Russia 100223
Basic Political Developments
· RFE/RL: Clinton Urges Closer Cooperation Between NATO And Russia
· RIA: NATO not a threat to Russia — U.S. State Secretary Clinton
· Russia Today: “NATO no challenge to Russian security” – Clinton
· Bloomberg: Clinton Calls for Closer NATO-Russian Cooperation (Update1)
· State.gov: Remarks at the NATO Strategic Concept Seminar
· Zeenews: NATO is not an enemy of Russia: Alliance chief - "I would very much like to see the US missile defence system, NATO missile defence system, and a Russian missile defence system with the aim to coordinate a common shield against hostile missiles," he said yesterday.
· Trend.az: Former U.S representative to UN: U.S. will not take any steps to resolve frozen conflicts in post-Soviet countries - The U.S. will not take any steps to resolve the frozen conflicts in the post-Soviet countries, former U.S permanent representative to the United Nations, who is recently serving at American Enterprise Institute, John R. Bolton, said.
· Sofia Echo: Former ambassador Beyrle's father honoured in Moscow
· Russia Today: WWII hero awarded on Fatherland Day - There are still over half a million veterans who have not received their awards, and for the soldiers and their families it is an important recognition of the bravery of the men who fought so hard for their country.
· RIA: Presidential spokesman beaten in Nazran, Ingushetia
· Gazeta.kz: CIS interstate free trade zone agreement will be prepared
· Gazeta.kz: Kazakhstan delegation to take part in session of Customs Union Commission in Moscow
· Kyiv Post: Belarus Ministry: Ukraine's joining Customs Union could be considered after official request
· Gazeta.kz: Customs Union Commission to consider a package of amendments to Customs Code
· Apa.az: OSCE Minsk Group Russian co-chair can be appointed ambassador to Estonia
· RFE/RL: Russian Military Families In Kyrgyzstan To Return Home
· Associated Press: Russia helps Europe's space business - The European Space Agency, whose budget is one third the size of NASA's, and its commercial arm Arianespace, are buying the updated Soviet-era technology because it offers the medium capacity launcher Europe lacks for a fraction of the price of developing its own.
· Flight Global: HELI-EXPO: Russian helicopter industry continues to chalk up rapid growth - Helicopter Industry Association of Russia president Mikhail Kazachkov said during a briefing at Heli-Expo 2010 in Houston that Russian manufacturers were able to produce a total of 186 helicopters in 2009. This is a 9% increase compared with the 169 helicopters produced in 2008.
· World Nuclear News: Russia welcomes EU cooperation talks - The Russian government is welcoming anticipated talks with the European Union (EU) to negotiate a nuclear partnership agreement that would facilitate nuclear trade and exchange of knowledge on safety issues.
· Bellona: PRESS-RELEASE: Bellona urges Rosatom head to expedite Lepse decommissioning
· This is London: Russian cash to keep HMS Belfast shipshape - Russian firms are coming to the aid of HMS Belfast, the former Royal Navy cruiser docked near Tower Bridge.
· The Jamestown Foundation: Russia’s Military Doctrine: New Dangers Appear
· Georgian Daily: ‘Hidden Hunger’ an Increasing Problem for Russia, Experts Say - While few people in Russia are starving, many are not getting the vitamins and minerals they need because, as a result of declining incomes, they are forced to stop purchasing fruits, vegetables, and meat, something officials do not want to discuss but that experts say constitutes “hidden hunger” among many groups in the population.
· Russia Today: Cinema powers up as Russians take time off - Extended holidays make the first quarter of the year one of the least productive periods for the Russian economy. But box-office records are being broken at Russian cinemas as Russian relax on the days off.
· RIA: Moscow workers dig deep in snowiest February for 40 years
· RFE/RL: Russian Left-Wing Party Holds Founding Congress
· Russia Today: ROAR: “Billboards will not improve Stalin’s role in history”
National Economic Trends
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Business, Energy or Environmental regulations or discussions
· Russia Today: Andrei Kostin on VTB and Russian banking - VTB head, Andrei Kostin, is in London with an eye to making investments abroad and spoke exclusively to RT Business. RT began by asking if the bank was in a good position to invest given it will post a loss for 2009.
· Netimperative: Russia search market review: Google on the rise but Yandex rules the roost
Activity in the Oil and Gas sector (including regulatory)
· SE Times: Moscow reaps fruit of long-term plan - Since 1998, when Lukoil set up shop in Bulgaria, Russia has slowly increased its presence and influence in Balkan energy markets by buying companies throughout the region.
