The Rise of the Russian Empire: Russo-Armenian Relations

[Angessa]

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

Maybe you are mixing it up with the apartment bombings in 99?

No well people said the something about that also but referring to more recently.

[Armanen]

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

Bush makes final call in Russia

SOCHI, Russia (AP) -- President Bush began a farewell call in Russia on Saturday as the White House abandoned hope of a major agreement on missile defense during weekend talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Putin vigorously opposes U.S. plans to deploy a missile defense system in Europe, an issue that has been a major irritant in U.S.-Russia relations.

White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said it will take more than a weekend of talks to reach a consensus.

"We're going to have to do more work after Sochi," Perino told reporters traveling with Bush on Air Force One from Zagreb, Croatia, where earlier the president celebrated the expansion of NATO into former communist territory.

"No one has said that everything would be finalized and everyone would be satisfied with all the preparations, because we haven't even started to work on the technical aspects of the system," Perino said. "We're still in the early part of these discussions." Watch how relationship between Bush and Putin has run hot and cold »

But, Perino added, "the dialogue is headed in the right direction and that this meeting will be able to push that along even further."

Though Russia opposes placing a missile defense system in its backyard, the concept won the full support of NATO leaders at a summit last week in Bucharest, Romania, which Bush attended.

Perino said U.S. officials are working to convince Russia that it has little to fear from such a system.

"I think we have made great strides in bringing confidence to the Russians that this system is not aimed at Russia and Russia is not the enemy," she said. "You've heard the president say the Cold War is over, and if you look at what NATO just did this past week on missile defense, people have come to the realization that together, working cooperatively, we can help deter or prevent an attack from a rogue nation in the Middle East, not from Russia."

Aside from the NATO endorsement, the anti-missile program advanced with the Czech Republic's agreement to host a radar system that would track the sky for any threats. The White House has to complete a deal with Poland, where 10 interceptor rockets would be based.

Putin was not at the airport to greet Bush upon his arrival at the resort town of Sochi on the Black Sea, where the Russian president keeps a summer home. By then, the trip had assumed an air of informality as Bush and most of those accompanying him had removed their ties. Bush also had changed from a business suit into a sport coat and slacks.

The setting sun cast a bright glare on the water as Bush's motorcade traveled a bumpy coastal highway for the 35-minute drive to Putin's retreat.

The meeting will give both leaders a chance to "have a broad range of discussions on many of the issues that they've been working on over the past eight years," Perino said. She cited such areas as security cooperation, nuclear nonproliferation, counterterrorism and economic issues.

They hope to "deepen and broaden the relationship before handing it off to the next presidents," she said.

Bush and Putin, who leaves office May 7, also were expected to sign a "strategic framework" agreement that would guide the bilateral relationship into the future. Putin's hand-picked replacement, Dmitry Medvedev, will participate in some of the discussions.

"We believe we are heading toward that direction to be able to sign something. I think it will be broad," Perino said.

Bush, whose term ends in January, and Putin planned to have dinner Saturday, followed by additional talks Sunday before Bush departs for Washington.

In Croatia, Bush highlighted a separate set of differences with Putin: NATO's expansion into former communist territory. Croatia and Albania won invitations during the NATO summit to join the military alliance, but Macedonia did not, because of Greek objections.

In an outdoor speech, Bush said the invitations were "a vote of confidence that you will continue to make necessary reforms and become strong contributors to our great alliance." He reinforced the message immediately afterward by honoring NATO's newest members at lunch.

"Henceforth, should any danger threaten your people, America and the NATO alliance will stand with you, and no one will be able to take your freedom away," he said to cheers from the thousands packed into St. Mark's Square. The square is considered the center of Croatian politics and has been used for the inauguration of every Croatian leader for the past 700 years.

Such praise for the spread of democracy on Russia's doorstep, and the promise of Western military protection for that freedom, was unlikely to be cheered in Moscow. Bush's focus on freedom comes as his administration continues to harshly criticize increasing Kremlin authoritarianism.

Besides missile defense, Bush's drive for NATO membership for Ukraine and Georgia also roils Russia, which claimed victory when the ex-Soviet republics' aspirations to join the alliance were snubbed at the summit. But Bush and his aides have been quick to point out that NATO leaders pledged to eventually open the path to joining for the two countries, possibly as early as December.

Bush did not directly tweak Russia in his speech, and while advocating further NATO enlargement, he never mentioned Ukraine and Georgia. He did mention them, however, in his weekly radio address that is broadcast in the U.S. He commended the thousands of people in both countries who in recent years have peacefully demanded "their God-given liberty."

