Watch Russia’s presidential inauguration broadcast LIVE!

[Armenian]

Re: Watch Russia’s presidential inauguration broadcast LIVE!

Bilateral ties with Russia to reach 'great heights': PM

Underscoring Russia's "special and unique" place in India's foreign relations, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has hoped that bilateral cooperation in the fields of defence and energy security will continue to grow in future.

"India and Russia have enjoyed close ties of friendship and partnership over the last sixty years. Russia occupies a special and unique place in India's foreign relations. Our time-tested relationship is based on deep mutual trust and understanding," Singh, who will leave for Moscow on Sunday on a two-day visit, said in an interview to government agency RIA Novosti. Expressing optimism on the future of bilateral strategic partnership between the two nations, he said "Indo-Russian relations will grow to great heights. The evolution of our relations will be based on the solid foundation of the last sixty years. I see a continuing convergence and similarity of our world views on major international issues.

The prime minister dubbed Russia as India's "most important partner" in defence cooperation. "Russia is the only country with which we have a formal mechanism of an Inter-Governmental Commission for military-technical cooperation, which meets annually under the chairmanship of the two defence ministers," Singh underscored. "Defence cooperation is an integral element of our strategic partnership. Joint research, development and production of defence equipment will continue to play an important role in strengthening India's strategic partnership with Russia," Singh said noting that many defence contracts between the two nations are at various stages of implementation.

He cited last month's signing of inter-governmental agreement for cooperation in the production and development of fifth generation multi-functional fighter aircraft (FGFA). "I am sure that bilateral collaboration in the field of military technical cooperation will continue to grow in the future," the PM said. He proposed India, with its rapidly increasing energy demands, could become a major guarantor of energy demand for Russia, with its immense proven reserves of oil and gas.

"With India growing at over 8-9 per cent per annum, our energy requirements are increasing rapidly. President Putin has defined energy security as not just security of supply but also security of demand. India can be a major guarantor for energy demand," Singh said. He noted that Indian and Russian oil and gas companies are engaged in discussions to expand their cooperation beyond the Sakhalin-1 project. At the same time, Russian oil and gas companies are active in India. The Prime Minister named enhancement of power generation capacity as an extremely important objective for India. According to him, India needs energy from all sources, including renewable and nuclear energy.

"We have plans to produce 20,000 MW of nuclear power by 2020. International civil nuclear energy cooperation will enable us to augment our nuclear energy production," Singh stated. He expressed gratitude for Russia's ongoing partnership in the construction of nuclear power units at Kudankulam in Tamil Nadu. Sources said the two countries could sign a fresh deal for the construction of four more reactors at Kudankulam to enhance its projected capacity from 2 MW to 6 MW on Monday.

Responding to a question about his vision of Indo-Russian strategic partnership after 15 years, Singh said: "I am very optimistic about the future of our strategic partnership with Russia." Singh pointed that Indo-Russian "geo-political interests have always had much in common" and Moscow and New Delhi have intensive contacts at all levels. He expressed gratitude to Russian President Vladimir Putin for strong personal commitment to Indo-Russian relations and for institutionalising the mechanism of annual summit- level exchanges during his first visit to India in 2000.

"We have a shared destiny, and a common neighbourhood where we seek to build an atmosphere of peace, stability and cooperation. India and Russia will continue to work together to shape an equitable international order which reflects contemporary realities," he said. Singh is scheduled to hold wide-ranging talks with President Putin in the Kremlin on Monday. "India and Russia present a unique example of two large states with a strong interest in a peaceful, secure and prosperous world order and high stakes in the orderly functioning of the international system," Singh pointed out.

He said that their shared world view, which envisages a strong role for the United Nations, could help foster closer political relations and cooperation in multilateral forums. "I also see much more collaboration to exploit our mutual strengths and complementarities. "The rapid growth of our economies will create new opportunities for mutual cooperation, particularly in the area of energy security. Apart from this, the traditional pillars of our strategic partnership can be expected to see a further deepening," he said.

Source: http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus...0711101222.htm

N-pact tops Singh's Moscow agenda

India's PM is planning to discuss nuclear cooperation and the production of a military transport aircraft during his visit to Russia. The Cabinet Committee on Security convened on Thursday-- ahead of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's second visit to Moscow in two years-- to approve a number of agreements to be concluded by the two sides. Ways to improve bilateral trade and energy cooperation and fine tuning defense ties are expected to be outlined in the new pacts. Nuclear cooperation is expected to be high on the agenda of Singh's visit amid reports that the two countries will sign an agreement for building four more nuclear reactors in India. Singh will leave for Moscow on Sunday on a two-day visit for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Source: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id...onid=351020402

[Armenian]

Re: Watch Russia’s presidential inauguration broadcast LIVE!

