Posted on 06/01/2007 8:25:13 AM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
Russia makes U-turn, joins UN sanctions against N.Korea -1
30/05/2007 16:37 (Recasts headline, lead, para 2, adds paras 3-10)
MOSCOW, May 30 (RIA Novosti) - Russia has agreed to impose UN sanctions on North Korea following its nuclear bomb test last October, the Kremlin Web site said Wednesday.
President Vladimir Putin signed a decree Sunday prohibiting Russian state and government agencies, industrial, commercial, financial and transport companies, and enterprises, firms and banks from exporting or transiting military hardware, equipment, materials, or know-how which could be used in the Communist state's nuclear or non-nuclear weapons programs.
It also prohibits any financial operations with legal entities or individuals who have been identified by the UN as being directly or indirectly involved in North Korea's nuclear arms program.
This marks a U-turn on Russia's previous position. Earlier this year, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Losyukov said that sanctions against North Korea must be lifted.
North Korea agreed to stop its nuclear reactor and give International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors access to the country in a six-party agreement on February 13 after boycotting disarmament talks with China, the U.S., South Korea, Russia and Japan for more than a year.
It has pledged that it will fulfill its February commitments with the five countries involved in a protracted nuclear dispute, as soon as it receives funds frozen in a Macao bank.
North Korea's $25 million deposited in Banco Delta Asia was unfrozen in March in an attempt to win Pyongyang's promise to close its nuclear reactor. But the fund transfer has been stalled, and in response the Communist regime has delayed shutting down its Yongbyon reactor expected in April.
The impoverished state has been cut off from global financial markets for several years and has used cash or complicated barter schemes to pay for supplies and services from other countries.
The North Korean BDA accounts were frozen in October 2005 at the request of the United States, which accused the regime of counterfeiting and money laundering. Washington also blacklisted the Macao bank earlier this year, making other banks wary of handling Korean funds and dealing with the BDA.
Is this the nudge from Russia that N. Korea should go along with international charade of "nuke deal" without getting fixated with BDA money?
Ping!
Perhaps the Ruskies realized that with a nuclear Kim shooting missiles off every chance he gets, there is no way for even the democRATs to stop missile defense.
One wonders if Dubyuh gave away the store, agreeing to save face while dragging his feet on missile defense for Europe.
It would fit the pattern.
Amazing. Looking forward to more FReeper comments on this.
Thank you for the ping.
It’s a freebie. Russians are not really important to NoKo (China and only China is), and unstable Kim is more of a danger to Russia (and China) than he is an asset.
That was the part of Bush / Condi strategy all along. Keep cool, ignore Kim’s antics, and make it China’s problem - not ours. Once they know we are not worried about Kim and not rush with “what are we going to do about Kim, what can we give him to placate him” it stops being an asset to them and becomes a volatile problem with close proximity that, on top of that, they have to feed.
It’s not fun for them anymore - NoKo is not the source of blackmail as it used to be with previous administration, even if media keeps trying to revive it.
Putin is trying to look good here, making a virtue of necessity, where he has no leverage anyway, after Condi scolded him the same way - “Cold War is over, Comrade! You lost!”
China is lever that needs turning, Russia and NoKo are irrelevant to “talk” to.
Condi understands that, Madeleine never could.
“It’s a freebie. Russians are not really important to NoKo (China and only China is), and unstable Kim is more of a danger to Russia (and China) than he is an asset.
That was the part of Bush / Condi strategy all along. Keep cool, ignore Kim’s antics, and make it China’s problem - not ours. Once they know we are not worried about Kim and not rush with “what are we going to do about Kim, what can we give him to placate him” it stops being an asset to them and becomes a volatile problem with close proximity that, on top of that, they have to feed.
It’s not fun for them anymore - NoKo is not the source of blackmail as it used to be with previous administration, even if media keeps trying to revive it.
Putin is trying to look good here, making a virtue of necessity, where he has no leverage anyway, after Condi scolded him the same way - “Cold War is over, Comrade! You lost!”
China is lever that needs turning, Russia and NoKo are irrelevant to “talk” to.
Condi understands that, Madeleine never could.”
I think that is a balanced analysis but let me add another freeper mentioned missle defense. If we put up missle defense in Poland and the Czech Republic, Russia would have to respond by re-deploying short and medium range missles in the theatre as they did in the Cold War. They already know we can outspend them and want no part of it. So it was probably a back room negotiation of us giving a little and the Russian’s giving a little for us to further isolate and contain NK.