"The people of Ukraine and Georgia are an inspiration to the world and I was pleased that this week NATO declared that Ukraine and Georgia will become members of NATO," Bush said in the broadcast.

In Croatia, Bush also noted the success of U.S.-supported democratization in the Balkans, where the effects of the disintegration of the former Yugoslavia still affect ties between Washington and Moscow. Most recently, the United States and many of its European allies rallied around independence for the Serbian province of Kosovo. Russia, supporting Serbia, strongly opposed that.

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/04/05/bush.nato.ap/index.html

[Armenian]

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

Sea of Okhotsk is Russian territory - tabloid

Russian geologists intend to prove that the Sea of Okhotsk's central enclave, as well as all its other parts excluding a small piece in the south, belong to Russia, a Russian tabloid wrote Monday. Moskovsky Komsomolets said the question concerns 56,400 square kilometers (21,780 square miles) of deepened continental shelf under the Sea of Okhotsk, a part of the western Pacific Ocean, which is legally beyond the 200-mile Russian economic zone. In 2001, Russia addressed the UN continental shelf commission with a similar request, which was turned down at the time. The UN demanded more data and evidence that the enclave is a continuation of the continental shelf, said Viktor Poselov, a deputy director of the ocean and geology research institute. The Federal Agency for the Management of Mineral Resources and the institute sent a new special expedition to the Sea of Okhotsk to gather evidence for Russia's claim. Poselov said the collected data clearly indicates the sea is Russian territory with only some of the Kuril Islands being under dispute. The Russian research is now being examined by the Natural Resources Ministry, and in three months a new request could be filed with the UN, Poselov said. Moskovsky Komsomolets said the UN commission is not yet satisfied with Russian scientists' arguments that the Lomonosov Ridge belongs to Russia. The UN said Russian geologists plan to gather more data in 2009. Last August, as part of a scientific expedition, two Russian mini-subs made a symbolic eight-hour dive beneath the North Pole to bolster the country's claim that the Arctic's Lomonosov Ridge lies in the country's economic zone. A titanium Russian flag was also planted on the seabed. The expedition irritated a number of Western countries, particularly Canada, and Peter MacKay, the Canadian foreign minister, accused Moscow of making an unsubstantiated claim to the area. Russia's oceanology research institute has undertaken two Arctic expeditions - to the Mendeleyev underwater chain in 2005 and to the Lomonosov ridge last summer - to back Russian claims to the region, believed to contain vast oil and gas reserves and other mineral riches, likely to become accessible in future decades due to man-made global warming. Russia and Japan have contested the ownership of the Kuril Islands for over 60 years, a dispute that has kept the two countries from signing a formal peace treaty after World War II.

Source: http://en.rian.ru/russia/20080407/103929076.html

[Armenian]

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

Many western people believe that Beslan school siege is the something and was committed by Russian government for reason to declare war. What do you all think about that? I think that foolish and ignorance. No war has come from the aftermath or great change. People are not frighten are scared, people are use to terroist attacks and take a lot more to frighten us. Terrorist attacks are uncommon here for car bombing or attempted one etc.

Angessa, it is generally understood that the Russian FSB conducted the bombings of 1999 to use it as a pretext to invade Chechnya and finally put to an end the terrorist occupation there. This is similar to what occurred in the US in September 11, 2001: the US needed a major pretext to invade Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran and Syria. The 'perception' that the FSB conducted the bombings in Russia was primarily due to statements Litvinenko made before he was assassinated couple of years ago. The perception that the FSB conducted the operation, however, does make sense especially once you place it within a greater geopolitical context and Moscow's geostrategic interests, which it began to openly pursue as soon as Yeltsin's power declined. The Beslan school tragedy, however, seemed more like an operation at the time to 'show' Putin who was still in power in Russia. Don't forget Russia had two tragedies as soon as Vladimir Putin - the nationalist feared by the West - came into power and began to clean house; the first one was the Kursk submarine incident which many people, including those in the West, blame it on the US navy and the second one was Beslan. I personally think the bombings in 1999 were operations carried out by the Russian FSB. As a result of the bombings, Russia, which had made peace with the occupied territories of Chechnya under Yeltsin, re-invaded the area and finally put to an end the Chechen secession there. The Beslan and the Kursk incidents were, in my opinion, attempts by western secret services to bring Putin and the Russian nationalists to their knees because Putin had started to strongly pursue Russia's national interests independent of the West.

[Armanen]

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

What role do you think the u.s. navy had in the kursk accident, Armenian?

[Armenian]

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

What role do you think the u.s. navy had in the kursk accident, Armenian?

The theory suggests that a US navy submarine sunk the Kursk as a result of an altercation. The theory, as presented in the video link below, makes sense to me. Anyway, just watch the French produced documentary and tell me what you think.