President Putin Talks of the Future as Premier

Putin Q&A: international agenda (Russia Today Video): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKg2-ny7k8I

President Vladimir V. Putin, in the final weeks of an eight-year administration that secured his place as the country’s most popular politician, said Thursday that he intended to wield substantial and long-running power in the Kremlin after leaving office next month and becoming Russia’s prime minister. In a confident and forceful public performance in which he described many of Russia’s continuing policy choices, Mr. Putin spoke bitingly of his international critics and defied Washington by refusing to back down from threats to aim strategic missiles at the Czech Republic, Poland and Ukraine. He said the Kremlin had been forced to assume a reinvigorated nuclear defense by NATO’s courting of Ukraine and by the United States’ development of a missile defense system for deployment in Europe. “We will have to retarget our missiles on the objects that we think threaten our national security,” he said. “I have to speak about this directly and honestly, so that there would be no attempts to shift the responsibility for such developments on those who should not be blamed.”

Mr. Putin appeared in public for more than four hours in what the Kremlin billed as his final news conference as president. Under Russia’s Constitution, he cannot seek a third consecutive term, and a new president will be selected on March 2 by popular vote. But the event had none of the trappings of a farewell performance, and it did little to suggest Mr. Putin was yielding his position as Russia’s unrivaled leader. He reiterated his intention to become prime minister and to lead the government of his presumptive successor, whom he had selected himself, Dmitri A. Medvedev. He also implied that Mr. Medvedev would follow the course that he had set.

“The president is the guarantor of the Constitution,” Mr. Putin said. “He sets the main directions for internal and external policies. But the highest executive power in the country is the Russian government, led by the premier.” He later added that he planned to be the prime minister throughout Mr. Medvedev’s administration, and perhaps beyond. “I formulated tasks for the development of Russia from 2010 until 2020,” he said. “The fate is taking shape in a way that I have a possibility to participate directly in achievement of these goals.” The conference also underscored the degree to which Mr. Putin continued to eclipse Mr. Medvedev. Although Russia is in the middle of the official one-month presidential campaign, there is little sign of competing ideas or public involvement in choosing the next president. And Mr. Putin is not fading from view.

Last week, he addressed Russia’s lawmakers with his plans for the country through 2020. On Thursday he threatened to escalate a dispute with Europe and the United States over the future of Kosovo, which is expected to declare its independence next week, with support from the West. Russia has backed its traditional ally, Serbia, and opposed Kosovo’s independence. It has threatened to protest the move at the United Nations Security Council and perhaps to recognize breakaway regions it supports in Moldova and Georgia. “We are told all the time, ‘Kosovo is a special case,’ ” Mr. Putin said. “It is all lies. There is no special case, and everybody understands it perfectly well.”

The conference, a question-and-answer format, has been an annual event in which Mr. Putin has often displayed his comfort with power and a command of the fine details of governing. The audience was a mixture of Russian reporters, many openly praising the Russian president, and foreign journalists, several of them pressing him on policies that have alarmed Western governments and undermined his reputation abroad. Mr. Putin basked in the praise and seemed to revel in the criticism, which he rebutted with a mix of long, unapologetic answers and occasional insults. When asked about the decision of the principal international election monitors not to send missions to observe the presidential elections, Mr. Putin was dismissive.

The monitors, from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, have routinely found that elections in post-Soviet autocracies, including Russia, have been rigged. And they have said that Russia has unilaterally imposed conditions that make it impossible to assess the current campaign and election fully. Mr. Putin said that the organization needed to be overhauled, and suggested that the monitors intended to teach Russia how to become democratic. “Let them teach their wives to make shchi,” he said. Shchi is a popular Russian cabbage soup. Similarly, Mr. Putin swept aside a remark by Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, who said that as a former K.G.B. officer, Mr. Putin “has no soul.” “As a minimum, a state official must at least have a head,” he said.

Mr. Putin also flashed his annoyance when asked about reports in Western newspapers that he had used his office to accumulate a vast personal fortune. Such “rumors,” he said, “they picked from a nose and smeared onto their papers.” The conference alternated between these occasionally scalding moments and others in which Mr. Putin, answering questions from admiring Russian journalists, was at ease and treated with public fealty. One young woman noted that the conference was held on Valentine’s Day, and asked whether Mr. Putin had received a gift. He said he had been busy doing his morning exercises and preparing for the conference, and had not yet received any presents. The reporter then grinned and said she would like to give him a Valentine, and he invited her to pass it down to him through the crowd.

