Posted on 04/26/2007 7:46:33 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
OSLO, Norway - Simmering tension between the U.S. and Russia over European missile defense boiled over Thursday at a meeting of NATO diplomats after President Vladimir Putin threatened to freeze Russia's compliance with an arms control treaty.
Hours after Putin and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice traded long-distance barbs on the growing divide between the former Cold War foes, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov added to the fire in a lengthy diatribe against the United States and NATO.
Like Putin, Lavrov spoke of suspending participation in the Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty, which regulates deployment of military aircraft, tanks and other non-nuclear weapons.
With language that recalled the Cold War, Lavrov accused the U.S. and its NATO allies of upsetting the security balance in Europe, creating new dividing lines and treating Russia as an enemy.
"We cannot be unconcerned by the fact that NATO military infrastructure is creeping up to our borders," Lavrov said after a NATO-Russia Council meeting. "They are still looking for an enemy."
Rice dismissed Russian concerns over Washington's plans to deploy anti-missile defenses in Europe as "purely ludicrous."
"Let's be real about this and realistic about this," Rice said, referring to Russia's belief that the installation of American interceptors in Poland and a radar station in the Czech Republic would pose a threat to its nuclear arsenal.
"The idea that somehow 10 interceptors and a few radars in Eastern Europe are going to threaten the Soviet strategic deterrent is purely ludicrous and everybody knows it," she told reporters before the NATO talks and a side meeting with Lavrov.
"The Russians have thousands of warheads," said Rice, who plans to visit Moscow next month to press the case for missile defense.
Rice urged the Russians to abandon Cold War-era thinking about the proposed system and accept U.S. offers to cooperate in combatting new threats, notably from Iran and North Korea.
Washington says the deployment will protect Europe and North America but Moscow argues there's no immediate threat and claims the U.S. is trying to target Russia's strategic missile arsenal.
As Rice spoke, Putin was delivering his annual state of the nation address in which he called for suspending Russia's compliance with the 1990 treaty. He cited NATO nations' refusal to ratify an updated version of the agreement and linked it to the U.S. missile defense plan.
"Our partners are behaving incorrectly, to say the least," Putin said in Moscow. "I consider it worthwhile to declare a moratorium until all NATO countries ratify." He threatened to pull out of the Conventional Forces in Europe treaty altogether if progress is not made.
The United States and other NATO members have refused to ratify an updated version of the treaty until Moscow abides by a commitment to withdraw troops from the ex-Soviet republics of Moldova and Georgia.
Rice's reaction to Putin's statement was terse.
"These are treaty obligations, and everyone is expected to live up to treaty obligations," Rice said.
NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said NATO allies met Putin's message with "grave concern, disappointment and regret."
Two senior U.S. officials who attended the private NATO-Russia Council meeting, said Lavrov presented a list of complaints about the alliance and Washington's missile defense plans.
The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were describing details of a closed meeting, said the reaction to Lavrov's 10-minute remarks was universally negative. They described the meeting as stormy.
The allies expressed support for a dialogue on missile defense and U.S. offers to cooperate with Russia and also grave concern about Moscow's decision on the treaty, the officials said. They said Lavrov indicated that any attempt to discuss unfulfilled Russian commitments on troop withdrawals from Georgia and Moldova would crater the discussions.
Putin's message and the debate over missile defense dominated the first of two days of talks among NATO foreign ministers. A flurry of high-level talks in recent weeks has failed to soften Russia's public opposition to the proposed extension of a U.S. anti-missile shield to Europe.
Diplomats said the 26 NATO allies closed ranks in the face of Lavrov's criticism, but Russia's rhetoric has unnerved some European allies who fear the negative impact on relations with the Kremlin may outweigh the any benefits of the missile shield.
___
Associated Press Writer Paul Ames contributed to this report.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice addresses the media ahead of NATO's foreign ministers meeting in Oslo, Norway, Thursday, April 26, 2007. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice dismissed Russians concerns over Washington's plans to deploy anti-missile defenses in Europe on Thursday, saying the American interceptors would pose no danger to Moscow's nuclear arsenal. (AP Photo/Yves Logghe)
Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, left, talks with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, center, and Canada's counterpart Peter Gordon MacKay prior to the start of the NATO-Russia Council during NATO's foreign ministers meeting in Oslo, Norway, Thursday, April 26, 2007. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Thursday dismissed as 'ludicrous' Russian concerns that Washington's plans to deploy anti-missile defenses in Europe would endanger Moscow's nuclear arsenal. (AP Photo/Yves Logghe)
Well, but isn't Russia the ONLY country that ratified and followed this treaty?
