The Rise of the Russian Empire: Russo-Armenian Relations

[KarotheGreat]

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

Russian president orders military talks with Abkhazia, S. Ossetia

13:5016/06/2009

MOSCOW, June 16 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's president has issued instructions for military cooperation deals to be negotiated with the former Georgian republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, the Kremlin said on Tuesday.

Dmitry Medvedev has instructed the Defense Ministry to involve the Foreign Ministry in holding talks with their Abkhazian and South Ossetian counterparts, the Kremlin said on its website, adding that initiative was put forward by the Russian government.

A previously published draft agreement envisages building military bases to enhance security and maintain stability in the former Georgian regions.

The three parties also intend to enhance control of their airspace, reconnaissance and interstate military supplies.

Earlier on Tuesday, Russia used its veto to block an extension of the UN observer mission's mandate in Georgia and Abkhazia, in protest against the resolution's failure to recognize the "new political and legal circumstances."

Russia recognized Abkhazia and South Ossetia last August after a five-day war with Georgia over the latter, which was attacked by Tbilisi in an attempt to bring it back under central control. Most residents of both Abkhazia and South Ossetia had held Russian citizenship for several years.

source: http://en.rian.ru/russia/20090616/155265038.html

[KarotheGreat]

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

Medvedev endorses deal to extend Russian lease of Kyrgyz airbase

15:0416/06/2009

MOSCOW, June 16 (RIA Novosti) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has approved draft changes to an agreement with Kyrgyzstan on the lease of a Russian Air Force base in the Central Asian republic, the Kremlin said on Tuesday.

The Russian government approved on May 29 the new terms, which would specify a 49-year lease with an automatic extension every 25 years.

The modified agreement, the subject of negotiations between the Russian Foreign Ministry and the Kyrgyz authorities, would replace the existing 15-year lease with an automatic extension every 5 years.

According to the changes in the agreement published on the Kremlin website, the change in Article 3 reads: "This agreement will be valid for a period of 49 years and will be automatically extended in 25-year periods if, six months prior to the expiry of the current agreement, neither of the parties informs the second party in writing through diplomatic channels of its intention to annul the agreement."

Medvedev instructed the Foreign and Defense ministries to finalize the accord with Kyrgyzstan.

The original agreement between the two countries was signed in Moscow in September 2003 and the Russian airbase was officially opened in October of that year in the city of Kant, some 20 kilometers (12 miles) outside the capital, Bishkek.

It houses 250 Russian officers and 150 enlisted personnel from Russia's 5th Air Army, as well as SU-25 aircraft and Mi-8 transport helicopters.

In addition to the Russian base, Kyrgyzstan has hosted a U.S. airbase on its territory since 2001. Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev signed a decree in February to end Washington's lease on the base, and Bishkek has said the Manas airbase will be evacuated by foreign troops by the middle of August this year.

In April, Bakiyev signed a law ending the deployment of foreign military contingents from Australia, Denmark, Italy, Spain, South Korea, the Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, Poland, Turkey and France, at the Manas airport, 30 kilometers (17 miles) east of the capital.

source: http://en.rian.ru/world/20090616/155265668.html

[KarotheGreat]

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

Iranian president blasts U.S. at SCO summit in Russia

15:3316/06/2009

YEKATERINBURG, June 16 (RIA Novosti) - Iran's controversial president said on Tuesday that ongoing regional conflicts and the global economic crisis proved that the current unipolar world dominated by the United States is not viable.

Despite mass protests at home against his landslide reelection last Friday, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrived in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg for a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), in which Iran has observer status.

"Iraq continues to be occupied, chaos is growing in Afghanistan, the Palestinian problem remains unresolved, the world is swept by political and economic crises, and there is no hope for their resolution," he said.

Ahmadinejad said the U.S. and its allies were unable to cope with the crises, showing that "the end has come" for the current unipolar world order.

He urged the SCO to take a leading role in efforts to tackle the global economic recession, and reiterated Iran's ambition for closer cooperation with the regional group, which includes Russia, China and four ex-Soviet Central Asian republics.

The Islamic Republic, the world's fifth largest oil exporter, has lobbied for full membership in the organization, seen as a counterbalance to U.S. interests in energy-rich Central Asia. The security grouping has recently expanded its remit to encompass economic and energy projects.

Ahmadinejad briefly met with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on the sidelines of the summit on Tuesday. "The parties agreed to continue economic and humanitarian cooperation, and other contacts," a Kremlin spokesperson said after the meeting.

Media reports said earlier on Tuesday that Medvedev had canceled his bilateral meeting with Ahmadinejad, citing a busy schedule, as the Iranian leader arrived a day late.

Tehran and other Iranian cities were swept by mass protests at the weekend over alleged vote fraud in the reelection of the hardline, anti-Western president.

The protests, the worst since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, continued in defiance of a government ban on Monday, with sporadic shooting reported in the capital. Seven people were killed when shots were fired into a group of protesters, Iran's Press TV reported on Tuesday, citing state radio.

U.S. President Barack Obama said on Monday he was "deeply troubled" by the violence in Iran.

Russia's deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, said on Tuesday that the "election in Iran is an internal affair of the Iranian people." He also welcomed Ahmadinejad as "the reelected president" on his first foreign visit.

Iran has been in the center of a long-running international dispute over its nuclear program. Western powers have been trying to persuade Tehran to halt nuclear activity suspecting it of plans to build a nuclear bomb. Iran says it needs nuclear technology for electricity generation.