At another point, a French journalist asked Mr. Putin if he thought that the official results recorded in Chechnya during parliamentary elections in December were realistic. According to the Central Election Commission, the voter turnout in Chechnya was 99 percent, and 99 percent of the voters cast their ballots for United Russia, the party Mr. Putin leads. Chechnya sought to break from Russia in the early 1990s, and waged a long insurgency for which it has been intensely punished. Past elections there have been openly rigged, and the latest results were viewed in the West and among Mr. Putin’s domestic critics as unashamedly fake. Mr. Putin, looking confident, asked a state journalist from Chechnya to answer the question. “These are absolutely realistic figures,” the journalist said. “Personally, all my acquaintances, including myself, voted for United Russia.”

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/15/wo.../15russia.html

[North Pole]

Re: Watch Russia’s presidential inauguration broadcast LIVE!

Thank you, Armenian. Your information about Putin is priceless.
But do you have anything on Dmitry Medvedev?

RussiaToday : News : Watch Russia presidential inauguration broadcast LIVE!

[skhara]

Re: Watch Russia’s presidential inauguration broadcast LIVE!

I don't think Medvedev can be anywhere near as an effective "cult of personality". He is soft-spoken business man, not a KGB spy.

[Armenian]

Re: Watch Russia’s presidential inauguration broadcast LIVE!

Vladimir Putin's lasting legacy: the modernization and reorganization of Russia's armed services, the recommencement of Russia's strategic air patrols and supplying enemies of the West with modern arms.

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Russia's Navy gets ambitious

The Russian Navy will become the world's second largest in 20 years' time, said its commander-in-chief, Admiral Vladimir Masorin, speaking ahead of Navy Day. He said the navy's core would consist of the newest strategic nuclear-powered submarines and six squadrons of aircraft carriers. For Russia's navy, this will be its third modernization program, said the admiral. The previous two, although giving it a boost, were never completed. Now, said the admiral, there is such a chance. Recently approved, a rearmament program until 2015 for the first time in Soviet and Russian history puts the development of the navy on an equal footing with strategic nuclear forces. Out of 4.9 trillion rubles ($192.16 billion) allocated for military rearmament, 25% will go into building new ships.

Source: http://en.rian.ru/analysis/20070731/70008268.html

Russia begins large-scale military exercises in North Caucasus

Russia begins large-scale military exercises in North Caucasus Russia began Monday large-scale military exercises in five regions of the North Caucasus, involving at least 8,000 personnel, an aide to the commander of the North Caucasus military district said Tuesday. The exercise involves units of the North Caucasus Military District, the 4th Air Force Army, Interior Ministry troops, border guards, and the Caspian Flotilla. "The total number of personnel involved in the command-and-staff exercise is over 8,000," Andrei Bobrun said. The main goal of the exercise is to practice interoperability between federal troops, interior ministry's troops, border guards, the Air Force and the Navy in special operations against militants and the defense of Russia's state borders. The exercise, which involves at least 350 combat vehicles and aircraft, will be conducted until August 9 on the territory of North Ossetia, Ingushetia, Daghestan, the Chechen Republic, and the Stavropol Territory.

Source: http://en.rian.ru/russia/20070731/70012347.html

Strategic Missile Forces to conduct over 100 exercises in fall

The Strategic Missile Forces will conduct more than 100 exercises this summer and fall, the SMF press service said Friday. Part of the exercises will include rehearsing command and control operations involving the mobile Topol-M ICBM complex. The SMF commander said last month Russia will commission three Topol-M ICBMs this year. "By the end of the year we will arm another missile battalion with advanced Topol-M ICBMs at the Teikovo missile base, Ivanovo Region," Col. Gen. Nikolai Solovtsov said. Gen. Solovtsov said earlier the deployment of silo-based Topol-M systems in the Saratov Region and road-mobile systems in the Ivanovo Region (central Russia) would be completed in 2010. As of December 2006, the Strategic Missile Forces operated 44 silo-based and three mobile missiles. The SMF press service said that, while 48 silo-based systems would be on duty by late 2007, the Teikovo base is shifting to cutting-edge road-mobile missiles.

Source: http://en.rian.ru/russia/20070727/69799517.html

Russia to equip two air regiments with Su-34 strike planes soon

Two regiments of the 16th Air Army will be equipped with new Su-34 Fullback fighter-bombers in the near future, the army commander said Thursday. Designed by the Sukhoi Design Bureau, the Su-34s will replace the Su-24 Fencer frontline bombers. Experts said the new bomber has the potential to become the best plane in its class for years to come. "The schedule for re-equipment of air regiments [in the Russian Air Force] with new and modernized aircraft has been determined," Major General Alexander Belevitch said. "Two of our air regiments will be re-armed soon." The $36 million Su-34 fighter-bomber is a two-seat strike aircraft equipped with twin AL-31MF afterburning turbojet engines. It is designed to deliver high-precision strikes on heavily-defended targets under any weather conditions, day or night, and fields weaponry that includes a 30mm GSh-301 cannon, up to 12 Alamo or Archer AAMs, ASMs, and bombs. The first serial-production Su-34 has been procured by the Defense Ministry and will soon be deployed at the Lipetsk pilot training center for practical training of military pilots. General Belevitch said the 16th Air Army would also receive MiG-29SM Fulcrum fighters to replace outdated MiG-29s and modernized Su-25 Frogfoot close support aircraft, which showed outstanding performance during operations in Afghanistan, Chechnya and other "hot spots."

