Recent reports which indicate that Russia is increasing pressure on the Baltic states and on Georgia.
Russia urges confidence-building steps in Baltic June 29, 2004 Posted: 10:27 Moscow time (06:27 GMT)
Russia called on Monday for new confidence-building measures with NATO following the alliance's expansion into former Soviet territory in the Baltic. But, meeting on the sidelines of a NATO summit in Istanbul, the two former Cold War adversaries made no progress in their row over a 1999 treaty limiting conventional forces in Europe.
"We need reciprocal confidence-building measures ... to prevent dangerous incidents," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told a news conferenceafter a meeting of the NATO-Russia Council, held on the sidelines of a NATO summit in Istanbul. "We are very well aware that NATO no longer poses a threat to Russia and vice-versa. We have normal, partner-like relations with NATO, but the fact is that there is military activity taking place just beyond the borders of the Russian Federation.
"He said the Baltic region was "among the most stable on earth" and there wasno objective security justification for such activities, describing them as a Cold War "hangover". Moscow opposed NATO's enlargement in March into the three Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Other former Soviet satellites Bulgaria, Romania and Slovakia also joined the alliance at that time.
President Vladimir Putin's decision to shun the Istanbul summit despite the attendance of U.S. President George W. Bush and many other Western leaders reflected Moscow's continued displeasure at the enlargement of NATO,diplomats say. The NATO-Russia Council was set up in 2002 for engagement on post-September 11 security issues such as terrorism and weapons of mass destruction but has so far yielded few concrete results.
L'vov said NATO foreign ministers had responded "with some interest" to his proposal for confidence-building measures and said he expected follow-up discussions. Russia and NATO remained at odds over the Treaty on Conventional Forces in Europe (CAFÉ), agreed in Istanbul in 1999.
Russia is anxious for the adapted treaty to be ratified so that the Baltic states can sign up. Some Russian officials fear they could become NATO outposts for nuclear arms or army bases. But Western nations insist the-adapted treaty cannot be ratified until Russia meets its part of the 1999 Istanbul bargain to pull back forces and weapons from the ex-Soviet republics of Moldova and Georgia
NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said the CFE was "a very important building block" in continental security and said the alliance expected Russia to ratify the treaty by the end of the year. "There is not only a political but a legal link between ratification and the Istanbul commitments (on removing Russian forces from Moldova and Georgia)," Scheffer said.
He added that discussions had resumed with the new Georgian government "based on goodwill and an understanding of the need for a normal withdrawal from Georgia without inconvenience". Lavrov, Russia's former envoy to theUnited Nations, expressed his country's support for a NATO decision to provide training for the new Iraqi government's security forces. "Anything that helps stabilise the situation in Iraq is welcome," Lavrov said.
He renewed Moscow's call for an international conference on Iraq's futurebringing together members of the country's opposition as well as the interim government and foreign powers. GAZETA.RU
http://www.russiajournal.com/news/cnews-article.shtml?nd=44408
Russia warns Nato on Baltic military patrols
By Anne Penketh Diplomatic Editor and Kim Sengupta 14 July 2004
Russia warned Nato yesterday against deploying forces in the former Soviet bloc and said that the Baltic states' failure to respect the rights ofethnic Russians represented a "threat" to the country.
Russia has long felt threatened by the encroachment of Nato on its borders,and Sergei Ivanov, the Defence Minister, said: "What alarms us most, from the point of view of our own security, is the Nato deployment of means and forces on the territory of its new members."
Belgian airforce fighter jets now patrol Baltic airspace, following the accession of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia to Nato, and Russia is concerned about monitoring of Russian airspace by Baltic radar systems.
Mr Ivanov, addressing the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, singled out the EU members Latvia and Estonia for failing to respect human rights, comparing their record unfavourably with that of Moscow.
But Oksana Antonenko of the institute said that the minister's tone was positive. "I would say the speech was surprisingly pro-Nato," she said. Its howed Russia wanted to co-operate with the alliance.
http://news.independent.co.uk/low_res/story.jsp?story=540656&host=3&dir=73
Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili has accused some officials in Russia of maintaining imperialistic dreams about taking over his country. The Georgian leader spoke out on the topic during an official visit to Britain.
President Saakashvili held talks in London Tuesday with British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw to analyze the military tensions between Russia, Georgia and the breakaway region of South Ossetia.
Mr. Saakashvili told a news conference the situation has been aggravated by some Russian officials who, he says, are harboring imperialistic designs on his country.
"Some elements in Moscow are carrying out some aggressive plans, and not only plans, but they are carrying out aggressive actions and these are the people who have not dropped their imperial dreams and ambitions," he said.
He also accused commanders of Russian peacekeeping forces in the breakaway Russian-speaking enclave of South Ossetia of arming local rebels.
For his part, Foreign Secretary Straw said Britain is doing what it can to mediate a peaceful solution.
"This is a sensitive issue for both sides and what we are supporting is efforts to resolve the issues of bilateral tension between Russia, an independent and sovereign country, and Georgia, an independent sovereign country, in a peaceful and sensible way," he said.
Tensions flared in South Ossetia in May when Georgian troops entered the region, which has been effectively independent since 1992.
In recent days, South Ossetian forces have detained several Georgian policemen, Georgia has seized Russian rockets and trucks, and there have been incidents of gunfire and border blockades.
The Russian defense minister, Sergei Ivanov, who is also visiting London, told a security conference Tuesday the situation in South Ossetia has become "volatile and explosive."
http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?objectid=55817EFC-664A-4C76-B513B3536866CDF5&title=Saakashvili%20Accuses%20Russians%20of%20Imperialism&db=current
No comments:
Post a Comment