Putin slams US for making world more dangerous

waltky · 12-30-2007, 12:58 AM

Russian-Iranian alliance...

Russia Plans Increased Arms Exports to Iran, Others
December 28, 2007 - In the latest sign that Moscow is keen to expand its arms exports to Iran despite Western objections, Russia reportedly has agreed to supply the Islamic republic with air defense systems.

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Iranian Defense Minister Mostafa Najjar said on Wednesday that Russia would sell Iran the S300 missile system, but he did not disclose a delivery date. On Friday, the Russian agency that oversees Russia's military exports issued a statement denying that any such sale would take place.

"The question of deliveries of S-300 systems to Iran, which has now arisen in the mass media, is not currently taking place, is not being considered and is not being discussed at this time with the Iranian side," the agency said. White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said the administration had "ongoing concerns about the prospective sale of such weapons to Iran and other countries of concern."

According to Russian missile makers, the S300 can shoot down combat aircraft as well as cruise and ballistic missiles. The S300 PMU1 system can engage targets flying as low as 10 meters off the ground at a range of up to 150 kilometers, while the PMU2 variant has a range of 200 kilometers. The S300 is a continuation of the earlier generation S75 surface-to-air (SAM) missile. Between 1965 and 1972, the Soviet Union supplied nearly 8,000 SAMs to North Vietnam.

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waltky · 01-19-2008, 05:28 PM

Russia makin' world more dangerous...

Army chief: Russia may use nuclear weapons if necessary
Jan. 19, 2008 -- Armed forces will be used if necessary, including preventively and with the use of nuclear weapons, for the protection of Russia and its allies, a Russian army chief said.

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"We do not intend to attack anybody. But all our partners must realize that for protection of Russia and its allies if necessary armed forces will be used, including preventively, including with the use of nuclear weapons," Baluyevsky was quoted by the Itar-Tass news agency as saying at a scientific conference of the Academy of Military Sciences. With the emergence of new threats to security, Russia needs to update a number of provisions in the existing National Security Concept, Baluyevsky said.

"As life is ever-changing, it has become necessary today to update certain provisions of the concept and, what is the most important, to turn these provisions into a working mechanism for protecting our national security," he said. Baluyevsky's speech came a day after Georgia announced some 77 percent of the Georgian population voted for joining NATO in a recent referendum.

Georgia's possible entry into NATO will seriously change the regional geostrategic situation, Nikolai Bordyuzha, general secretary of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), said on Friday. "Georgia's membership in NATO means that the military infrastructure of the alliance will advance closer to the CSTO borders and that there will be higher military activity directly outside the external borders of the organization's zone of responsibility," he said.

"This will in itself inevitably provoke stronger instability and unpredictability that will jeopardize the CSTO's zone of responsibility," Bordyuzha said. The seven-member CSTO was renamed in October 2002 on the basis of the Collective Security Treaty (CST), which was signed in Mary 1992 within the framework of the commonwealth of Independent States. The current members of the CSTO include Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Russia and Uzbekistan.

Source

waltky · 02-08-2008, 09:57 PM

Guess Putin forgot some of our satellites got cameras...

Putin Lashes Out at West's 'New Arms Race'
Feb 8, 2008 - Russian President Vladimir Putin accuses the West of starting global arms race.

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President Vladimir Putin said on Friday a new global arms race was starting and Russia was "forced to retaliate" with new, high-tech weapons. In a tough speech outlining his vision for Russia to 2020, Putin accused the West of ignoring Moscow's concerns on security by expanding the NATO military alliance to its borders and deploying a missile defense system in Central Europe. "It is already clear that a new arms race is unfolding in the world. It's not our fault, we didn't start it," Putin told government, business and military leaders at the Kremlin, three months before his presidency is due to end.

"In effect, we are forced to retaliate...Russia has and always will have a response to these new challenges," he added. Apparently referring to plans for new nuclear-capable missiles, Putin said "over the next few years Russia will start production of new types of weapons which...are in no way inferior to what other states have and in some cases are superior." Putin also said there was a "fierce fight" for natural resources around the globe and many conflicts and foreign policy actions "smell of oil and gas." Moscow needed to be on its guard against attempts to get access to its resources, he added.