Screw these duplicitous bastards.
There is the little matter of the Russian-supplied AK factory in Venezuela...maybe we could get some traction in our hemisphere ?
No, they’re not, and they didn’t follow the treaty at all.
The U.S. population, burgeoning from all that Latin American immigration, will be a welcome spillover to the Russians, who, if they don't get back to bed and start reproducing, are going to depopulate themselves out of existence.
As for the Americans, they are just itching to get their greedy capitalist hands on Siberia.
The Chinese and the Muslims? How do you say, "Let's start digging," in Russian?
Where are they going to forward position all these conventional weapons?
Okay now, everybody. Put your tongues back in your mouths and get busy building that tunnel highway under the Bering Straight. When the Russians start getting rich from all those North American ski tourists, and all those luscious Russian babes start cruising around the U.S. in convertables, we’ll forget there ever was a Cold War.==
I think that the american policy toward Russia is too arrogant. America irritates Russia too much.
No, they’re not, and they didn’t follow the treaty at all.==
If NATO countries didn’t follow that treaty then why Condy asks Russia to follow it?
Piss off Vladimir.
L
I do not think so. NATO is the medium for the US to project their influence in the countries in eastern Europe. Since America is economically absolutely irrelevant there, it needs "security matters" to play a important role. The Russian gouvernment is dumb enough to play this game. Everybody knows that those 10 missle interceptors are no eniment threat to the Russian nuclear capability. Instead of provoking the Poles and the Balts, the Russians should better concentrate on their really endangered boarders near China and islamic tribes. Russia is not in danger because of the West, Russia is in danger in its eastern hemisphere.
It is a logical development that America was (and still is) loosing its influence in Europe more and more after the end of the cold war. The recent disputes (around Iraq, Iran, economy or whatever) between western Europe and Washington are only the tip of the iceberg. The intersection of common interests is simply not large enough anymore. Some politicans are trying to stop this development (i.e. Merkel) others do not. Nevertheless there is a steady development. In the same time the common interests between western Europe and Russia are growing. I do not believe that a "antiamerican" bloc will appear on the old continent, but it is quite likely that western Europeans do not differ that much anymore between Americans and Russians in the near future. Espechially not if Russia is able to convert into a real free society. The overblown NATO itself is only a "toothless tiger". Have you seen the recent contributions of NATO-countries that are at odds to Afghanistan i.e.? This was a good joke. The bigger this alliance is, the more irrelevant it will be.
Eastern Europe is in between this change and they distrust Russia. That is the reason why they welcome such stuff like those (de facto irrelevant) millitary bases. It ties them closer to the American promise (and dream) of security.
Russia signs treaties with no intention of abiding by them if it feels like it. You well know that the reason why Nato countries are not signing because Russia is in breach of the agreement to withdraw troops from Abkhazia and Transnistria.
Much better that you pull out of the INF treaty, so you can do something about all those Chinese missiles trained on your ass right now — so long as you explain that this is the reason, and not go on about 10 piddly interceptors in Poland!
Poland and the Czech Republic, I believe.
What is the sense of a treaty which is signed/ratified only by one side?
Russia is in breach of the agreement to withdraw troops from Abkhazia and Transnistria
Do you remember that 1999 agreement between NATO, Serbia and Russia provided for return of Serbian authority in Kosovo (among other things)?
Russia is not in danger because of the West, Russia is in danger in its eastern hemisphere. ==
Historically the last time when war came to Russia from east was maybe 100 years ago in 1905. It was quite local war with Japan. So Far East very far from Moscow.
The last war from the western direction came 60 years ago. And it came to the neiborhood of Moscow. And it was quite distructive. SO Russia concentrates her efforts on the western direction now.
Secondly it is the observation that if Europe got united then it always was the attack on Russia. So Russia should be prepared. It is the mindset of the millions of Russians.
We do not trust West. Except Germans you know:). We feel unfortunate that we fought with Germans two wars. I tell you truth. That if Hilter convinced Russian population that he came to free them from bolshevicks then he won that war. With Russians (not Stalin and Soviets!) on his side he would definetely won. If he formed new divisions from Russian POWs which he instead starved in his camps he would march to India and China in 1943.
Now the voice of Germany in Europe is still weak the influence of USA is still high. DO you know how they explained the reason of NATO: “NATO is for keep Russia - out and Germany - down”.
If the Germany become strong we will trust Europe more. We trust the word of German chancellor than Poland-Hungary-Balts and so on small fish altogether. And that at any situation we learned our lesson and we won’t mistake again and war each other.
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