· Trend.az: Next international Caspian oil and gas trading and transport conference to be held in Aktau
Gazprom
· BarentsObserver: SDAG: “Shtokman is technically viable”
· China CSR: Citigroup And Gazprom Pioneer Energy-credit Deal In China
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Basic Political Developments
RFE/RL: Clinton Urges Closer Cooperation Between NATO And Russia
http://www.rferl.org/content/Clinton_Urges_Closer_Cooperation_Between_NATO_And_Russia/1965571.html
February 23, 2010
WASHINGTON -- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said Russia and NATO should cooperate more closely to combat growing transnational threats like nuclear proliferation, terrorism, piracy, and cyber security.
In a speech late on February 22 in Washington on the future of the trans-Atlantic military alliance, Clinton rejected Moscow's push a new European security treaty -- which Washington believes would reduce NATO's influence around the world -- and proposed instead that Russia move closer to NATO.
"Let me state this unambiguously: While Russia faces challenges to its security, NATO is not among them," Clinton said. "We want a cooperative NATO-Russia relationship that produces concrete results and draws NATO and Russia closer together."
As NATO has expanded eastward in recent years, to include the Baltics and some Balkan states, Russia has viewed its growth with deep suspicion.
Moscow strongly opposes NATO's plan to offer membership to Georgia and Ukraine, which it regards as still part of its sphere of influence.
Russia has also bristled anew at U.S. plans to build part of its missile defense system in Romania, after scrapping plans to do so in Poland and the Czech Republic.
Since coming into office, President Barack Obama has pursued a path of "resetting" U.S. relations with Russia, which suffered after the short war between Russia and Georgia in 2008.
On February 22, Clinton acknowledged Russia's anger over the Romania site but went a step further than offering the usual reassuring words that the system is not aimed at Moscow.
"Just as Russia is an important partner in efforts to prevent nuclear proliferation, so should it be in missile defense. And we invite Russia to join NATO in developing a missile defense system that can protect all citizens of Europe and Russia," Clinton said.
Clinton also sent a message to Russia that the United States remains committed to European security despite the fact that its attention is being pulled away by events in Iran, Afghanistan, Iraq, and even China.
A few months ago, Clinton's deputy, Assistant Secretary for European Affairs Phillip Gordon, reassured a group of European reporters that the United States "continues to stand by our friends in Europe even as we hope to build a much more trusting and useful relationship with Russia."
In her speech, Clinton joined that message with her own, which was that Europe stands to benefit from a closer NATO-Russia relationship.
"European security will benefit if NATO and Russia are more open about our armaments, our military facilities and our exercises," Clinton said. "NATO and Russia should have a regular exchange of information on posture, doctrine, and planned military exercises, as well as specific measures to permit observation of military exercises and to allow visits to new or significantly improved military installations."
She also urged NATO to rethink its guiding doctrine of "strategic concept" to reflect the new threats faced by its 28 member countries.
The guiding principles of NATO's mission are still relevant, but the alliance's method must change, she said.
"Success in a protracted struggle is not simply a matter of having more troops or better equipment. It's also a function of how effectively you adapt to new circumstances," Clinton said. "You don't win by fighting the last war. NATO cannot continue to succeed by looking in the rearview mirror."
Former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, is leading a group of experts in the task of updating NATO's strategic concept, which was last reworked in 1999.
The new version is set to be adopted at a NATO summit in Lisbon in November.
compiled from agency reports
RIA: NATO not a threat to Russia — U.S. State Secretary Clinton
http://en.rian.ru/world/20100223/157974825.html
05:3123/02/2010
NATO's expansion does not threaten Russia, the U.S. state secretary said in a speech on the alliance's mission on Monday.
"While Russia faces challenges to its security, NATO is not among them," Hillary Clinton said, disagreeing with Russia's new military doctrine that lists NATO's eastward expansion as a threat to the country's security.
Since the collapse of the Warsaw Pact, NATO has expanded from 12 members to 28, absorbing the majority of Moscow's Cold War allies in Eastern Europe and some former Soviet republics.
Clinton also said she wants "a cooperative NATO-Russia relationship that produces concrete results and draws NATO and Russia closer together."
