(Interfax – MOSCOW, May 15, 2013) In a letter handed to Russian President Vladimir Putin a month ago, U.S. President Barack Obama proposed concluding a legally-binding agreement on exchanging information related to missile defense to guarantee the absence of a mutual threat, Kommersant reported on Wednesday. Obama proposed “developing a legally-binding agreement on transparency, which would include exchange of information to confirm that our programs do not pose a threat
(Interfax – Brussels, May 1, 2013) In the Russian-US agreements on missile defence, transparency and confidence-building measures should be part of a package of solutions that could satisfy the Russian side, Russian Deputy Defence Minister Anatoliy Antonov has said. Antonov was in Brussels today answering journalists’ questions on proposals, allegedly contained in US President Barack Obama’s letter handed over to (Russian President) Vladimir Putin by the US president’s national security
(Interfax – May 1, 2013) The decision of the U.S. side to postpone the fourth stage of the adaptive program of missile defense increases the window of opportunities for reaching an understanding on missile defense that would suit both sides, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov has said. “The cancellation of the fourth stage is not the problem. Essentially nothing has changed,” he said answering questions from journalists in Brussels
(Interfax – MOSCOW, April 29, 2013) Achieving agreements on the missile shield issue between Russia and the United States will bring the Russian-U.S. ties to a new allied level like during World War II, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said. “We are convinced that doing it together – doing it together with the United States and the Europeans – would not only be the most efficient way to try to
(RIA Novosti -LONDON, April 16, 2013) Russia’s strategic forces are capable of penetrating the US missile shield and it poses no military threat to the country, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said on Tuesday. “We have solved the issue of penetrating the missile shield. We regret that the United States waste their money on missile defense and compel us to do the same. The missile shield is nothing for
(RIA Novosti – WASHINGTON, April 10, 2013) U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday proposed boosting funding for the Energy Department to modernize the nation’s existing nuclear weapons in what analysts say is part of a bargain he struck with Republican lawmakers to secure their support for the New START deal with Russia to reduce nuclear stockpiles. In his federal budget blueprint unveiled Wednesday, Obama called for $7.87 billion in
(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Inna Soboleva, RBTH – April 8, 2013) NATO Deputy Secretary General Alexander Vershbow hopes that dialogue of deployment of an ABM system in Europe can be activated in the coming months. NATO hopes that, in light of the U.S. decision to cancel the fourth phase of its ABM system in Europe, a dialogue with Russia is now possible; the two parties might even
MOSCOW, April 2 (RIA Novosti) The United States will need between five and seven Ground Based Interceptors (GBI) to intercept one Russian Topol-M intercontinental ballistic missile, a Russian military expert said on Tuesday. “From my contacts with the director of the [US Department of Defense's] Missile Defense Agency, I have learned that the Americans will need five to seven interceptors to engage one Topol-M missile,” retired Col. Gen. Viktor
(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Andrei Ilyashenko, special to RBTH – March 22, 2013) Although some Russian experts argue that Washington’s decision to cancel the final stage of its ABM in Europe is a reaction to Russia’s strong opposition, the U.S. denies these assumptions. Some experts believe Washington’s decision to cancel the final stage of its European-based missile defense project is a reaction to Russia’s strong opposition. However,
(Interfax – Moscow, March 19, 2013) The US decision not to go ahead with the fourth stage of development of the European missile defence system removes an important point of disagreement between the Russian Federation and the USA in their negotiations on this issue, former Chief of the Main Staff of the Strategic Missile Troops Col-Gen Viktor Yesin believes. “The decision not to go ahead with the deployment of enhanced
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Nicholas von Twickel – March 19, 2013) Washington’s decision to scrap the last phase of the planned NATO missile shield for Europe elicited expectations that U.S.-Russian relations might improve by removing a major stumbling block that had irked Moscow. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced Friday that the U.S. would not carry out Phase 4 of the shield, which envisaged land-based interceptors in Poland and Romania.