Source: http://en.rian.ru/russia/20070802/70212524.html

New Russian nuclear submarine to go to sea this year

Russia will put its first Borey-class strategic nuclear submarine through sea trials in the second half of 2008, the Russian Navy commander said on Friday. The fourth generation Yury Dolgoruky was built at the Sevmash plant in the northern Arkhangelsk Region and was taken out of dry dock last April. It will be equipped with Bulava ballistic missiles upgraded from Topol-M (SS-27) missiles. "The Yury Dolgoruky will go to sea in July. If not in July, then in October or November," Adm. Vladimir Vysotsky said. The submarine has a length of 170 meters (580 feet), a body diameter around 13 meters (42 feet), and a submerged speed of about 29 knots. It can carry up to 16 ballistic missiles. Two other Borey-class nuclear submarines, the Alexander Nevsky and the Vladimir Monomakh, are currently under construction at the Sevmash plant. Last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that fourth-generation submarines armed with Bulava missiles would form the core of Russia's fleet of modern submarines.

Source: http://en.rian.ru/russia/20080404/103757811.html

Russia to Create 5-6 Air Carrier Groups

Russia will have six or five groups of air carriers, the RF Navy Commander Admiral Vladimir Vysotsky announced, Interfax reported. “We plan to have five or six air carrier groups overall,” Admiral Vysotsky announced during the news conference Friday. The research is underway to determine the layout of perspective air carrier of Russia, the admiral specified. As to the new weapons, test operations of Bulava-M ballistic missile will be completed in 2008. “The missile will fly and it will fly already this year,” Vysotsky vowed. Past year’s failures were caused by the technical problems, which could be tackled, the officer explained.

Source: http://www.kommersant.com/p-12304/Air_carrier_Bulava/

Russia’s Troops to Go Dn to 1m by 2016

The strength of the RF troops will be reduced to a million by 2016, said Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov. Armed Forces are to equal a million servicemen by that time,” Serdyukov said in the interview with Komsomolskaya Pravda that was published Thursday. The acceptable strength of the central staff is known as well. “The limit of 10,523 has been determined,” the minister said. There are too many officers in Russia's Army, Serdyukov pointed out. “In our Army, over 30 percent are officers. It is an evident warp. The indicator is from 7.5 percent to 15 percent in the armies of leading nations,” the minister specified.

Source: http://www.kommersant.com/p-12289/r_...ops_reduction/

Putin demands more aircraft for Russian Air Force

Russian President Vladimir Putin demanded on Wednesday that the state program for arms procurement be adjusted to increase the number of modern combat aircraft for the Air Force. "I consider it unacceptable when foreign customers receive advanced aircraft from Russia, while the country's Air Force mainly gets overhauled planes built many years ago," the president said at a meeting with aircraft industry officials in Zhukovsky, near Moscow. In 2007, Russia's leading aircraft manufacturer Sukhoi alone exported about 50 Su-30MK2, Su-30MKM and Su-30MKI aircraft in addition to spare parts for aircraft sold earlier to Algeria, India, Malaysia, Indonesia and Venezuela. According to the 2007-2015 State Armaments Program, the Russian Air Force is supposed to receive 116 new and 408 upgraded aircraft for forward-deployed units, and 156 new and 372 modernized helicopters in the next eight years. "I believe the State Armaments Program should be adjusted to increase the procurement of aircraft for national defense," the president said. Putin said that in order to meet the growing demand for aircraft it was necessary to continue the steady development of the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC). The UAC was established on February 20, 2006, to help overcome a crisis in Russia's aircraft industry. It incorporates many of the country's best-known aircraft builders, including Mikoyan, Ilyushin, Irkut, Sukhoi, Tupolev, Yakovlev and other enterprises in the industry. "Due to fierce competition among the world's largest aircraft manufacturers, the company [UAC] must establish its presence on global markets as one of the leaders," Putin said. "The UAC should increase its revenues at least five-fold by 2025." Also on Wednesday, Putin signed a decree setting up a national aircraft-building center in Zhukovsky.