"Under the disguise of turgid declarations about freedom and open society, sometimes the sovereignty of certain states and whole regions is being destroyed," Putin said, in an apparent reference to U.S. policy in the Middle East and in particular the war in Iraq. Speaking ahead of presidential elections next month which are widely expected to be won by his chosen successor Dmitry Medvedev, Putin attacked foreign countries for "immoral and illegal" attempts to interfere in Russia's domestic affairs.

More ABC News: Putin Lashes Out at West's 'New Arms Race'

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Imagery reveals probable Russian S-400 site
05 February 2008 : Satellite imagery of Ashuluk firing range has shown what appears to be S-400 hardware deployed for training

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Google Earth satellite imagery has highlighted what appears to be S-400 hardware deployed for training at the Ashuluk surface-to-air missile (SAM) firing range in Russia. Located about 110 km north of Astrakhan in southwestern Russia, Ashuluk is the most widely used SAM training range in the Russian Federation. Open-source imagery analyst Sean O'Connor located the site and identified two probable 92N6 multifunctional (tracking and missile-guidance) radars, a 64N6 early-warning radar and multiple 5P85T2 towed transporter erector launchers (TELs), plus a 300 km-range 96L6 radar vehicle located more than 1 km southwest of the other S-400 components.

O'Connor believes the images show the first operational S-400 unit when it was conducing tests at Ashuluk, seen before being deployed to its operational site at Electrostal outside Moscow.

The TELs at Ashuluk are about 16 m in length and therefore longer than the 14 m of the 5P85T TEL used by the S-300PM-1, O'Connor calculated. As the 5P85T2 is towed by a new BAZ-6402 tractor, which is larger than the KRAQ-260 used to tow the 5P85T, the increased length is the most significant evidence that this is an S-400 unit.

Imagery reveals probable Russian S-400 site - Jane's Land Forces News

waltky · 02-09-2008, 10:43 PM

Russia gettin' sassy now that we helped their economy to recover...

Putin: Russia will counter U.S. military moves
President Putin: Russia will respond to U.S., NATO 'expansion' near its borders; Putin: Russia shut bases in Cuba, Vietnam but nothing in return from the West; U.S. plans missile defense in Poland, Czech Republic, bases in Romania, Bulgaria; U.S. says that missile defense system is too small to pose a threat to Russia

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Russian President Vladimir Putin complained Friday about "one-way" Western military demands and promised that Russia will respond to U.S. and NATO military expansion near its borders. "We have been put in a situation where we have to react," Putin said of U.S. plans to deploy a missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic and build new bases in Romania and Bulgaria.

"They tried to convince us that all these activities aren't against Russia, but our concerns have gone unanswered," Putin said. "Unfortunately our partners use a diplomatic and informational cover to hide their real plans." Putin said Russia closed its bases in Cuba and Vietnam but saw no steps from the West toward compromise. NATO's demands, Putin said, "go one way."

"We have been put in a situation where we have to react. We have been forced to make certain decisions. Russia will always respond to this new challenge," Putin said. The United States has been seeking a limited missile defense system in parts of eastern Europe, which U.S. officials say is designed to protect NATO allies and others concerned about an Iranian missile threat.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has responded to Moscow's concerns by saying the system is too small to pose a threat to Russia.
advertisement But Putin said he sees a "new turn in the arms race" in which "well-developed countries" invest more to produce better weapons than those in Russia. Putin promised that balance would soon shift.

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waltky · 02-11-2008, 09:00 PM

Granny says, "Knock `em outta the sky!...

Russian Bombers Intercepted Near U.S. Ship
Feb. 11, 2008 - One Plane Buzzed An American Aircraft Carrier In The Western Pacific

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U.S. fighter planes intercepted two Russian bombers, including one that buzzed an American aircraft carrier in the western Pacific during the weekend, The Associated Press has learned. A U.S. military official says that one Russian Tupolev 95 flew directly over the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz twice, at a low altitude of about 2,000 feet, while another bomber circled about 58 miles out. The official was speaking on condition of anonymity because the reports on the flights were classified as secret.

The Saturday incident, which never escalated beyond the flyover, comes amid heightened tensions between the United States and Russia over U.S. plans for a missile defense system based in Poland and the Czech Republic. Such Russian bomber flights were common during the Cold War, but have been rare since.