(Interfax – Moscow, March 18, 2013) Washington’s decision not to deploy the last elements of its missile shield in Europe should be welcomed in Russia, Chairman of Council on Foreign and Defense Policy, Fyodor Lukyanov, said. “The Russian side should in general welcome this step, whatever stands behind it. At the same time, I think and judging by the reaction of Russia, there will be no fundamental change in Russia’s
(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Gopal Ratnam & Stepan Kravchenko – March 18, 2013) The Obama administration’s decision to slow work on missile defenses in Eastern Europe has raised hopes of arms control advocates that Russia might respond by agreeing to renewed talks on reducing both nations’ nuclear arsenals. U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said March 15 that the Pentagon will add 14 land-based missile interceptors in Alaska in response to
BERLIN. Feb 27 (Interfax) – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has denied media reports alleging that Russia and the U.S. are preparing to exchange declarations on cooperation on missile defense and on guarantees that it will not be directed against Russia’s interests. “I have read these reports and talked with their authors. I don’t know the author’s sources, but there are no grounds for such reports whatsoever. I don’t know
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko – February 19, 2013) The meteor that struck outside Chelyabinsk on Friday with such suddenness and explosive force has prompted a question among some spooked observers: If Russian defense officials were unable to track an object 17 meters in diameter rocketing down to earth, how could they detect a much smaller but equally lethal missile? The answer is: If it were coming from
MOSCOW. Feb 15 (Interfax) – Moscow calls unrealistic the U.S. idea of unilateral nuclear reductions and refuses to negotiate the issue without a missile defense deal, Kommersant wrote on Friday. The U.S. initiative “does not fit present-day realities”, a source at the Russian General Staff told the newspaper. He described the unilateral disarmament idea as “a political move.” “They use the occasion to prompt alleviation of our missile defense position,”
(Interfax – February 14, 2013) Russia has not yet received proposals from the United States regarding further mutual reductions of nuclear arsenals, but it is willing to examine them once it receives them, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said. “We have not yet received specific proposals on further reductions of our strategic nuclear arsenals. If such proposals come, we will certainly study them carefully,” Lukashevich said in a commentary
MOSCOW. Feb 13 (Interfax) – The State Duma International Affairs Committee has branded the Global Zero idea as utopian. “I view the Nuclear Zero as pure propaganda and a romantic idea,” Committee Chairman Alexei Pushkov told a Wednesday press conference at Interfax. “It may help certain reduction of redundant nuclear stocks of the Americans and us,” he said. “In my eyes the Nuclear Zero idea is sort of a replay
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Jonathan Earle – February 14, 2013) President Barack Obama’s pledge to pursue new cuts to the U.S. and Russian nuclear arsenals appeared to be under way Wednesday, with the State Department’s arms control chief in Moscow amid talk of a visit later this month by another high-level official. The State Department has been tight-lipped about both trips, by Assistant Secretary Rose Gottemoeller and National Security
WASHINGTON, February 12 (RIA Novosti) – The US Department of State said on Monday no breakthrough decisions should be expected from top US arms control official Rose Gottemoeller’s visit to Russia. “Gottemoeller is on her way to Moscow. My understanding is this is a broad conversation about all of the issues that fall under her portfolio, including implementation of New START. I don’t have anything new to announce to you
WASHINGTON, February 11 (By Carl Schreck for RIA Novosti) As commander-in-chief of the US armed forces, President Barack Obama has the power to act unilaterally to drastically slash Washington’s deployed nuclear arsenal-an initiative he reportedly hopes to explore with Russian President Vladimir Putin and is planning to address in his State of the Union speech Tuesday. “If he has a thousand B-52s in his inventory and he decides the
(Eurasia Daily Monitor: Volume 10, Issue 23 – Jamestown Foundation – jamestown.org – Pavel Felgenhauer – February 7, 2013) According to Russian diplomatic sources, during a meeting last weekend in Munich on the sidelines of the annual international security conference, United States Vice President Joseph Biden assured Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov that Washington wants to put bilateral relations “back on track” after a period of growing strain and public
