Official: Cuba, Venezuela May Host Russian Strategic Bombers
A Russian Air Force chief said Saturday that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has offered an island as a temporary base for strategic Russian bombers, the Interfax news agency reported.
The chief of staff of Russia’s long range aviation, Maj. Gen. Anatoly Zhikharev, also said Cuba could be used to base the aircraft, Interfax reported.
The Kremlin, however, said the situation was hypothetical.
“The military is speaking about technical possibilities, that’s all,” Alexei Pavlov, a Kremlin official, told The Associated Press. “If there will be a development of the situation, then we can comment,” he said.
Zhikharev said Chavez had offered “a whole island with an airdrome, which we can use as a temporary base for strategic bombers,” the agency reported. “If there is a corresponding political decision, then the use of the island … by the Russian Air Force is possible.”
Interfax reported he said earlier that Cuba has air bases with four or five runways long enough for the huge bombers and could be used to host the long-range planes.
Two Russian bombers landed in Venezuela last year in what experts said was the first Western Hemisphere touchdown of Russian military craft since the end of the Cold War.
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Is Russia Biggest Risk To US Security
While all eyes are on the Gaza crisis, the major threat that Russia poses to U.S. security is being overlooked.
Neither the outgoing nor the incoming administrations have effectively addressed the Russia problem. And with President-elect Barack Obama only weeks away from taking office, he must remember Joe Biden’s warning that the incoming president will face an international test within six months of taking office. Russia is that international challenge, and it’s imperative we start paying attention now–because the test has already begun.
The most obvious evidence of this risk came straight from President Dmitry Medvedev’s mouth during an end-of-the-year interview. Medvedev made it clear that military force will continue to be an option for Russia. “Russia’s interests must be secured by all means necessary,” he said. “First of all, by international and legal tools … but, when necessary, by using an element of force.”
Russia also recently announced a massive increase in the size of its military, and it is commissioning the construction of 700 new strategic nuclear weapons. Further, the deputy secretary of Russia’s Security Council, General Yury Baluyevsky, has already said his work will inevitably lead to a greater role for the military in the country’s foreign policy, as well as “the legitimate use of nuclear weapons as a tool for strategic deterrence.”
This comes on the heels of unconfirmed reports that Russia agreed to supply an S-300 anti-aircraft system to Iran. Although it hasn’t been verified, the rumor must not be taken lightly. Both Russia and Iran tell inconsistent stories. And if this advanced surface-to-air missile system is sold to Iran, it will make any attack by the U.S. or Israel not only dangerous but also more likely to fail.
Magnifying this danger are new reports claiming that Russia is selling other types of missile systems to Syria, Libya and Venezuela.
Russia Plans To Station Warships Around The World
Russia’s military leaders approved a plan by the navy on Sunday to station warships permanently in friendly ports across the globe.
Underfunded since the 1991 break up of the Soviet Union, the Russian navy has been reasserting itself over the last year by chasing Somali pirates around the coast of east Africa and steaming across the Atlantic to visit allies in South America.
“The General Staff has given its position on this issue and it fully supports the position of the Navy’s main committee,” deputy chief of staff Colonel-General Anatoly Nogovitsyn told RIA Novosti news agency.
A resurgent navy has become central to a strategy for Russia — which enjoyed a decade of economic revival from 1998 — to project itself in foreign affairs.
In August a Russian diplomat said the navy was to make more use of a Syrian Mediterranean Sea port. Last month a Russian warship cruised off Cuba after visiting South America for the first time since 1991.
Nogovitsyn said Russia was directly negotiating with foreign governments to station warships at bases around the world permanently, although he declined to give exact details.
via Reuters.
Russia Uses It’s Most Effective Weapon – Gas Monopoly
Cold War Redux is off to an early start this year. Gazprom, Russia’s state within a state natural gas monopoly, shut the taps to Ukraine this morning after talks broke down over 2009 delivery prices.
When Russia cut supplies to Ukraine two years ago in a similar pricing dispute, it caused tremendous consternation in European capitals. Western Europe depends heavily on energy supplies from Russia — and Ukraine is a key transit route for gas. Forget nukes. Russia has found that energy can be a much more effective weapon.
Bloomberg has an excellent roundup of the situation. The takeaway? “The repeat of an energy standoff between the former Soviet neighbors risks further souring Russia’s ties with the West, months after its war with U.S. ally Georgia,” the article notes.
Gleb Pavlovsky, Russia’s Karl Rove, blamed the Ukrainians for trying to start an “artificial crisis” that would worsen relations between Russia and the European Union. “Ukraine deliberately creates the crisis, blackmailing Russia,” he told Interfax.
Nonetheless, Russia is in a somewhat weaker position than it was two years ago. European supplies have diversified, and the once-mighty Gazprom is reeling from a drop in global energy prices.
via Wired.com.
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Don’t Destabilize Russia, Putin Warns Foes
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin warned Russia’s foes on Friday against trying to destabilize a country facing broadening economic crisis, Russian news agencies reported.
Putin did not specify who might pose a threat to Russia’s stability. But in the past, he has often blamed Western security services of trying to destabilize the country using opposition groups and non-governmental organizations as their instruments.