We don’t have to give Russians anything on MD. We WILL deploy it in Poland and Czech Republic, and Russia doesn’t HAVE TO do anything about it, and Putin and everybody else knows it. He’s puffing and bluffing to make himself a Big Man On Campus purely for domestic consumption, but it’s all a show to justify more power grabs like Yukos (ostensibly, to better defend against “Imperialist USA”), and consolidating other oil, gas and steel companies under government control.
Natural resources and UN veto is all they have left now, and Putin is trying to play it for all it’s worth. He is disappointed that he is not treated a big player as he thought he might be, just like Kim. If prices of energy commodities collapse, so does his “empire”. He is blackmailing Europe and Russia’s former republics with energy supply, but he is not gaining any friends. He’ll enjoy it while he can.
Maybe Vlady getting tired or he may telling Chia pet chill out for while
“President Vladimir Putin signed a decree ...”
There were rumors Russia had a legislature, but maybe things have changed.
“We don’t have to give Russians anything on MD. We WILL deploy it in Poland and Czech Republic, and Russia doesn’t HAVE TO do anything about it, and Putin and everybody else knows it. He’s puffing and bluffing to make himself a Big Man On Campus purely for domestic consumption, but it’s all a show to justify more power grabs like Yukos (ostensibly, to better defend against “Imperialist USA”), and consolidating other oil, gas and steel companies under government control.
Natural resources and UN veto is all they have left now, and Putin is trying to play it for all it’s worth. He is disappointed that he is not treated a big player as he thought he might be, just like Kim. If prices of energy commodities collapse, so does his “empire”. He is blackmailing Europe and Russia’s former republics with energy supply, but he is not gaining any friends. He’ll enjoy it while he can.”
Agreed, although inferiority complexes don’t seem to work out well for those of us involved with these kinds of people, especially one that has a red button attached to the end of modern civilization at his fingertips.
I would say, more likely, he suffers from Napoleon complex. He was repeatedly invited into the Big Men Club, by Bush and Euros, despite Russia’s severely diminished position of influence in the world. In other words, he had many opportunities to make a choice, “to be with us or against us”, and invariably he kept making the wrong choice for Russia, though domestically it plays well for him personally.
And now, with Germany and France changed leadership, he has very few friends left, so he is acting up and throwing tantrums. So what? He wants to put missiles on the border, fine. For what purpose, to what end? He can only affect domestic opinion, and sell military to rogue nations, which he has been doing all along anyway.
His public pronouncements are best ignored. Somebody so small should not be elevated in stature. That’s what Condi reminded him, very publicly and highly visibly, (which is not her usual style!) to make the point obvious to him and everybody else that he overstayed his welcome at the Big Boys Club.
“I would say, more likely, he suffers from Napoleon complex. He was repeatedly invited into the Big Men Club, by Bush and Euros, despite Russia’s severely diminished position of influence in the world. In other words, he had many opportunities to make a choice, “to be with us or against us”, and invariably he kept making the wrong choice for Russia, though domestically it plays well for him personally.
And now, with Germany and France changed leadership, he has very few friends left, so he is acting up and throwing tantrums. So what? He wants to put missiles on the border, fine. For what purpose, to what end? He can only affect domestic opinion, and sell military to rogue nations, which he has been doing all along anyway.
His public pronouncements are best ignored. Somebody so small should not be elevated in stature. That’s what Condi reminded him, very publicly and highly visibly, (which is not her usual style!) to make the point obvious to him and everybody else that he overstayed his welcome at the Big Boys Club.”
Agreed and well put. Here is my simple dime store psychology. It’s like a spoiled brat. You offer all but it isn’t enough. So when you lay down boundries and they get little instead of all, they throw a tantrum. Again, the big red button is the problem if he throws a tantrum...
Yes, in a nutshell.
Again, the big red button is the problem if he throws a tantrum...
Wouldn't worry at all about his big red button - he may be frustrated, but not a nut, like Ahmadinejad. That's why MAD strategy worked. So, while Soviet Union may have had some ideological or geopolitical reasons to play it as a threat to us or Europe, Russia has none, so Putin's current "threats" look silly to everybody outside of hoi polloi in Russia. That's why he went along with sanctions against Kim, he is trying to salvage some good will... while Kim has already outlived whatever usefulness he had for Russia, and getting there fast with China as well.
“Wouldn’t worry at all about his big red button - he may be frustrated, but not a nut, like Ahmadinejad. That’s why MAD strategy worked. So, while Soviet Union may have had some ideological or geopolitical reasons to play it as a threat to us or Europe, Russia has none, so Putin’s current “threats” look silly to everybody outside of hoi polloi in Russia. That’s why he went along with sanctions against Kim, he is trying to salvage some good will... while Kim has already outlived whatever usefulness he had for Russia, and getting there fast with China as well.”
Great points. I enjoyed talking to you about this.
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