about collapse of the country, which cannot be said about Georgia and
Azerbaijan. "In Georgia, apart from Ossetian and Abkhazian conflicts,
there is a problem of Samtskhe-Javakheti (Armenian-populated region
in Georgia - REGNUM), there is a problem in Marneuli District, where
Azerbaijani population lives, there is a problem with Megrels and
Adjarians. And in Azerbaijan, apart from Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
there is a problem with Talysh and Lezgin population," noted the
Russian MP.

"Distance from Russia to Caucasus is less than from the USA, and Russia
is most of all interested in maintaining peace, even with unrecognized
republics. Our priority is peace in the region," Konstantin Zatulin
noted adding that Russia is not interested in somebody training in
South Caucasus like in Iraq.

Regnum, Russia May 17 2006 http://www.regnum.ru/english/641377.html

[Armenian]

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

Russia may relocate Black Sea Fleet to Syrian port - paper

MOSCOW, June 2 (RIA Novosti) - Russia has started dredging at a Syrian port where it maintains a logistical supply point with a possible eye to turning it into a full-fledged naval base, a respected Russian business daily said Friday.

Tartus, the second most important Syrian port on the Mediterranean, could be transformed into a base for Black Sea Fleet warships when they are redeployed from the Ukrainian port of Sevastopol, Kommersant daily said, quoting sources in Russia's diplomatic service and the Defense Ministry.

Vladimir Zimin, a senior economic advisor at the Russian Embassy to Syria, said Russia had simultaneously launched a modernization project at the port of Latakia, 90 km to the north of Tartus.

The paper quoted an anonymous source at the Defense Ministry as saying that Moscow was planning to form a squadron led by the Moskva missile cruiser within the next three years to operate in the Mediterranean Sea on a permanent basis, in particular for joint antiterrorist exercises with NATO forces.

Russia's Black Sea Fleet currently uses a range of naval facilities in the Crimea under a 1997 agreement that allowed Russia to continue its presence in its neighboring former Soviet republic for rent of $93 million per year.

The fleet is scheduled to withdraw in 2017, but Ukraine has recently voiced concerns that Russia is not paying enough for the facilities and also demanded that a new agreement be signed on inventorizing the bases. Russia has said it will make no concessions over rent or withdrawing the fleet and talks have stalled.

The Defense Ministry source told Kommersant that a Russian naval base in the Mediterranean would not only help Moscow strengthen its position in the Middle East - where it is currently also involved in negotiations on the Iranian nuclear crisis and the Israel/Palestinian issue - but also ensure Syria's security.

Moscow plans to deploy an S-300PMU-2 Favorit air-defense system to protect the base, the paper said, adding that the system will be operated by Russian servicemen and not be handed over to Syria.

At the same time, sources close to the matter said Moscow and Damascus had reached an agreement to modernize Syria's antiaircraft system using medium-range S-125 missile complexes that were deployed in the 1980s.

Link: http://en.rian.ru/russia/20060602/48956476.html


Putin Stresses Importance of Ties with Syria

Russian President Vladimir Putin stressed on Tuesday that his country gives great care to develop the Syrian-Russian dialogue regarding the regional and international urgent issues. " Russia has strong relations with Syria which is considered the most important country in the Arab world, and will establish an active cooperation with her in the field of confronting the international terrorism ." Putin said during receiving credentials of the Syrian Ambassador to the Russian Federation Dr. Hassan Risha .

He added that " all this contribute to developing the cooperation in all fields according to the agreements reached during President Bashar al-Assad’s visit to Moscow." Russian President underlined that the current crisis in Lebanon has produced massive human consequences emphasizing the urgent necessity to increase the effectiveness of the United Nations Organization regarding the international issues . For his part . Dr. Risha conveyed President Asaad's regards , asserting the great importance Syria cares for her relations with Russia.

Thawra- Sawsan: http://www.sana.org/eng/21/2006/07/25/51125.htm