PARIS. Feb 6 (Interfax) – Moscow continues to insist on being provided with legally-binding guarantees by NATO, and primarily the United States, that the missile defense system being deployed in Europe will not be targeted against Russia, State Duma Chairman Sergei Naryshkin said at debates with French National Assembly deputies. “We need guarantees backed by objective technical parameters that this system will not be targeted against Russia,” Naryshkin, who is
WASHINGTON, February 4 (RIA Novosti) The US State Department’s top arms control official will visit Moscow next week to discuss a range of bilateral issues with her Russian counterparts, the State Department said Monday. Rose Gottemoeller, the US undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, is scheduled to hold three days of meetings with Russian officials, beginning Feb. 12, to “review key issues on our bilateral and
MOSCOW. Feb 4 (Interfax) – The normalization of relations between Russia and the United States may begin with practical cooperation in resisting the spread of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), the daily Kommersant wrote on Monday. The United States would like to return relations with Russia back on track and is thinking about ways this could be done. According to a source from the Russian delegation, U.S. Vice President Joe
(RIA Novosti – Andrei Zolotov, Jr. – January 31, 2013) [Photos here: http://en.rian.ru/analysis/20130131/179151559/Church-vs-Nukes-The-Dilemma-of-a-Secret-Russian-Town.html] SAROV – After an overnight trip from Moscow, the train chugs into a tiny, single-track station and stops at closed metal gates crowned with barbed wire. Some passengers disembark and walk to the nearby checkpoint where soldiers match their IDs against a list of authorized guests; others wait to be checked on board. Beyond the checkpoint’s wobbly
(Moscow Times – moscowtimes.com – Yekaterina Kravtsova – February 1, 2013) U.S. Vice President Joe Biden is expected to meet with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov this weekend in Munich to resume arms-reduction talks, as the two-decade Nunn-Lugar program for dismantling weapons of mass destruction in former Soviet states draws to a close. In October, Russia said it would not extend the program, initiated in 1992 and set to expire in
BEIJING, January 9 (RIA Novosti) Russia and China are planning to intensify their cooperation on missile defense in response to America’s growing missile defense potential around the globe, Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev said on Wednesday. “We are concerned about US plans to build a global missile defense system, including in the Asia-Pacific region,” Patrushev said during the 8th round of Russian-Chinese consultations on strategic security in Beijing.
WASHINGTON, January 4 (RIA Novosti) – The United States is still interested in missile defense cooperation with Russia, US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said on Thursday. “In late November – early December, we had discussions again between Acting Under Secretary Rose Gottemoeller and [Russian] Deputy Foreign Minister [Sergei] Ryabkov on the missile defense issues. We remain committed to cooperating with Russia on missile defense,” Nuland told journalists. “We think
[Obama urges Russia to work with U.S. to extend arms pact - Reuters - Dec. 3, 2012 - http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/12/04/us-usa-russia-weapons-idUSBRE8B301220121204] Reuters reports on U.S. efforts to persuade Russia to continue Nunn-Lugar WMD dismantling and conversion: President Barack Obama urged Russia on Tuesday to work with the United States to “update” a decades-old agreement on dismantling nuclear and chemicals weapons that is set to expire in mid-2013. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei
[NATO aims to repair Russia ties despite Patriot row - Reuters - Adrian Croft - Dec. 2, 2012 - http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/12/02/us-nato-ministers-idUSBRE8B107820121202] Reuters reports on NATO foreign ministers seeking to improve NATO’s relations with Russia, even as Russia raises concerns over NATO-member Turkey receiving Patriot air defense missiles as a safeguard against attacks from Syria. NATO-Russian cooperation includes addressing the future of Afghanistan: NATO foreign ministers, meeting for the first time this
MOSCOW. Nov 29 (Interfax) – Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev counts on the fact that relations with the United States will develop under President Barack Obama but stresses that Moscow will not change its position on the European missile defense system. “There are issues on which we differ seriously: this is the European missile defense system. And no matter who is in power in Russia, the position is unlikely to
MOSCOW. Nov 27 (Interfax) – Russia is ready for missile defense cooperation with European partners on the condition of reliable guarantees this system will not be directed against it, First Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Denisov said at the opening of the 11th Congress on European Security and Defense in Berlin. The ministry website has published his speech. “Missile defense is a test of readiness for bona fide cooperation and indivisible