The bombers were among four Russian Tupolev 95s launched from Ukrainka in the middle of the night, including one that Japanese officials say violated their country's airspace over an uninhabited island south of Tokyo. U.S. officials tracked and monitored the bombers as two flew south along the Japanese coast, and two others flew farther east, coming closer to the Nimitz and the guided missile cruiser USS Princeton.

As the bombers got about 500 miles out from the U.S. ships, four F/A-18 fighters were launched from the Nimitz, the official said. The fighters intercepted the Russian bombers about 50 miles south of the Nimitz. At least two U.S. F/A-18 Hornets trailed the bomber as it came in low over the Nimitz twice, while one or two of the other U.S. fighters followed the second bomber as it circled.

The official said there were no verbal communications between the U.S. and the Russians, and the Pentagon has not heard of any protests being filed by the United States. Historically, diplomatic protests were not filed in such incidents because they were so common during the Cold War era. This is the first time Russian Tupolevs have flown over or interacted with a U.S. carrier since 2004.

In that incident, a Russian Tupolev flew over the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk in the Sea of Japan on Jan. 29, 2004. Since then, however, relations between the U.S. and Russia have deteriorated to their worst point since the Cold War, largely due to the United States' plans to put a radar system in the Czech Republic and 10 missile defense interceptors in Poland.

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waltky · 02-28-2008, 08:06 PM

Russia deploys more ICBM's...

Russia to deploy more intercontinental ballistic missiles
Feb 28,`08 - Russia's Strategic Missile Forces (SMF) would deploy 11 new silo and mobile-launched Topol-M intercontinental ballistic missiles in 2008, the SMF commander has said.

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General Nikolai Solovtsov said the weapons would be deployed in the European part of Russia, adding: 'The SMF will receive 11 up-to-date Topol-M ICBMs in two versions (silo and mobile-launched)'.

The missile (NATO reporting name SS-27), with a range of about 7,000 miles (11,000 km), is said to be immune to any current and future US anti ballistic missile defence. It is capable of making evasive manoeuvres to avoid terminal phase interceptors and carries targeting countermeasures and decoys.

It is also shielded against radiation, electromagnetic pulse, nuclear blasts, and is designed to survive a hit from any form of laser technology. General Solovtsov earlier said that Topol-M systems would be equipped with multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicles (MIRV) in the next two or three years.

Russia, which now operates around 50 Topol-Ms, resumed strategic bomber patrol flights over the Pacific, Atlantic, and Arctic oceans last August, following an order by President Vladimir Putin. In a speech Feb 8, Putin blamed the West for unleashing a new international arms race.

Russia to deploy more intercontinental ballistic missiles

waltky · 04-05-2008, 03:49 PM

Granny say, "Lordy, what dey up to??...

Russian Navy To Create Aircraft Carrier Groups
April 5, 2008 - The Russian military is developing a new naval strategy centered on the creation of aircraft carrier joint task groups.

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In a news conference, Navy Commander Admiral Vladimir Vysotsky told local press that the military should focus on building integrated systems instead of separately building combat ships, aircraft or spacecraft. He added that the navy is planning to build five or six naval aircraft carrier groups by 2050-2060.

These joint task groups, he told Russia 's Novosti news agency, will be made up of combat ships, various aircraft, including unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), satellites and submarines.

The construction of new aircraft carriers is expected to begin in 2012-2013. Vysotsky further said that the existence of these joint task groups will increase the combat effectiveness of the Navy by 60 percent, and in some respects up to 300 percent. Novosti reported that at present, Russia has only one operational aircraft carrier, the Nikolai Kuznetsov, which was commissioned in the early 1990s.

Russian Navy To Create Aircraft Carrier Groups | April 5, 2008 | AHN

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Russia to increase patrol flights over world's oceans
April 5,`08 - Russia is set to drastically increase its number of strategic aviation patrol flights over the world's oceans to 20-30 a month, an Air Force official said.

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'We will be making 20 to 30 flights a month, not two or three, as was the case until recently,' Col. Gen. Alexander Zelin said Friday. He said during their patrol missions the Russian aircraft is accompanied by NATO F-15, F-16 and F-22 fighters. The military alliance's planes do not always comply with the international rules.

'They behave tactlessly, to put it mildly - they approach too close (in breach of international regulations),' the commander said.

