(RIA Novosti – ST. PETERSBURG, June 20, 2013) Russia-US strategic nuclear arms cuts cannot be pursued without also addressing missile defense systems, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Thursday. Strategic stability is affected by the role of defense systems, in particular “the US plans to build non-nuclear weapons” which will be “far more effective than the existing strategic nuclear arms,” he […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW, June 19, 2013) Russia will not agree to negotiations with the U.S. on reducing tactical nuclear weapons, Sergei Rogov, the director of the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of U.S. and Canada Studies, said at a press conference in Moscow on Wednesday. “I believe Russia will not agree to negotiations on tactical nuclear weapons for a number […]
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(By Carl Schreck for RIA Novosti – WASHINGTON, June 19, 2013) US President Barack Obama’s desire to pursue nuclear arms cuts with Russia offers fertile ground for cooperation with Moscow but is above all about securing an enduring security legacy, a range of experts said Wednesday. “The nuclear issue itself is a special interest of Obama’s he’s deeply […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – June 10, 2013) Russia’s ambitious program to revamp its army and fleet has already produced a “missile defense killer” that “neither modern nor future American missile defense systems will be able to stop,” Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said Friday at a lecture organized by the ruling United Russia party. “We live in a forest […]
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(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, June 10, 2013) Resolving differences between Russia and the United States over missile defense is key to developing bilateral relations, a senior Russian lawmaker said Monday. “Missile defense has become a key issue: If we find a common language here, we could speak of a beginning of new positive dynamics in US-Russian relations,” Alexei Pushkov, […]
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(Interfax – June 7, 2013) U.S. missile defense shields will not be able to stop Russia’s new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), which was test launched successfully on June 6, from reaching its target, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said in his lecture as part of the Civil University project on Friday. “We closely watched last night’s events. They were […]
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(Interfax – June 1, 2013) Unilateral deployment of strategic missile defence elements may lead to the polarization of forces in the Asia-Pacific region, Russian Deputy Defence Minister Anatoliy Antonov has said, privately-owned Interfax news agency reported on 1 June. “The strategic situation in the Asia-Pacific region is burdened by the missile defence factor. We are concerned by the unilateral deployment […]
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(Interfax – May 28, 2013) Russian and US experts continue to conduct dialogue on the problem of missile defence (ABM), however the positions of the two countries on the issue still differ very much, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told a news conference in Moscow on 27 May, as reported by Interfax news agency on the same day. “We […]
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(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, May 28, 2013) Russia is not willing to negotiate further bilateral nuclear cuts with the United States until other nuclear powers join the process, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said. “We cannot endlessly negotiate with the United States the reduction and limitation of nuclear arms while some other countries are strengthening their nuclear and missile […]
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(Interfax – May 24, 2013) Russia needs “clear and reliable” guarantees that US missile defences will not be aimed against it and will take “military-technical” measures in response to their deployment, Secretary of the Russian Security Council Nikolay Patrushev has told Interfax news agency. “They will be taken as required, as the USA progresses in the creation of its missile […]
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(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, May 23, 2013) The United States’ insistence on pursuing a missile defense system in Europe is standing in the way of further cuts to Russia’s nuclear deterrent forces, Russia’s top general said on Thursday at an international security conference in Moscow. “Russia will cut its strategic attack force only when it is certain that the […]
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(Interfax – May 17, 2013) Russia and NATO are boosting their cooperation in a number of areas, however Russia still has concerns about US and NATO European missile defence plans, Russian Deputy Chief of General Staff Col-Gen Aleksandr Postnikov-Streltsov has said. Interfax news agency carried the comments that Postnikov-Streltsov made after a meeting of the Russia-NATO Council (RNC) in Brussels […]
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(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 […]
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(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 […]
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(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 […]
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(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 […]
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(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 […]
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(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 […]
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(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 […]
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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 […]
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(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 […]
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(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 […]
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(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 […]
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(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 […]
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(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 […]
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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 […]
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(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 […]
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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 […]
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(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 […]
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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 […]
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(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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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(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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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(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 […]
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(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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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[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 […]
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[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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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(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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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(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 […]
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