(Russia airs concern over Turkey’s request for NATO missiles – Reuters – Steve Gutterman – November 23 – http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/23/syria-crisis-russia-nato-idUSL5E8MN5EV20121123) Amidst the ongoing Syrian conflict, Reuters covers Russia’s reaction to the prospect of NATO deploying Patriot missile defense systems to Turkey near the border with Syria: Russia emphasised its opposition on Friday to NATO’s potential deployment of Patriot missiles in Turkey near the Syrian border, which the Western alliance says would
MOSCOW, November 12 (RIA Novosti) Russia will “react in the sharpest manner” to any US ships equipped with the Aegis combat system attempting to sail by its shores, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin told RIA Novosti in an interview. Rogozin did not elaborate on Russia’s possible reaction, but lambasted the US missile defense system part of which involves ships equipped with the Aegis integrated naval weapons system
WASHINGTON, November 8 (By Carl Schreck for RIA Novosti) – US President Barack Obama famously told the Kremlin earlier this year that he’d have more “flexibility” dealing with Russia should he win a second term and be freed from the constraints of reelection concerns. With Obama’s victory in Tuesday’s US presidential election, the next four years will show whether the American president can make good on this assertion. Obama’s “flexibility”
MOSCOW, November 8 (Marc Bennetts, RIA Novosti) Russia hopes that US President Barack Obama will demonstrate a greater willingness to compromise on NATO plans for a missile shield in Europe during his second term of office. “We hope that now, after his reelection, President Obama will be more flexible on taking into account the opinions of Russia and other countries on the configuration of NATO missile defense,” said Deputy
(Voice of America – James Brooke – James Brooke is VOA Moscow bureau chief, covering Russia and the former USSR – October 18, 2012) The day that Russia’s government decided last week to end its participation in the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction program, a huge, mushroom-shaped cloud rose high in the air over Orenburg. In this case, the dust was kicked up by massive, accidental blasts of conventional weapons, largely
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Nikolaus von Twickel – October 12, 2012) News that Moscow wants to end a multibillion-dollar program with Washington to dismantle nuclear and chemical weapons triggered fears Thursday that the Kremlin is embarking on an increasingly isolationist foreign policy course. The Foreign Ministry said late Wednesday that the United States wants to prolong the so-called Nunn-Lugar program, which expires next year, but that it believes the
MOSCOW, October 10 (RIA Novosti) – Moscow is to abandon participation in a decades-old program with the United States aimed at dismantling weapons of mass destruction, Russian daily Kommersant reported Wednesday. The paper reported sources in the US State Department as saying Russia is no longer interested in the Nunn-Lugar program also known as the Cooperative Threat Reduction Program (CTR) which dates back to the early 1990′s and
(Andre de Nesnera – Voice of America – October 9, 2012) This month marks the 50th anniversary of the Cuban Missile Crisis, a confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union that brought the world to the brink of nuclear war. Historians say there were several key events that led to the decision by Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev to station nuclear missiles in Cuba in October 1962. In January
‘No flexibility’ with Putin on missile defense: Romney – AFP – October 8, 2012 – click here for original article AFP covers Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney’s assertive backing of U.S. and NATO missile defense in the face of Russian opposition, most recently articulated in Romney’s recent foreign policy address at the Virginia Military Institute: Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney threw down the gauntlet to Russian leader Vladimir Putin on
www.nato.int - 27 September 2012 I very much appreciate the opportunity to be here today. The Security and Defence Agenda was established just after my last stint in Brussels, when I was US Ambassador to NATO. Over the past decade, the SDA has developed a stellar reputation. So let me compliment Giles Merritt for his inspired leadership of the SDA, and thank him for his invitation to speak to you
MOSCOW, September 27 (RIA Novosti) – A compromise with Moscow on U.S. missile defense system in Europe is possible despite the current deadlock, NATO Deputy Secretary General Alexander Vershbow said on Thursday. Several prominent Russian researchers and military experts have recently supported NATO’s claims that the alliance’s plans are not targeting Russia, Vershbow said. Proposals put forth by these experts and researchers would help Moscow and Brussels find common ground
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