Source: http://en.rian.ru/russia/20080220/99705135.html

Russia to fly 20-30 strategic patrol missions every month

Russia is set to drastically increase its number of strategic aviation patrol flights over the world's oceans to 20-30 a month, the Air Force commander said on Friday. "We will be making 20-30 flights a month, not two or three, as was the case until recently," Col. Gen. Alexander Zelin said. He said that during their patrol missions Russian aircraft are accompanied by NATO F-15, F-16 and F-22 fighters, adding that the military alliance's planes do not always comply with international rules. "They behave tactlessly, to put it mildly - they approach too close [in breach of international regulations]," the commander said. Russia resumed strategic bomber patrol flights over the Pacific, Atlantic, and Arctic oceans last August, following an order signed by President Vladimir Putin. The move has been widely seen by the West is a sign of Russia's increasingly aggressive military stance. Russian bombers have since carried out over 70 strategic patrol flights. The Air Force command earlier said that all flights by Russian aircraft were performed by skilled pilots in strict compliance with international laws on the use of air space over neutral waters, without violating the borders of other states.

Source: http://en.rian.ru/russia/20080404/103759263.html

Russia to test fifth-generation fighter in 2009

Flight tests of a fifth-generation Russian-Indian fighter will begin as early as 2009 and mass production of the aircraft may start by 2015, the Sukhoi aircraft maker said Wednesday. A Russian-Indian advanced multirole fighter is being developed from a Russian prototype by Sukhoi, which is part of Russia's United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), and India's Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, under an intergovernmental agreement signed in October. "At present we are building prototypes of the fifth-generation fighter and will soon start preparation for flight-testing, which is planned for 2009," Sukhoi CEO Mikhail Pogosyan announced at the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace (LIMA) 2007 exhibition in Malaysia. Pogosyan said mass production of the future fighter could begin by 2015. The new fighter aircraft, which will feature high maneuverability and stealth to ensure air superiority and precision in destroying ground and sea targets, will be built at the Komsomolsk-on-Amur aircraft-manufacturing plant in Russia's Far East. Discussing the future implementation of the Russian-Indian project, Pogosyan said joint efforts should be focused on three areas: coordination of technical specifications, application of advanced technologies, and preparation of a legal framework for future cooperation.

Source: http://en.rian.ru/russia/20071206/91196743.html

[Armenian]

Re: Watch Russia’s presidential inauguration broadcast LIVE!

Putin says Russia to get new nuclear weapons

Vladimir Putin boasted of developing new nuclear weapons to strengthen Russia’s military power today and warned the United States not to ignore Moscow's objections to a planned missile defence shield in Europe. President Putin pledged to counter the shield unless the US and Europe took account of Russia's concerns. He also called on the US to set a date for withdrawal of troops from Iraq, adding that the 2003 invasion had been an attempt to secure control of its oil reserves. In a live televised question-and-answer programme with members of the public, Mr Putin made clear that he was determined to restore Russia’s military prestige by using the vast income from its own oil and gas resources. He said that Russia had a “grandiose” plan to strengthen the armed forces after years of decline following the collapse of the Soviet Union. "We will develop missile technology including completely new strategic (nuclear) complexes, completely new. Work is continuing and continuing successfully," Mr Putin said. He gave no details about the new nuclear weapon, but went on: "We have plans that are not only big, but grandiose, and they are fully realistic. Our armed forces will be more compact but more effective and better ensure Russia defence.”

Source: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/new...cle2687252.ece

Putin says Russia will defend natural resources in Siberia

President Vladimir Putin vowed Thursday that Russia would defend its vast natural resources in Siberia, saying Russia was 'not Iraq' and would not allow outsiders to gain control of its resources. "Thank God Russia is not Iraq. Russia has the strength and the means to defend itself," Putin said during a live television question-and-answer session with Russians from around the country. He dismissed talk of any outside country getting direct control over Russia's abundant natural resources in Siberia and contrasted the situation with that in Iraq. "The best example are the events in Iraq, a country which was challenged in defending itself and which had enormous oil reserves. And everyone has seen what happened there. They learned to shoot at each other. But so far, establishing order has not really worked out." He was responding to a question from a resident of the Siberian city of Novosibirsk, who had asked him to comment on a remark by a former US official suggesting that Russia should share the natural wealth of Siberia. "I know you are worried about this,' Putin said. 'I know that these kinds of ideas are circulating in the minds of some politicians,' he added, without elaborating. Putin said Russia was working on strengthening and modernising its army and navy as was its 'right' and added that 'we will continue to do this."