This month Russia commemorated the seventh anniversary of the Kursk tragedy. The following 50 minute film documentary about the incident, initially aired to record audiences in France, is a must see presentation. It is now believed that the mighty Kursk was not lost as a result of an accidental explosion of its on-board torpedoes but rather a deliberate attack by the US submarine Memphis. Regardless of this theory's accuracy, the content of this documentary and the geopolitical implications of this tragic incident are directly related to this thread's discussions.

Armenian

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Kursk (a submarin in troubled waters): http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...18731467852276



US accused to have 'torpedoed Kursk nuclear sub'

Daniel Stacey, London May 09, 2005

A FORMER British military official has backed a sensational claim that the Russian nuclear submarine, the Kursk, was torpedoed by US forces in August 2000. An official inquest concluded that the disaster – in which all 118 crew drowned in the Barents Sea, 135km off the Russian coast – was caused by an accidental explosion of an onboard torpedo. But Maurice Stradling, a former torpedo engineer and a key figure in the original investigation, believes a new French documentary, The Kursk: A Submarine in Troubled Waters, should change world opinion on the sinking.

"On the balance of probabilities, the Kursk was sunk by an American MK-48 torpedo," said Mr Stradling, formerly a senior member of the British Defence Ministry.

BBC editor Nick Fraser called the claim a "pack of lies" and has refused to air the documentary, which attracted a record audience of more than 4 million when it screened on French TV. The BBC used Mr Stradling as its main authority for a documentary it made in 2001 – What Sank the Kursk?, in which Mr Stradling theorised that the sinking was caused by the malfunctioning of an old-fashioned HTP torpedo. Mr Stradling, who also appears in the new French documentary, said: "At the time (2001), that was a perfectly reasonable film, given the facts as we knew them then, when there seemed to be no third-party involvement,"

The new explanation for the Kursk's downing is based on film footage of a hole in the side of the vessel, and evidence placing US submarines in the area at the time it was sunk. The French film shows stills of the Kursk raised above the water after being salvaged, with a precise circular hole in its right side. The hole clearly bends inwards, consistent with an attack from outside the submarine. A US military source in the documentary declares the hole to be the trademark evidence of an American MK-48 torpedo, which is made to melt cleanly through steel sheet due to a mechanism at its tip that combusts copper. The film suggests the attack happened while two US submarines, the Toledo and Memphis, were shadowing the Kursk in a routine military exercise.

The documentary says the Toledo accidentally collided with the Kursk, at which point the Russian submarine opened its torpedo tubes, leading to an attack from the Memphis, which was protecting the damaged Toledo while it retreated. The cause of the sinking was covered up at the time in an act of diplomacy between then US presidents Bill Clinton and Russian President Vladimir Putin – a deal that included the cancellation of $US10 billion ($12.5 billion) of Russian debt, the film states. After the documentary received its only public broadcast in Britain, some claimed the Russian navy had drilled the hole and fed doctored footage to the film-makers to create a false impression.

Source: http://www.libertypost.org/cgi-bin/r...i?ArtNum=94693

[skhara]

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

I've done some reading and watched a documentary of the first Chechen war.

That whole episode is to be considered nothing but a huge humiliation for Russia. It seemed that the incompetence came from the Kremlin all the way down to the foot soldier.

I don't know how they could have underestimated the Chechens in an Urban environment? Hell war making is one of the few talents these people actually have. I don't know how they didn't foresee that tanks and APCs are useless in urban combat. Yeltsin shook hands with Mashadov, Mashadov was all too happy to do so since it presented as if his independence declaring Chechnya is on equal footing with Russia.

The second time everything was done carefully. Media access was clamped down and Grozny was besieged while the Russian army advances slowly, block by block, and on foot.

[Armenian]