Russia's new military doctrine approved by President Dmitry Medvedev earlier in February also includes the possibility of using of nuclear weapons by Russia and lists U.S. anti-missile shield plans as a national threat.
Anders Fogh Rasmussen took over at the Western military bloc last year pledging to improve ties with Moscow, which were frozen after Russia's five-day war with Georgia in 2008. Russia and NATO have since resumed formal contacts.
Improvements in Russia-NATO relations have been helped by a course towards "resetting" thorny relations between Moscow and Washington taken by Medvedev and U.S. President Barack Obama.
WASHINGTON, February 23 (RIA Novosti)
Russia Today: “NATO no challenge to Russian security” – Clinton
http://rt.com/Top_News/2010-02-23/hillary-clinton-nato-security.html/print
23 February, 2010, 07:55
Washington has strongly urged Moscow not to view NATO as a major threat to its security. The US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made the statement at an international seminar on NATO's mission for the 21st Century.
She said Russia and the Alliance should forge closer and more trustworthy relations.
“Let me state unambiguously, while Russia faces challenges to its security, NATO is not among them. We want a cooperative NATO-Russia relationship that produces concrete results and draws NATO and Russia closer together,” Clinton outlined.
“I think one of our tasks in the next years is to convince Russia that NATO enlargement is not a threat to Russia, not the 21st Century Russia, not Russia which has a lot of other pressing needs and concerns – some of them being threats coming from other sources, certainly not from NATO,” she said.
Earlier, Moscow expressed grave concern over NATO's new strategy on further expansion and its global geopolitical aims.
“Cold war stereotypes remain strong in Euro-Atlantic policies, NATO is continuing its expansion at the same time as it's developing a new strategy. One strategy option would see NATO have global reach and the possibility to use force worldwide. This doesn’t exactly comply with the UN charter, and of course we are worried,” stated Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on February 18.
Russia's newly-adopted military doctrine states the Alliance is the chief source of danger to the security of the country with its ever changing plans on its missile defense shield being installed close to the Russian border.
But in her address, Hillary Clinton called for more openness about the military capabilities of both sides.
“European security will benefit if NATO and Russia are more open about our armaments, our military facilities and our military exercises. NATO and Russia should have a regular exchange of information on posture, doctrine and planned military exercises, as well as specific measures to permit observation of military exercises and to allow visits to new or significantly improved military installations,” the US Secretary of State believes.
Bloomberg: Clinton Calls for Closer NATO-Russian Cooperation (Update1)
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-02-23/clinton-calls-for-closer-nato-russian-cooperation-correct-.html
February 23, 2010, 01:48 AM EST
By Indira A.R. Lakshmanan
Feb. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called on Russia to collaborate with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization on the missile defense of Europe and in preventing the spread of nuclear weapons.
“While Russia faces challenges to its security, NATO is not among them,” Clinton said in Washington yesterday. “We want a cooperative NATO-Russia relationship that produces concrete results and draws NATO and Russia closer.”
Her comments came NATO representatives convene a meeting today to discuss updating the “strategic concept” of the 61- year-old military alliance among the U.S., Europe and Canada.
“Just as Russia is an important partner in efforts to prevent nuclear proliferation, so should it be in missile defense,” she said in remarks at an event hosted by the Atlantic Council, a Washington policy group.
Clinton urged Russia to be part of the discussion of missile defense for Europe during a stop last month in Paris. “Missile defense, we believe, will make this continent a safer place,” Clinton said then. “That safety could extend to Russia, if Russia decides to cooperate with us.”
Asked by an audience member yesterday if she could imagine Russia someday becoming part of NATO, she replied, “I can imagine it but I’m not sure the Russians can imagine it.”
Main Challenges
In her prepared remarks, Clinton called terrorist attacks and nuclear proliferation the “key challenges” to NATO, which she called the “most successful alliance in history.”
“The danger of a nuclear attack from a non-state actor has increased,” she said. She also said that missile development by North Korea and Iran “are reviving the specter of an interstate nuclear attack.”
Clinton called for NATO allies to focus on emerging threats, including cyber warfare, and to cooperate with private industry in protecting computer networks and energy infrastructure.
“Threats to our networks and infrastructure such as cyber attacks and energy disruptions” will require “close cooperation with the private sector,” she said. “The Alliance has taken preliminary steps such as agreeing to a cyber defense policy. But we must continue to keep pace with the evolution of these emerging dangers.”