Impromptu Putin Says Missile Plan a Mistake
Russian President Warns That U.S. Missile Plan Will Risk Relations

By JONATHAN KARL
MOSCOW, Oct. 12. 2007 —


It may not be the Cold War again, but U.S.-Russian relations are getting chilly.

Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomed Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates to his residence outside Moscow today by making them wait 40 minutes and then delivering a stern lecture before a room full of reporters.

Putin mocked U.S. plans to build a missile defense system in Eastern Europe and suggested Russia may pull out of a key arms control treaty.

"Of course we can sometime in the future decide that some anti-missile defense system should be established somewhere on the moon," Putin said. "But before we reach such arrangements, we will lose the opportunity for fixing some particular arrangements between us."

Russia opposes U.S. plans to put a missile defense system in Poland and Czech Republic. The United States says the system is designed to protect against missile threats from Iran and North Korea; the Russians believe it is aimed at Russia.

"We hope," Putin said, "you will not be forcing forward your relations with the East European countries."

It was meant to be 60-second photo-op. Instead Putin spoke for nearly 10 minutes.

Rice seemed taken aback by the comments. When Putin was finished, she tried to strike a diplomatic tone. Ignoring the specifics raised by Putin, she recalled his meeting with President Bush in July.

"The president promised  and we are here to act on that promise  that we would try to find ways to cooperate for the common good," Rice said, "because that which unites us in trying to deal with the threats of terrorism, of proliferation, are much greater than the issues that divide us."

But on the flight to Moscow, Rice made it clear the United States had no intention of backing down on its plans to put the missile defense system in Eastern Europe.

"We have been very clear that we need the Czech and Polish sites," Rice told reporters on her plane. "But we are interested in other potential sites as well and & we may be able to find ways to put that together."

In another surprise to U.S. officials, Putin said Russia may pull out of a key U.S.-Russia nuclear-arms treaty.

"We need other international participants to assume the same obligations, which have been assumed by the Russian Federation and the U.S," said Putin.

Putin appeared to be talking about the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty signed by Mikhail Gorbachev and President Reagan in 1987.

"If we are unable to attain such a goal & it will be difficult for us to keep within the framework of the treaty in a situation when other countries do develop such weapons systems, and among those are countries in our near vicinity."

Putin spoke from notes. In contrast, neither Gates nor Rice had prepared comments because they had not expected public statements from either side at the photo-op.


ABC News Internet Ventures

Anyone remember this story from August? I only took part of it, here's the link to the whole thing... Russia resumes nuke bomber sorties - CNN.com



MOSCOW, Russia (Reuters) -- Russia's strategic bombers have resumed the Soviet Union's Cold War practice of flying long-haul missions to areas patrolled by NATO and the United States, generals said on Thursday.


A Russian Tu-95 Bear bomber, the type of plane used on long-range sorties into areas patrolled by NATO.

A Russian bomber flew over a U.S. military base on the Pacific island of Guam on Wednesday and "exchanged smiles" with U.S. pilots who had scrambled to track it, said Maj. Gen. Pavel Androsov, head of long-range aviation in the Russian air force.

"It has always been the tradition of our long-range aviation to fly far into the ocean, to meet [U.S.] aircraft carriers and greet [U.S. pilots] visually," Androsov told a news conference.

"Yesterday we revived this tradition, and two of our young crews paid a visit to the area of the [U.S. Pacific Naval Activities] base of Guam," he said.

President Vladimir Putin has sought to make Russia more assertive in the world.


Yes, it is a quiet rattle at this stage, but the sabres are beginning to rattle yet again. And thankfully there are a few folks that care enough about world events (other than the United States' role in the War on Terrorism) to track and comment on them.

my opinion is that the cold war never ended. they just took a break.
have you ever wondered that the day after the cold war ended there werent any commies anymore, they were all social democrats? sounds strange to me.
anywho, theyve been gettin close to alaska too.
Russian press review: Oct. 3 - International Herald Tribune

"RUSSIAN BOMBERS FLY CLOSE TO ALASKA: The Pentagon has released video footage confirming that Russian bombers have been conducting military patrols close to American territory." - from international herald tribune

Putin made himself look like the hero today by visiting Tehran despite numerous rumors of death threats should he go. Reuters had a good article about it.