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

The Anti-Atlantic Alliance

Georgia’s President Mikhail Saakhashvili lashed out at the recent address of Russia’s President Vladimir Putin to the leaders of Georgia’s breakaway Abkhazia and South Ossetia. And Tbilisi had solid grounds for agitation – implementation of Sukhumi proposals by Russia could be viewed as the first step en route of the economic integration of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. In essence, it will be Moscow’s response to the NATO summit in Bucharest. Russia’s Foreign Ministry announced sending the respective addresses to Abkhazia’s President Sergei Bagapsh and South Ossetia’s President Eduard Kokoity on April 3. People in the ministry, specified that it was the response to letters of the leaders of breakaway republics of Georgia, which manifested their apprehension about the political course of Tbilisi and its efforts to become the NATO member. Putin said Russia was well-aware of Tbilisi’s course aimed at destabilizing the situation by using threats and force “with active appeal to the extra-regional states and organizations.” The implication is explicit – Putin evidently meant Georgia’s moves towards NATO and desire to replace Russia’s peacekeepers by international contingent. Moscow would back up Abkhazia and South Ossetia “not declaratively but in deed,” the president pledged. Georgia’s President Mikhail Saakashvili called this move of Moscow unreasonable, unacceptable and dangerous. Georgia was stripped off the choice – we are heading for NATO, Saakashvili vowed. According to Abkhazia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Shamba, they have already elaborated specific proposals that could follow the recent lifting of economic sanctions against Sukhumi. “These proposals cover a wide range of economic and legal issues that we could decide in the first instance.” The sources say the banking cooperation will be one of priorities. Sukhumi suggests opening a correspondent account of the National Bank of Abkhazia with the Sochi branch of the the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) and authorizing CBR to provide soft loans to Abkhazia’s bank. Other proposals include settlement of all customs and tax issues, revival of traffic links between Russia and Abkhazia, including direct railway traffic and postal links, establishment of Russia’s diplomatic representative office in Abkhazia and so on. The RF Security Council will consider the proposals in the near term.

Source: http://www.kommersant.com/p-12308/Putin_prime_minister/

[Armenian]

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

Azerbaijani Embassy to Russia sends note of protest to Russian Foreign Ministry regarding invitation of Karabakh separatists to Moscow

The Institute of the CIS states, led by K.Zatulin, first deputy chairman of the Committee of the Russian Parliament on the affairs of the CIS and contacts with compatriots, held an international conference "Following Kosovo: commonwealth of unrecognized states on the way to recognition" in Moscow on March 28, 2008. The conference was attended by representatives of the illegal regime, functioning in the occupied lands of Azerbaijan and it was held with participation of the government officials of Russia. Due to this fact, the Azerbaijani Embassy to Russia undertook due measures and sent a note of protest to the Russian Foreign Ministry on April 4 of 2008. The document drew attention to the constant illegal actions of Zatulin, who is the representative of the legislative power under the Constitution and is also the first deputy chairman of the parliamentary committee, dealing with the issues of the CIS and reads that such actions are inadmissible. The embassy states openly that invitation of the representatives of the Russian Foreign Ministry and Moscow authorities do not comply with the relations of strategic cooperation, established between the two countries and reflected in the concluded contracts and other political and legal documents. The note requests the Russian Foreign Ministry to explain the conduction of the said conference and states inadmissibility of repetition of such cases in the future.

Source: http://www.today.az/news/politics/44109.html

[Armenian]

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

Russian Owner Pledges More Investments In Armenian Phone Network

The Russian owner of the national telecommunication company ArmenTel said on Monday that it will invest $74 million this year in the ongoing modernization of its fixed-line and mobile phone networks in Armenia. The VimpelCom operator claims to have made about $90 million worth of such investments in the course of last year. Senior VimpelCom executives said the additional investments are aimed, among other things, at reversing ArmenTel’s declining share in Armenia’s market for wireless service. The decline began immediately after the abolition of ArmenTel’s legal monopoly on mobile telephony and the launch of the country’s second wireless network, VivaCell, in 2005. Less than one third of an estimated 2 million Armenian mobile phone users are currently subscribed to the ArmenTel network. VivaCell, which is owned by another Russian telecom giant, MTS, claims to have attracted 400,000 subscribers during the past seven months alone. According to Dmitry Pleskonos, a VimpelCom vice-chairman, ArmenTel’s market share stood at about 40 percent a year ago. Pleskonos blamed the drop on the ongoing upgrading of the ArmenTel network, which causes periodical disruptions in phone connection, and VivaCell’s aggressive marketing strategy. “We did not react sufficiently to the activity displayed by our business competitors,” he told a news conference in Yerevan. Pleskonos and other VimpelCom executives spoke to journalists as ArmenTel officially renamed its wireless division Beeline, the brand name of the VimpelCom networks in Russia and several other former Soviet republics. The name change appears to be part of the company’s strategy of improving the reputation of its Armenian subsidiary. ArmenTel earned notoriety for the poor quality and high cost of service under its previous, Greek parent company, OTE. The latter’s failure to invest in and expand the wireless network meant that Armenia had less than 300,000 mobile phone users as recently as three years ago. The service became accessible and affordable for the average Armenian only after the abolition of the ArmenTel monopoly. VimpelCom has been grappling with ArmenTel’s negative image ever since paid about $500 million to buy the company from OTE in late 2006. Pleskonos said the renaming of the cellphone network will also boost the quality of its service.

Source: http://www.armenialiberty.org/armeni...CBB993C026.ASP