Source: http://www.forbes.com/markets/feeds/...fx4233392.html

Putin says Iraq shows need for strong Russia army

Russian President Vladimir Putin criticized the U.S.-led war in Iraq on Thursday, saying that experience showed the need for resource-rich countries like Russia to build up their armed forces to defend themselves. "Thank God Russia is not Iraq," Putin said during a live televised national question-and-answer session. "It is strong enough to protect its interests within the national territory and, by the way, in other regions of the world." Answering a questioner who asked about supposed U.S. intentions to gain control over Russia's huge, resource-rich interior, Putin said: "I know that such ideas are brewing in the heads of some politicians. I think it is a sort of political eroticism which maybe gives someone pleasure but will hardly lead anywhere and the best example of that is Iraq." "... What we are doing to increase our defense capability is the correct choice and we will continue to do that," Putin added. Putin, who faces parliamentary elections in December, hailed Russia's continued strong economic growth and rising living standards during exchanges with questioners connected live from different Russian cities. He admitted that inflation, which at 8.5 percent in the year to date has already exceeded the government's target for the whole year, was a problem but blamed global economic factors such as cuts in European agricultural subsidies and demand for biofuels. Putin also claimed that Russia's demographic crisis was easing, with the birthrate reaching a 15-year high and the death rate falling to its lowest level since 1999.

Source: http://ca.today.reuters.com/news/new...-PUTIN-COL.XML

Putin: Russia to develop both strategic and conventional weapons

Russia will develop strategic and conventional weapons in a bid to strengthen the country's defense, President Vladimir Putin said at an annual live question-and-answer TV and radio program Thursday. "We will attach significance not only to the nuclear triad – I mean the Strategic Rocket Forces, strategic aviation, and nuclear submarine fleet -- but also other types of weapons," Putin said in reply to a question by a serviceman from the Plesetsk military space center. Russia is pursuing a government armament program designed for the period up to 2015, which envisions the development of all types and services of the armed forces, he said. "Our plans are not simply considerable, but huge. At the same time, they are absolutely realistic... Our armed forces will be compact and very efficient, and they will reliably guarantee this country's security for years to come," Putin said. The Russian Air Force has started to receive the advanced Sukhoi Su-34 fighters and the new generation of fighters will be built by 2012-2015, Putin said, adding that Ground Forces have started to be armed with Iskander-M missile systems. Another strategic submarine will also be built next year, said the president.

Source: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/20...nt_6903512.htm

Putin Says Russia Has `Grandiose Plans' for Military Buildup

President Vladimir Putin said Russia has "grandiose plans'' to continue the country's largest military build-up since the end of the Cold War. "We have plans, not simply big, but grandiose plans,'' Putin said today in his annual call-in television program with Russians spread across 11 time zones. "And they are completely realizable.'' Putin was responding to a question from soldiers stationed at a military base in Plesetk, site of a successful launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile earlier today. Russia, the world's biggest energy supplier, last year earmarked 6 trillion rubles ($240 billion) for military spending through 2015 as Putin uses revenue from high commodity prices to restore the country's might. The military struggled after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 as funding dried up and morale was sapped by incidents such as failed missile tests and the sinking of the Kursk submarine. The military last month tested the world's most powerful air-delivered vacuum bomb and today the Strategic Missile Forces said an RC-12M Topol missile traveled 5,500 kilometers (3,400 miles) to hit its designated target on the Kamchatka Peninsula near the Pacific Ocean. Putin said Russia is "successfully'' enhancing its nuclear arsenal, including the highly maneuverable, multiheaded Topol-M. ``Completely new'' systems are being developed, Putin said, without elaborating. The Navy will start construction of a new class of nuclear submarine next year, strategic bombers are being modernized and ``a new generation warplane'' will be ready by 2015, Putin said. "Russia, thank God, is not Iraq, and Russia has enough forces and funds to defend itself and its interests both on its own territory and in other parts of the world,'' Putin said.

Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p....NI&refer=home

Commander: Russian navy to build up presence in Atlantic, Mediterranean

Russia will build up its presence in the strategic areas of the world, including the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, navy commander Admiral Vladimir Vysotsky said on Sunday. "We'll do all we can to build up our presence where Russia has strategic interests," RIA news agency quoted the senior officer assaying at the Northern Fleet's base Severomorsk, in the Arctic Circle. "What is important is that we have appeared (in the Atlantic and the Mediterranean) at a scheduled time and not just that we appeared there," he said while commenting a joint Air Force and Navy exercise in the Mediterranean Sea and the North Atlantic. The 12-day war game and two-month maneuver was the first large-scale Russian navy exercise in the Atlantic and the Mediterranean in 15 years. Russia's naval task force in the drill comprised the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier, the Udaloy-Class destroyers Admiral Levchenko and Admiral Chabanenko, as well as support vessels. The flagship of Russia's Black Sea Fleet, the Moskva cruiser, joined up with the other warships in the Mediterranean on Jan. 18 to participate in the maneuvers in the Atlantic that ended on Saturday. Russia will carry out similar missions once every six months, Vysotsky said.

