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| Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia |
| Russia ratchets up US tensions with arms sales to Iran and Venezuela |
| 2008-09-19 |
| Russia defied the United States yesterday by announcing plans to sell military hardware to Iran and Venezuela. The head of the state arms exporter said that he was negotiating to sell antiaircraft systems to Iran despite American objections. Russia has already delivered 29 Tor-M1 missile systems under a $700 million (£386 million) deal with Iran in 2005. âContacts between our countries are continuing and we do not see any reason to suspend them,â Anatoli Isaikin, the general director of Rosoboronexport, told the RIA-Novosti news agency at an arms fair in South Africa. Reports have circulated for some time that the Kremlin is preparing to sell its S300 surface-to-air missile system to Iran, offering greater protection against a possible US or Israeli attack on the Islamic republicâs nuclear facilities. The missiles have a range of more than 90 miles (150km). Sergei Chemezov, the head of the state-owned Russian Technologies, also disclosed that Venezuelaâs leader, Hugo Chávez, wanted to buy antiaircraft systems, armoured personnel carriers, and SU35 fighter jets when they come into production in 2010. The Deputy Prime Minister, Igor Sechin, one of the closest allies of Mr Putin, the Prime Minister, visited Venezuela and Cuba this week. Kommersant, the financial newspaper, said that Russia was forming âalliance relationsâ with the two antiAmerican regimes as a response to US involvement in former Soviet republics. The Russian moves mark a serious deterioration in relations between Washington and Moscow. Condoleezza Rice, the US Secretary of State, threated to block Russiaâs membership of key international organisations. She told the Kremlin that its âauthoritarian policiesâ could prevent it from joining the World Trade Organisation and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, which coordinates economic policies among industrialised countries. In an outspoken speech to the German Marshall Fund, an institution promoting greater cooperation between America and Europe, Dr Rice said: âThe picture emerging is of a Russia increasingly authoritarian at home and aggressive abroad. âRussiaâs bid to join the World Trade Organisation is now in question. And so too is its attempt to join the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.â She added: âRussiaâs international standing is worse now than at any time since 1991.â The WTO is due to meet in Geneva on Thursday to discuss Russiaâs bid to join the global trade body, a process that began in 1993, soon after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Dr Rice said that Russiaâs actions in Georgia fitted into a âworsening pattern of behaviourâ, which included its âintimidation of its sovereign neighbours, its use of oil and gas as a political weapon, its threat to target peaceful nations with nuclear weapons, its arms sales to states and groups that threaten international security and its persecution â and worse â of Russian journalists and dissidents.â |
| Posted by:3dc |
| #7 6305, just dont get the one like Ms. Rice who speaks of "worsening pattern of behaviour." Brrrr . . . |
| Posted by: General_Comment 2008-09-19 19:32 |
| #6 You know, I do get the occasional email from Russia in which some girl is looking to marry me. Never know I was all that eligible. Not to mention how Mrs. Uluque6305 would feel about it. |
| Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 2008-09-19 19:21 |
| #5 Yeah, but Glenmore, when the light's out they all be pretty. not to mention that ''the girls all get prettier at closing time...'' |
| Posted by: USN, Ret. 2008-09-19 15:15 |
| #4 what else do they have to export? Women. Some very attractive ones at that. But maybe we've already got most of them now - it would explain Russia's plummetting birth rate. |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2008-09-19 14:07 |
| #3 You can't blame the Russians. Apart from oil, natural gas and vodka what else do they have to export? Let they buyer beware, though. The track record of Russian military hardware in the hands of piss ant little countries like Iran and Venezuela isn't good. |
| Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 2008-09-19 12:21 |
| #2 We saw how good this Russian stuff can be when state-of the art Russian stuff protected Syria and their little nuke plant. If Iran wants the best, they need to go to Israel for superior weaponary. Make a little oil-for-missles deal with them. |
| Posted by: Richard of Oregon 2008-09-19 10:49 |
| #1 KOMMERSANT > USA THREATENS RUSSIA WITH WAR. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2008-09-19 00:52 |