Russia is completing the construction of Iran's first nuclear power plant, and has supplied nuclear fuel for it. Russia and China, permanent UN Security Council members, have prevented strict sanctions against the Islamic Republic over its controversial nuclear activity.

source: http://en.rian.ru/world/20090616/155266305.html

[KarotheGreat]

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

Belarus calls deals at Moscow security summit 'illegitimate'

MOSCOW, June 14 (RIA Novosti) - Belarus, which pulled out of Sunday's summit of the post-Soviet CSTO security bloc in Moscow, has said the agreements reached at the meeting are illegitimate.

Belarus refused to attend the summit of the Collective Security Treaty Organization in protest against Russia's ban on imports of its dairy products. The other members signed deals to create a joint rapid-reaction force.

"Decisions taken against the opinion of any member state of the organization are illegitimate," Belarusian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Andrei Popov said in a statement.

"The reason for our non-participation in the current CSTO session was the categorical refusal of Belarus to adopt CSTO decisions aimed at the strengthening of military political security under conditions where the economic security of a member of the organization, namely Belarus, is being openly undermined. This is our considered position," he said.

The Belarusian government earlier accused Russia of "economic discrimination" in its trade restrictions. Earlier in June, Russia banned imports of over 1,000 types of dairy products from Belarus, dealing a significant blow to its budget revenue, saying producers in the ex-Soviet republic had failed to comply with new Russian regulations.

In the absence of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, the leaders of the other member states - Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan - signed a document that includes "an agreement on collective forces and a decision by the Collective Security Council on the rapid-reaction force structure," Russian President Dmitry Medvedev announced after the talks.

Russia already has joint military contingents with Belarus and Armenia through the CSTO. The new force will comprise large military units from five countries - Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.

Medvedev criticized Lukashenko for failing to personally contact him to discuss Belarus's refusal to take part in the summit.

source: http://en.rian.ru/world/20090614/155247105.html

[KarotheGreat]

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

New Russian frigate completes sea trials


ST. PETERSBURG, June 16 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's newest frigate, the Yaroslav Mudry, has completed sea trials and the official testing procedure will be over in a few days, a spokesman for the Yantar shipyard said on Tuesday.

The frigate has a displacement of 4,250 tons and a maximum speed of 30 knots. It is armed with anti-ship missiles, air defense systems, a 100-mm artillery mount, depth charges, and a Ka-27 helicopter.

Construction has taken almost 19 years due to lack of financing.

Further delays occurred in early May, when a Ka-27 Helix helicopter crashed into the Baltic Sea during the Yaroslav Mudry's sea trials.

The crash occurred after the helicopter's blades grazed the frigate.

The Baltic Fleet commander earlier said the Yaroslav Mudry could join the international anti-piracy mission in the Gulf of Aden after entering service with the Baltic Fleet.

source: http://en.rian.ru/russia/20090616/155268478.html

[KarotheGreat]

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

Shanghai group backs Russian proposal on common currency

MOSCOW, June 16 (RIA Novosti) - The leaders of Shanghai Cooperation Organization countries backed on Tuesday Russia's proposal on using national currencies in mutual settlements and introducing a common currency for the group.

The common currency would be similar to the European currency unit, in use in the EC until the introduction of the euro in 1999.

The SCO, which comprises Russia, China and four ex-Soviet Central Asian republics - Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan - held a summit in the Russian Urals city of Yekaterinburg on Tuesday.

The summit's participants said that the current structure of the world currency system, dominated by the U.S. dollar as the major global reserve currency, was far from ideal and that the appearance of new reserve currencies was inevitable.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev told the summit that the Shanghai group member states should increase the share of national currencies in mutual settlements to reduce dependence on the dollar and improve the health of the global financial system.

"The current set of reserve currencies and the main reserve currency - the U.S. dollar - have failed to function as they should," Medvedev told the summit, adding that the Russian ruble could hopefully become a reserve currency in the foreseeable future.

source: http://en.rian.ru/business/20090616/155268544.html

[retro]

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

They are not fascists. They are democracies. Just that every democracy is usually a bit corrupt these days, the US is the worst example of that. The US often pushes and controls the EU through Nato, that is why Kosovo was recognized. You have to remember that Bush recognized FYROM as being Macedonia and destabilised the region, is recognising Kosovo any different?

Kosovo is a illegitimate entity. Tony Blair's was the one who called Clinton and told the Americans to intervene by bombing the Serbs. Thereby handing Kosovo over to the Albanian Mafia. Presumable to undermined the Russians regional influence in favour of the Turks.

[hipeter924]

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

Much love from Serbia, Belgrade.
We are under occupation by west fascist countrys e.u. & usa, but with every day russian power is greater, and our days of freedom are near than ever.

Peace

They are not fascists. They are democracies. Just that every democracy is usually a bit corrupt these days, the US is the worst example of that. The US often pushes and controls the EU through Nato, that is why Kosovo was recognized. You have to remember that Bush recognized FYROM as being Macedonia and destabilised the region, is recognising Kosovo any different?

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

Much love from Serbia, Belgrade.
We are under occupation by west fascist countrys e.u. & usa, but with every day russian power is greater, and our days of freedom are near than ever.

Peace

[Eddo211]

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

Karo, I sincerely wish our friend, Armenian, will come back as we all really miss him.

This is none of my business but yea, I have read some of his post, what happened to him.................this Mullah loving Russian trusting self proclaimed King who insults Armenians in an instant who do not agree with him and he considers his brothers in US all bunch of self hating idiots.

Besides that I like to see him back too. He knows his xxxx in politics and history and he does say a lot of other things that I do happen to agree with.