Source http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/20...nt_7562444.htm[/QUOTE]

[Armenian]

Re: Watch Russia’s presidential inauguration broadcast LIVE!

Russia's resurgent military

Fueled by billions in oil wealth, it looks to reclaim the USSR's status as a global military power. As a newly self-confident, oil-rich Russia teams up with China in joint military exercises Friday, it is moving to reclaim the former Soviet Union's status as a global military power. A seven-year, $200-billion rearmament plan signed by President Vladimir Putin earlier this year will purchase new generations of missiles, planes, and perhaps aircraft carriers to rebuild Russia's arsenal. Already, the new military posture is on display: This summer, Russian bombers have extended their patrol ranges far into the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, forcing US and NATO interceptors to scramble for the first time since the cold war's end. "Diplomacy between Russia and the West is increasingly being overshadowed by military gestures," says Sergei Strokan, a foreign-policy expert with the independent daily Kommersant. "It's clear that the Kremlin is listening more and more to the generals and giving them more of what they want."

Economic bloc ups military teamwork

On Friday, Mr. Putin will join leaders of China and other members of the six-nation Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Russia's Chelyabinsk region to view the final stage of the group's most ambitious joint military maneuvers yet, to include 6,500 troops and over 100 aircraft. Also on hand will be leaders of SCO observer states and prospective members, among them India, Pakistan, Iran, and Mongolia. At an SCO summit in Kyrgyzstan Thursday, Putin stressed that while Russia is not seeking to build a cold war-style "military bloc," he does see the SCO expanding from its original purpose as an economic association to take on a greater military role.

"Year by year, the SCO is becoming a more substantial factor in ensuring security in the region," he said. "Russia, like other SCO states, favors strengthening the multipolar international system providing equal security and development potential for all countries. Any attempts to solve global and regional problems unilaterally have no future," he added. The SCO, founded in 2001, is often referred to as a "club of dictators" due to less-than-democratic ex-Soviet members such as Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Tajikistan. The group has been holding joint war games since 2005, when it also demanded that the US vacate military bases it had acquired after 9/11 in former Soviet Central Asia, whose oil and gas reserves are garnering increased attention from the West. "The SCO clearly wants the US to leave Central Asia; that's a basic political demand," says Ivan Safranchuk, Moscow director of the independent World Security Institute. "That's one reason why the SCO is holding military exercises, to demonstrate its capability to take responsibility for stability in Central Asia after the US leaves."

New naval base, long-range missiles

Moscow's growing military footprint – and the apprehensions of others about it – is evident in a spate of recent news events.

• Last week the ex-Soviet republic of Georgia accused Russian warplanes of invading its airspace and firing a missile, which failed to explode, at a radio station. Russian officials denied the allegation and suggested that Georgian leaders fabricated the incident. Tensions have been high between Russia and Georgia over Moscow's support for two breakaway Georgian regions, Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which are protected by Russian "peacekeeping" troops.

• Russian naval chief Admiral Vladimir Masorin announced this month that Russia may reclaim a naval base at Tartus, in Syria, from which Soviet warships used to keep tabs on US ships. "The Mediterranean is an important theater of operations for the Russian Black Sea Fleet," he said. "We must restore a permanent presence of the Russian Navy in this region."

• In July, amid worsening relations between Russia and Britain over the still unsolved poisoning death of ex-spy Alexander Litvinenko, two Russian Tu-95 bombers flew deep into NATO territory for the first time since the cold war's end and, according to Britain's defense ministry, briefly entered British airspace before being escorted away by British fighter planes.

Last week, in another post-Soviet first, Russian bombers "revived the tradition of our long-range aviation to fly far into the ocean, to meet US aircraft carriers and greet US pilots visually," ending up near the American Pacific base of Guam, Russian Air Force Maj. Gen. Pavel Androsov told Russian media. He added that the pilots on both sides "exchanged grins."

• Russia has recently conducted tests of new land- and sea-based intercontinental missiles, which are expected to soon replace the country's aging Soviet-era nuclear deterrent. As a partial response to US missile defense plans, Russia will develop a missile defense "project that will include not only air defense systems but also antiballistic missile and space defense systems" to protect Moscow and other Russian centers, Russian Air Force chief Col. Gen. Alexandr Zelin told Russian media last week. Critics are skeptical that, despite major Putin-era infusions of cash, Russia's weak industrial base can deliver on the Kremlin's ambitions to restore a global military presence. "Now our military leaders have enough money to create a kind of caricature of the Soviet armed forces, and they want to do a lot of the same old things," says Alexander Goltz, military expert with the independent online magazine Yezhednevny Zhurnal. "But their plans are a confused mixture of realistic goals and unworkable Soviet-style symbolism," says Mr. Goltz.