Russia resumed strategic bomber patrol flights over the Pacific, Atlantic, and Arctic oceans last August, following an order signed by President Vladimir Putin. The move has been widely seen by the West as a sign of Russia's increasingly aggressive military stance. Russian bombers have since carried out over 70 strategic patrol flights.

The Air Force command earlier said skilled pilots fly the aircraft in strict compliance with international laws on the use of air space over neutral waters, without violating the borders of other states.

Russia to increase patrol flights over world's oceans

waltky · 05-25-2008, 12:00 AM

Maybe its not our relationship with China we should be worried about...

Sino-Russia To Play Major Role In World Security, Medvedev Says
May 24, 2008 : Russia's new President Dmitry Medvedev said on Saturday that the world cannot ignore his country's relationship with China.

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Speaking on the last day of a visit to China at Peking University, Medvedev said on his first foreign trip as president that Moscow and Beijing are going to work together to shape global security. "Russian-Chinese cooperation has today emerged as a key factor in international security, without which it is impossible for the international community to take major decisions," Medvedev was quoted saying by AFP news agency.

"Maybe not everybody likes the strategic cooperation between our two countries, but we understand that this cooperation is in the interest of our people and we will boost it whether or not it pleases some people," he added. Medvedev, who was sworn in on May 7 this year, made a statement after he met with Chinese President Hu Jintao on Friday and issued a joint statement condemning U.S. missile defense plans.

China and Russia, who were rivals during the Cold war-era, have forged ties at different levels including political, military and commercial in the wake of single power dominance by the U.S. after the Soviet Union collapsed. To bolster ties between Sino-Russia, Moscow signed a $1 billion deal to build a fuel enrichment facility and supply uranium with China, providing a major boost to the country's emerging nuclear power industry

On the other hand, China is also important to Russia economically as the political analysts have projected the bilateral trade between the two countries to reach 80 billion by 2010. Meanwhile, Chinese President Hu Jintao has reportedly accepted Russian President Medvedev's invitation to visit Russia in the year 2009.

Sino-Russia To Play Major Role In World Security, Medvedev Says | AHN | May 25, 2008

Eagle One · 07-22-2008, 12:19 AM

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Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-frontal attack on the United States Saturday, saying it had made the world a more dangerous place and left successive conflicts unresolved.

Addressing an audience of senior officials and politicians including many from the United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Putin said the United States had "overstepped" its borders with disastrous results.

That should read, "Putin slams US...to bolster his own weak standing in Russia."

And Russia is definitely not one to point fingers and accuse anyone of leaving conflicts unresolved. They left Afghanistan a complete wreck after their failed attempt to occupy the country. Add North Korea and Vietnam to their messes left "unresolved" in Southeast Asia. Then there's Kosovo and other FSU conflicts that continue to this day.

Russia is a completely screwed up country based on lies, corruption and their wholly misguided effort to keep the people under communist rule.

waltky · 09-26-2008, 03:26 AM

Putin makin' world more dangerous place...

Putin offers nuclear energy help to Chavez
Thu Sep 25, 2008 - Russia said on Thursday it was ready to consider helping Venezuela develop a peaceful nuclear energy program, a gesture that will displease Washington as two of its sharpest critics draw closer.

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"We are all ready to look at the possibility of operating in the sphere of peaceful atomic energy," Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said as he welcomed Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez for late-evening talks at his residence on the outskirts of Moscow.

Nuclear energy is a sensitive issue between the United States and Russia, which this week forced the scrapping of an international meeting to discuss sanctions against Iran over its atomic program. Russia has stepped up cooperation with Venezuela, an arch-foe of Washington, since coming under strong U.S. condemnation for fighting a war against Georgia last month.

Russia this month sent strategic bomber planes on a trip to Venezuela, their furthest mission since the Cold War. Though capable of carrying nuclear missiles, they did not do so. Putin noted that Russia also has warships en route to the Caribbean for joint military exercises between the two nations.

More Putin offers nuclear energy help to Chavez | International | Reuters

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Russia lends $1bn to Venezuela to buy arms
25 Sep 2008, Russia has granted a one-billion dollar (682-million euro) loan to Venezuela to buy Russian arms, the Kremlin said in a statement on Thursday, ahead of a visit by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

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"Russia has taken the decision to grant Venezuela a credit of one billion dollars for implementing programmes in the field of military-technical cooperation," the statement said, using diplomatic jargon for arms sales. Venezuela has been asking for the loan for months, according to Russian media reports.