“Any attempts to weaken or destabilize Russia, harm the interests of the country will be toughly suppressed,” they quoted ex-KGB spy Putin as telling an annual meeting of top spies and security officers ahead of their professional holiday.
Putin, who was the Russian president in 2000-08, has contributed greatly to the growth of influence of Russia’s FSB federal security service, a successor of the Soviet-era KGB.
Many ex-KGB officers became key government and regional officials during his presidency forming his power base, which largely remained intact after Putin handed over powers to his successor Dmitry Medvedev in May.
Critics say that under Putin, security services have become excessively influential and expressed fears Russia could one day become a police state.
Rights campaigners have urged Medvedev to veto a cabinet bill ordering that professional judges rather than juries run trials involving terrorism, civil unrest and several other serious crimes.
They also urged Medvedev to block government attempts to impose high treason charges on people accused of “harming the constitutional order,” which critics believe could lead to a political witch-hunt.
Analysts say the role of the security services is likely to grow even further as Russia plunges into an economic crisis marked by rising unemployment and financial woes that threaten the popularity of the government.
Avoiding civil unrest and maintaining political stability is viewed by the government as a top priority.
via Yahoo News.
Putin May Return To Power
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev could resign from his post in 2009 to pave the way for Vladimir Putin to return to the Kremlin, Vedomosti newspaper reported on Thursday, citing an unidentified source close to the Kremlin.
Medvedev Wednesday proposed increasing the presidential term to six years from four years, a step the newspaper said was part of a plan drawn up by Vladislav Surkov, who serves as Medvedev’s first deputy chief of staff.
Under the plan, Medvedev could implement changes to the constitution and unpopular social reforms “so that Putin could return to the Kremlin for a longer period,” the newspaper said.
“Under this scenario Medvedev could resign early citing changes to the constitution and then presidential elections could take place in 2009,” the newspaper said, citing the unidentified source close to the Kremlinl.
The paper said Putin, who is currently prime minister, could then rule for two six year terms, so from 2009 to 2021. The paper cited Putin’s spokesman as saying he saw no reason for Putin to return to power in 2009.
Investors, already jittery over the impact of the financial crisis on Russia’s economic boom, are trying to work out who is really in charge of Russia, the biggest question for those seeking to ascertain political risk.
They are seeking any details on how the current set up — with Medvedev as president and Putin as prime minister — could change. During Medvedev’s speech Wednesday the Russian stock market erased most of the gains it made earlier in the day.
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Russia Welcomes Barack Obama With Deployment of Nuclear-Capable Missiles
The Kremlin gave Barack Obama a glacial welcome to the world stage when Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian president, ordered the deployment of nuclear-capable missiles on Nato’s borders for the first time since the Cold War.
In what appeared to be a deliberate attempt to rattle the president-elect, Mr Medvedev said that short-range Iskander surface-to-surface missiles would be stationed in Russia’s baltic exclave of Kaliningrad, which borders EU states Poland and Lithuania.
Delivering his most aggressively anti-American speech yet, Mr Medvedev said he was ordering the deployment in retaliation to a missile defence shield that the United States wants to build in central Europe by 2011.
In comments likely to unnerve the Obama camp, the Russian leader even hinted that he was prepared to use the missiles to destroy the shield, which is to be erected in Poland and the Czech Republic.
“I have approved a new configuration for the military forces of our country,” Mr Medvedev said in his first ever annual address to the two houses of the Russian parliament. “To neutralise – if necessary – the anti-missile system, an Iskander missile system will be deployed in the Kaliningrad region.”
Although the Iskander is normally equipped with conventional warheads, it can be modified to carry a nuclear payload.
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Russia Positions Itself In Middle East
Until Russia can revitalize its naval forces to a much larger degree, its deployments to the Mediterranean contribute more to symbolic and diplomatic activity than being a viable military counterweight to NATO in the region. Yet the Black Sea Fleet in the Med is a significant show of force and a diplomatic irritant and a potential threat to shipping in the Suez Canal and to America’s ally Israel.
The increased Russian naval presence in the region means that the Kremlin is seeking to cultivate Syria as a close regional ally, and is looking to secure additional bases for the Black Sea Fleet besides its current base in the Black Sea port of Sevastopol.
In addition, Russia would also be able to deploy electronic intelligence-gathering ships that could then improve its monitoring capabilities against NATO forces and Syria’s ability to monitor NATO and Israeli transmissions, expanding the previous naval intelligence engagement during the Balkan wars.
Finally, Russian naval forces could deter or disrupt Israeli naval or air assets deployed in wartime against Syria or Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Russia Build New Nuclear Missiles and Subs
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.
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.
Russia Preparing For Nuclear Confrontation?
Russia announced an overhaul of its strategic nuclear forces and army yesterday, in the clearest sign yet that Moscow may be preparing for a possible full-scale military confrontation with the US and Nato.
Speaking after Russia carried out its biggest military exercises since the cold war, Dmitry Medvedev, the president, said Russia would build a space defencse system and a fleet of nuclear submarines by 2020.