Source: http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0817/p01s06-woeu.htm

[Armenian]

Re: Watch Russia’s presidential inauguration broadcast LIVE!

Thank you, Armenian. Your information about Putin is priceless. But do you have anything on Dmitry Medvedev?

Only time can reveal how effective Dimitry Medvedev will be as president of the Russian Federation. However, just the fact that Putin favors him is enough for me to trust him. I am also encouraged with the prospect of having Putin remain within governing circles after the transfer of presidential powers. In this increasingly complicated and dangerous world, I wish your great nation much success and perseverance. I truly believe that the Russian Federation is in a unique position today to save western civilization from total decay. Russia's assertive presence on the world stage gives mankind a geopolitical balance and sanity. Russia, in my opinion, is also Christianity's last hope. Therefore, I want to see Russia further asserting itself in global politics. I want to see Russia firmly entrenched, politically, economically and militarily, in the Caucasus and the Balkans. I want to see Russia establish a lasting alliance with the Armenian Republic. Nonetheless, what Vladimir Putin managed to accomplish during the past seven-eight years was, in my humble opinion, one of history's most remarkable achievement. He was great Czar indeed and he turned me, an American-Armenian, into an absolute Russophile. I firmly believe that Vladimir Putin will someday be ranked amongst the world's finest rulers. Welcome to our discussion board, North pole. And please feel free to share with us any information relating to the Russian Federation.

[Armenian]

Re: Watch Russia’s presidential inauguration broadcast LIVE!

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev Inaugurated

Dmitry Medvedev's inauguration, full version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ak40X7zp-uA&feature=user

Russia welcomes new President

Dmitry Medvedev has pledged to promote the success and prosperity of all Russians, during his first speech as Russian president. The 42-year-old has been sworn in during a ceremony in the Kremlin. Medvedev said he’d support innovative approaches to lift living standards. “I will be working to my fullest capacity as a President and as a man, for whom Russia is a native land and home. It is my duty to serve every day and every hour to do everything in my power to improve the life of our people,” Medvedev said. The protection of human rights and civil liberties is going to be his main priority. “It is a vow I give to the people of Russia, and its very first lines contain a promise to respect and protect human rights and civil liberties. Those are the top priority in our society. It is they that determine the essence and content of all government activities,” he said. More than 2,000 guests were present at the elaborate ceremony, including Medvedev’s wife and now Russia’s First Lady Svetlana. For Vladimir Putin, it was an eight-year journey and at the end of it he looked like he was holding back the tears. “Eight years ago, when I took the presidential oath for the first time, I promised to work openly and honestly and to serve my people and my country faithfully. I have not violated my promise,” said Putin in his address at the ceremony. While Medvedev pledged to continue Putin’s policies, analysts say the change of leader will bring something new to the Kremlin. ”A lot of people think that there will be a change in style but not a change of policy. I suppose that Medvedev will deal more with foreign policy issues while Putin will focus on the development of the economy and social issues,” Russian TV anchor and political analyst Aleksey Pushkov said.

Source: http://www.russiatoday.ru/news/news/24434

[North Pole]

Re: Watch Russia’s presidential inauguration broadcast LIVE!

I don't think Medvedev can be anywhere near as an effective "cult of personality". He is soft-spoken business man, not a KGB spy.

Hello, Skhara. I know what you mean.... but a soft-spoken man can do great things as well. Let's wish him luck.

Only time can reveal how effective Dimitry Medvedev will be as president of the Russian Federation. However, just the fact that Putin favors him is enough for me to trust him. I am also encouraged with the prospect of having Putin remain within governing circles after the transfer of presidential powers.

I know....
And let's hope that Medvedev will continue good relationships with Armenia.

March 25, 2005
15:30

Echmiadzin, Armenia.
Vladimir Putin met with Katolikos of all Armenians Garegin II.

The Russian President noted that there are warm relations between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Armenian Apostolic Church. This makes an important contribution to cooperation between peoples.
After the talk, Vladimir Putin, accompanied by Garegin II, examined the Katolikosat, and also the cathedral in Echmiadzin. The Russian President was shown exhibits made of gold, and a collection of paintings, icons, and ancient stone crosses.



March 25, 2005
Echmiadzin, Armenia.




March 25, 2005
Echmiadzin, Armenia. With Katolikos of all Armenian Garegin II.



March 25, 2005
Echmiadzin, Armenia. Meeting with Katolikos of all Armenian Garegin II.