The Kremlin said Venezuela has signed 12 arms contracts with Russia since 2005 for a total value of 4.4 billion dollars (three billion euros). Venezuela has bought Russian fighter jets, tanks and assault rifles and wants to buy anti-aircraft systems, armoured personnel carriers and more combat aircraft, the Kommersant daily reported earlier, quoting Russian officials.

Chavez was due to meet Prime Minister Vladimir Putin later on Thursday and will hold talks with President Dmitry Medvedev in the Urals Mountains city of Orenburg on Friday on his third visit to Russia since June 2007.

Russia lends $1bn to Venezuela to buy arms-Europe-World-The Times of India

waltky · 10-02-2008, 08:30 PM

And they wonder why we don't trust them...

Medvedev: No grounds for Cold War with US
2 Oct 2008, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Wednesday that he sees no ideological grounds for a war with the United States - cold or hot - despite strained relations with Washington and the NATO alliance.

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Russia's relations with the US were already at a post-Cold War low when they were further damaged by Russia's war with US ally Georgia in August. Russia has complained vehemently about what it says is a growing US military presence near its borders. But Medvedev said Wednesday that the Cold War was based on ideological differences between the Soviet Union and the NATO nations.

"We do not have such ideological differences around which a new cold or any other kind of war could start," Medvedev said after talks with Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero outside St. Petersburg. Medvedev said he would not "dramatize" troubled ties between Russia and NATO, and warned that NATO needs Russia more than Russia needs NATO.

He also said the outcome of the US presidential election should not affect relations between Washington and Moscow. Regardless of who wins the US presidency, "Job No. 1 is to deal with the situation in the economy - that's what must be done."

The top US diplomat for Latin America, Assistant Secretary of State Thomas Shannon, said Wednesday that, despite Russia's diplomatic and military overtures in the region, the US has "no intention of reviving Cold War images or Cold War rhetoric." "This is a conflict that the region has thankfully left behind," he said in a telephone interview.

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Russia to deploy new nuclear missile
Thu Oct 2, 2008 - Russia hopes to deploy a new nuclear missile next year designed to penetrate anti-missile defenses and will build eight submarines to carry it, defense officials said on Thursday.

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The latest statements underline Moscow's determination to upgrade its nuclear strike forces on land, sea and air. They are regarded by Russian commanders as the cornerstone of the country's defenses. Colonel-General Vladimir Popovkin, head of armaments for the Russian armed forces, told the Defense Ministry newspaper "Red Star" that Russia's recent war with Georgia "compels us to rethink the current state of the armed forces and how they should develop further."

President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin have both pledged to extend Russia's recent military build-up with extra funds to buy new, high-tech arms. On Wednesday, Putin announced an extra $3.1 billion of spending next year, partly to replace equipment lost in the Georgia war. Despite the billions of dollars spent on them since Putin came to power as president in 2000, Russia's 1 million-strong armed forces remain poorly equipped, badly paid and reliant on a large proportion of unwilling conscripts.

The deputy commander in chief of the Russian navy, Admiral Alexander Tatarinov, said on Thursday that by 2015 Moscow would build a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines to carry a new, nuclear-capable strategic missile. "The navy has gone over to building ships and nuclear submarines by the batch," Tatarinov told Interfax news agency.

More Russia to deploy new nuclear missile | International | Reuters

waltky · 10-12-2008, 04:25 AM

Russians develop long range MIRV...

Incredible distance reached by Russian long-range missile
Saturday 11th October, 2008 - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev joined the Northern Fleet Saturday to observe military exercises, including a full-range test of the Sineva ballistic missile, in the Barents Sea.

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Medvedev later announced that the missile had travelled a record 11,547 km. It was the first time a submarine had launched the Sineva ballistic missile to its maximum range. The RSM-54 Sineva is an intercontinental ballistic missile that can carry four to 10 nuclear warheads.

Russia's Strategic Missile Forces said last year that Russia would conduct at least 11 test launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles in 2008 and would double the number of launches after 2009 to prevent the weakening of Russia's nuclear deterrent. The Barents Sea drills involved more than 5,000 military personnel, eight ships and five submarines.

Incredible distance reached by Russian long-range missile