This summer’s brief war with Georgia, which led to a further rift between Moscow and the west, showed the need for Russia to have a strong military in a state of “permanent readiness”, Medvedev said.
His defence initiative is the biggest in Russia for at least a decade. It comes amid bitter opposition from Moscow to Washington’s plan to site a missile defence system in central Europe – a project the Kremlin says upsets Europe’s strategic balance. The move is also a riposte to US-backed plans for Georgia and Ukraine to join Nato.
Moscow opposes Nato’s further expansion, arguing that it challenges its regional “privileged interests”. Moscow also accuses the US of encouraging, and even participating in, Georgia’s attack on the breakaway enclave of South Ossetia.
“Just recently we had to rebuff aggression unleashed by the Georgian regime. As we discovered, a local smouldering conflict – even occasionally a frozen one – can flare up into a genuine war,” Medvedev said, addressing Russian troops.
He said Russia needed a “guaranteed nuclear deterrent system” in place by 2020. The armed forces had to be prepared for “various political and military scenarios,” he warned.
He promised large-scale construction of warships, including nuclear submarines armed with cruise missiles, and also announced plans for a system of air and space defence. The president promised to improve living conditions for Russian soldiers, as well as better military education and training.
Russia Flexes It’s Muscles In US Backyard
Russia flexed its muscles in America’s backyard yesterday as it sent one of its largest warships to join military exercises in the Caribbean. The nuclear-powered flagship Peter the Great set off for Venezuela with the submarine destroyer Admiral Chabanenko and two support vessels in the first Russian naval mission in Latin America since the end of the Cold War.
“The St Andrew flag, the flag of the Russian Navy, is confidently returning to the world oceans,” Igor Dygalo, a spokesman for the Russian Navy, said. He declined to comment on Russian newspaper reports that nuclear submarines were also part of the expedition.
The voyage to join the Venezuelan Navy for manoeuvres came only days after Russian strategic nuclear bombers made their first visit to the country. Hugo Chávez, the President, said then that the arrival of the strike force was a warning to the US. The vehemently antiAmerican Venezuelan leader is due to visit Dmitri Medvedev, the Russian President, in Moscow this week as part of a tour that includes visits to Cuba and China.
Peter the Great is armed with 20 nuclear cruise missiles and up to 500 surface-to-air missiles, making it one of the most formidable warships in the world. The Kremlin has courted Venezuela and Cuba as tensions with the West soared over the proposed US missile shield in Eastern Europe and the Russian invasion of Georgia last month. Vladimir Putin, the Prime Minister, said recently that Russia should “restore its position in Cuba” – the nation where deployment of Soviet nuclear missiles in 1962 brought Russia and the United States to the brink of nuclear war.
Putin Responds, “You’ll See” A Response To NATO’s Naval Buildup in Black Sea
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that Russia will respond calmly to an increase in NATO ships in the Black Sea in the aftermath of the short war with Georgia, but promised that “there will be an answer.”
Meanwhile, President Dmitry Medvedev sternly warned the West that it would lose more than Moscow would if it tried to punish Russia with sanctions over the war with Georgia.
Russia has repeatedly complained that NATO has too many warships in the Black Sea. Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko said Tuesday that currently there are two U.S., one Polish, one Spanish and one German ship there.
“We don’t understand what American ships are doing on the Georgian shores, but this is a question of taste, it’s a decision by our American colleagues,” Putin reportedly said. “The second question is why the humanitarian aid is being delivered on naval vessels armed with the newest rocket systems.”
Russia’s reaction to NATO ships “will be calm, without any sort of hysteria. But of course, there will be an answer,” Interfax quoted Putin as saying during a visit to Uzbekistan.
Asked by exactly what measures Russia would take in response to NATO ships in the Black Sea, Putin was quoted as answering, “You’ll see.”
Russian President Warns U.S. Of Military Response
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is warning of a military response to the U.S. missile shield in Europe.
“We will have to react somehow, to react, of course, in a military way,” Medvedev was quoted as saying Tuesday by the state-owned news agency.
Medvedev, who announced that his government will recognize two breakaway regions of Georgia as independent states, also made some strong comments during an interview today with BBC News.
“We don’t like the fact that NATO is really coming closer to the borders of Russia,” he tells the British broadcaster.
A Russian commander echoed those concerns in another RIA Novosti story. “NATO’s naval deployments in the Black Sea, where nine foreign vessels have already been sent, cannot but provoke concern,” Col. Gen. Anatoly Nogovitsyn said.
Russia: Poland Risks Attack Because of US Missiles
A top Russian general said Friday that Poland’s agreement to accept a U.S. missile interceptor base exposes the ex-communist nation to attack, possibly by nuclear weapons, the Interfax news agency reported.
The statement by Gen. Anatoly Nogovitsyn is the strongest threat that Russia has issued against the plans to put missile defense elements in former Soviet satellite nations.
Poland and the United States on Thursday signed a deal for Poland to accept a missile interceptor base as part of a system the United States says is aimed at blocking attacks by rogue nations. Moscow, however, feels it is aimed at Russia’s missile force.
