Russia creates it's own NATO!

[Hovik]

RUSSIA'S CREATING ITS OWN NATO
SOURCE: Kommersant, No 225, p.10
by Mikhail Zygar

RusData Dialine - Russian Press Digest
November 30, 2005 Wednesday

Foreign ministers of the Collective Security Treaty Organization
meetin Moscow

A meeting of the foreign ministers' council of the Collective Security
Treaty Organization (ODKB) began yesterday in Moscow. The participants
will sign an agreement on creating a joint peacekeeping force, which
Moscow hopes to turn into a mobile force, modeled after similar
NATO units. Until recently Russia's ODKB partners were not eager to
create such a force. However, this time, in order to interest them,
Moscow is ready to offer the most active partners new discounts for
Russian natural gas supplies.

Today the foreign ministers of the ODKB's six member states (Armenia,
Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan) will sign
an agreement on conducting joint peacekeeping operation in case the
situation in one of the member countries destabilizes. The participants
of the meeting will be received by the Russian President Vladimir
Putin, who, according to the Kommersant's sources, will tell them
that the ODKB peacekeeping forces should not be less mobile or less
effective than the NATO's ones. The president will also once again
declare the course on building closer ties between ODKB on one side
and China and Uzbekistan on the other.

The meeting also is to approve the ODKB's 2006 budget, and Russia is
trying to allocate more funds within it towards financing the joint
mobile forces. Apart from that, Moscow will promise to encourage its
most active partners through offering additional gas discounts.

[Hovik]

Russia And Security Partners To Set Up Peace-keeping Forces

RUSSIA AND SECURITY PARTNERS TO SET UP PEACE-KEEPING FORCES

Agence France Presse -- English
November 30, 2005 Wednesday 3:27 PM GMT

Russia and its five fellow members of the regional Collective Security
Treaty Organisation (ODKB) have agreed to establish peace-keeping
forces, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Wednesday.

"The decision to create such forces has been made," Lavrov told a
news conference after meeting his ODKB counterparts.

The other members are Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and
Tajikistan.

"Today we discussed technical and financial issues to make sure these
forces function properly. We all agree that this is an important tool
for reaching our objectives," he said.

The treaty setting up the ODKB was signed in 1992 and emphasised
members' common fight against terrorism, drugs traffic and organised
crime.

The organisation's peace-keepers will act within ODKB members states
under United Nations mandate when a mission is necessary, according
to its secretary general, Nikolai Bordyuzha.

"Russia is creating its own NATO," suggested Wednesday's edition of
the Russian Kommersant newspaper, adding that Russia was ready to
reduce gas prices as an inducement for signing up to the project.

Russian national security chief Igor Ivanov, who met Tuesday with
his ODKB counterparts, blasted NATO and the United States for the
"pressure" they were exerting in Central Asia, which was "raising
tensions" in the region.

The US has been seeking to maintain and establish military bases in the
region, especially after Uzbekistan recently forced US troops to quit
a key base used for operations in neighboring Afghanistan since 2001.

[Gavur]

Yerevan Signals Frustration With Russian Stance On Gas Price

By Karine Kalantarian

Official Yerevan left on Tuesday the clearest indication yet that it is dismayed at Russia’s apparent reluctance to reconsider its decision to double the price of Russian natural gas for Armenia.

President Robert Kocharian appears to have failed to clinch more favorable terms for his country during his latest meeting with his Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin on Sunday. The talks followed weeks of unprecedented verbal attacks on Moscow launched by Armenia’s government-controlled TV stations and newspapers.

Kocharian’s spokesman, Victor Soghomonian, said the Armenian leadership is “worried” that the gas price hike and the resulting media criticism are fuelling anti-Russian sentiment in Armenia. But he indicated that it will not try to counter the ongoing shift in Armenian public opinion that has traditionally been friendly towards Russia.

“It is the Russian side that has to think about doing something about that,” Soghomonian told reporters.

The presidential press secretary further declared that some aspects of Russian-Armenian cooperation on energy “need to be reconsidered” in the light of the recent developments. He would not say whether that means Kocharian wants to weaken the strong Russian presence in the Armenian energy sector.

Also indicating his frustration with the Russian position was influential Defense Minister Serzh Sarkisian, who has been closely involved in Yerevan’s economic dealings with Moscow. “This issue is not purely economic,” Sarkisian said in a newspaper interview published on Tuesday. “Apart from economics, there is also the issue of trust here.”

“The existing situation has agitated the public and raised many questions,” Sarkisian told the Russian-language “Golos Armenii” newspaper. “But I think that answers to those questions will be given soon,” he added ambiguously.

Soghomonian repeated his earlier statement that the two governments hope to cut a mutually acceptable deal by the middle of next month. And he again denied a Russian newspaper report that Kocharian offered Putin not raise the gas price in return for a 45 percent stake in a gas pipeline from Iran currently under construction.

Russia’s state-controlled Gazprom giant has confirmed reports that Armenia will not be charged more for the gas if it agrees to give the Russians control over a major thermal power plant and the right to use Iranian gas. The idea has been rejected by Prime Minister Andranik Markarian.

(Photolur photo: Victor Soghomonian.)

[Ixtanbul]

It would ne nice if everyone added the link to the news or article they post.

[Gavur]

Pace Passes A Resolution On Georgia

January 24 session of the Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe (PACE) passed a resolution on fulfillment of Georgia's obligations that says that though long-term reforms move in a right direction, most of improvements in Georgia are still in initial stage.

After listening to Georgia's report on fulfillment of undertaken obligations, delegates expressed dissatisfaction over strengthening presidential authority in the country, Gazeta SNG reports. The same source reports that parliamentary opposition is weak in Georgia, the mass media has insufficient freedom and the non-governmental sector is weak. The Council proposed Georgia to pay more attention to the rights of national minorities and to strengthening anti-corruption campaign.

In the meantime, Georgia, in the person of deputy foreign minister Levan Choladze, states that Georgia is not going to quit the Commonwealth of Independent States. Despite the recent calls within the country to resign, the government took a decision of remaining in the CIS yesterday.
AZG Armenian Daily #013, 26/01/2006