Putin Warns US Against Attacking Iran

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV
The Associated Press
Tuesday, October 16, 2007; 4:21 PM

TEHRAN, Iran -- Russian leader Vladimir Putin met his Iranian counterpart Tuesday and implicitly warned the U.S. not to use a former Soviet republic to stage an attack on Iran. He also said countries bordering the Caspian Sea must jointly back any oil pipeline projects in the region.

At a summit of the five nations that border the inland Caspian Sea, Putin said none of the nations' territory should be used by any outside countries for use of military force against any nation in the region. It was a clear reference to long-standing rumors that the U.S. was planning to use Azerbaijan, a former Soviet republic, as a staging ground for any possible military action against Iran.

"We are saying that no Caspian nation should offer its territory to third powers for use of force or military aggression against any Caspian state," Putin said.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also underlined the need for solidarity.

"The Caspian Sea is an inland sea and it only belongs to the Caspian states, therefore only they are entitled to have their ships and military forces here," he said.

A State Department spokesman, Tom Casey, said the United States is not planning military action against Iran.

"We are pursuing a diplomatic course with respect to Iran that includes with respect to its nuclear program as well as with respect to its support for terrorism and other issues that are out there," he said.

Putin refused to set a date for the start-up of Iran's first nuclear power plant, to be built by Russia.

"I only gave promises to my mom when I was a small boy," Putin told Iranian reporters, when asked whether he could promise that the plant that Russia is building would be launched before his term ends next May.

At the same time, he said, "We are not going to renounce our obligations."

Putin's careful stance suggested that Russia is seeking to preserve solid ties with Iran without angering the West. A clear pledge by Putin to quickly finish the plant would embolden Iran and could complicate international talks on the nuclear standoff.

Putin, whose trip to Tehran is the first by a Kremlin leader since World War II, warned that energy pipeline projects crossing the Caspian could only be implemented if all five nations that border the sea support them.

Putin did not name a specific country, but his statement underlined Moscow's strong opposition to U.S.-backed efforts to build pipelines to deliver hydrocarbons to the West, bypassing Russia.

"Projects that may inflict serious environmental damage to the region cannot be implemented without prior discussion by all five Caspian nations," he said.

Other nations bordering the Caspian Sea and in attendance at the summit are: Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan.

The legal status of the Caspian _ believed to contain the world's third-largest energy reserves _ has been in limbo since the 1991 Soviet collapse, leading to tension and conflicting claims to seabed oil deposits.

Iran, which shared the Caspian's resources equally with the Soviet Union, insists that each coastal nation receive an equal portion of the seabed. Russia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan want the division based on the length of each nation's shoreline, which would give Iran a smaller share.

Putin's visit took place despite warnings of a possible assassination plot and amid hopes that personal diplomacy could help offer a solution to an international standoff on Iran's nuclear program.

Putin has warned the U.S. and other nations against trying to coerce Iran into reining in its nuclear program and insists peaceful dialogue is the only way to deal with Tehran's defiance of a U.N. Security Council demand that it suspend uranium enrichment.

"Threatening someone, in this case the Iranian leadership and Iranian people, will lead nowhere," Putin said Monday during his trip to Germany. "They are not afraid, believe me."

Iran's rejection of the council's demand and its previous clandestine atomic work has fed suspicions in the U.S. and other countries that Tehran is working to enrich uranium to a purity usable in nuclear weapons. Iran insists it is only wants lesser-enriched uranium to fuel nuclear reactors that would generate electricity.

Putin's visit to Tehran is being closely watched for any possible shifts in Russia's carefully hedged stance in the nuclear standoff.

The Russian president underlined his disagreements with Washington last week, saying he saw no "objective data" to prove Western claims that Iran is trying to construct nuclear weapons.

Putin emphasized Monday that he would negotiate in Tehran on behalf of the five permanent U.N. Security Council members _ United States, Russia, China, Britain and France _ and Germany, a group that has led efforts to resolve the stalemate with Tehran.

___

Associated Press writers Ali Akbar Dareini and Nasser Karimi contributed to this report.

© 2007 The Associated Press