Putin looks at new stealth figher
* Says diplomacy fallible, Russia must rearm
* Says Russia under threat of conflict near borders (Adds Putin quotes, colour, changes dateline)
By Gleb Bryanski
KOMSOMOLSK-ON-AMUR, Russia, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Prime Minister Vladimir Putin inspected one of Russia's new stealth fighter jets on Monday and said Russia needs a stronger military to protect it against foreign attempts to stoke conflict around its borders.
Less than two weeks before a presidential election in which he hopes for a resounding win, Putin visited Komsomolsk-on-Amur, a snow-swept city in Russia's Far East where military and civilian planemaker Sukhoi is a big employer.
He prefaced his trip with a newspaper article intended to burnish his image as a strong leader, saying Russia would spend 23 trillion roubles ($768 billion) over a decade to modernise the former Cold War superpower's armed forces.
"New regional and local wars are being sparked before our very eyes," Putin wrote in the article published on the front page of Russia's official gazette, Rossiiskaya Gazeta.
"There are attempts to provoke such conflicts in the immediate vicinity of the borders of Russia and our allies," he wrote ahead of the March 4 election which he is expected to win.
Putin gave no details of specific threats but said Russia needed to develop weapons that were better than those of any potential enemy and called for making Russia's armed forces more professional and versatile.
Russia's once-mighty armed forces underwent a decade of spending cuts after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, although Putin tried during his 2000-08 presidency to slow the decline. The military now has about 1 million personnel.
With his calls to increase Russia's might and spend state cash to improve military technology, Putin can count on strong support from the defence industry.
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Dressed in a black coat on a visit that mixed elements of governance and campaigning, Putin looked down into the cockpit of a Sukhoi Su-30 fighter. He also examined a T-50, which Russia designed to rival the U.S. F-22 stealth fighter.
"With him it is getting better and better. It is not getting worse. I am afraid that if someone else comes to power, only God knows what may happen," said Sergei, a Sukhoi factory worker who was assembling a fighter jet.
But with other plants in the city of 260,000 are struggling, many did not share Sergei's enthusiasm for Putin.
"I am not going to vote for any of these power usurpers," said Andrei, a 28-year-old technician, referring to all five presidential candidates including Putin.
CORRUPTION CONCERNS
Putin, 59, has presented himself as the guarantor of stability and accused foreign powers of helping the organisers of the biggest opposition protests of his 12-year rule. But many are concerned with rampant corruption and political stagnation.
Andrei, sitting at a cafe with his girlfriend, said he had been trying to set up his own business but had failed because of kickbacks demanded by local authorities.
Putin acknowledged the role of corruption in the defence industry and urged the private sector to help in boosting competition. He cited oil companies Surgutneftegas and TNK, which he said helped pay for the renovation of a submarine base at the Pacific port of Kamchatka in 2002.
"We need to ... attract enterprises from the civilian sector, private companies to compete for military tenders," Putin told a government meeting on the arms industry.
"In order to rearm the army and the navy we need to involve not only the defence industry but the potential of the whole Russian economy," he said.
Russia has criticised the NATO mission in Libya, saying it overstepped the mandate it was given by the United Nations Security Council and helped rebels oust Muammar Gaddafi last year, and it has stood behind Syrian President Bashir al-Assad, one of Moscow's few allies in the Middle East.
In the latest of his articles published on the key policies if his presidential campaign, Putin made no specific mention of uprisings in Libya, where NATO air assaults helped topple Gaddafi, or Syria, whose president has been under Western-Arab pressure to step down.
But he wrote that recent events showed the diminished stature of international law.
Putin said Russia, which has vetoed two U.N. Security Council resolutions on Syria with China, must rely on a powerful military to make sure its position is understood.
"Under these conditions Russia cannot depend solely on diplomatic or economic methods of resolving conflict," he wrote.
"Before us stands the mission of developing our military potential in the framework of a strategy of containment and remaining sufficiently armed."
($1 = 29.9300 Russian roubles) (Additional reporting by Thomas Grove; Writing by Thomas Grove; Editing by Timothy Heritage and Steve Gutterman)
Monday, February 20, 2012
Syria crisis: Red Cross presses for humanitarian truce
The group says it wants to negotiate a truce in the most affected areas to allow it to deliver aid packages.
Correspondents say the fact that the ICRC has spoken publicly about the negotiations shows just how concerned it is by the situation in Syria.
Thousands have died there in an 11-month uprising against the government.
ICRC spokesman Bijan Farnoudi said the group was "discussing several possibilities" to enable humanitarian aid to be delivered.
He said the aim of the discussions was "to facilitate swift Syrian Arab Red Crescent and ICRC access to the people in need."
"The content of the discussions we are having with the Syrian authorities and all those involved in the fighting remains bilateral and confidential," he added.
Smoke billows in Homs (handout picture received February 17, 2012) Homs has been repeatedly shelled by government forces
The ICRC has been delivering food and medicine to civilians in Syria since the start of the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad.
It is the only international aid agency operating inside the country, but it has had difficulty reaching the areas badly affected by the conflict.
The BBC's Imogen Foulkes in Geneva, where the ICRC is based, says it is very unusual for the organisation to discuss any talks it might be having with participants in an armed conflict.
'Awaiting death'
Opposition activists say that government forces in the city of Homs are being reinforced, and they fear that a ground assault on the city is planned.
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Analysis
Imogen Foulkes BBC News, Geneva
The ICRC says conditions in Homs and Bludan are deteriorating, and that the sick and wounded are bearing the brunt of the violence.
It is likely the Red Cross wants a ceasefire in these areas in order to deliver food and medical supplies, and to evacuate the wounded.
A senior official from the Syrian Red Crescent was shot dead last month while travelling in a clearly marked vehicle.
The ICRC also says its ambulances have been regularly subjected to harassment and unnecessary delays.
It seems that without at least a temporary ceasefire, the ICRC does not believe it can do its job in Syria at all.
They say five people were killed on Monday in renewed shelling of the city, according to Reuters.
Hadi Abdallah, an activist in Homs, has called for women and children to flee from the heavily bombarded area of Baba Amr.
He told the AFP news agency that residents of the suburb were living in cold and "unsustainable" conditions, and that they were "awaiting death".
Another activist told the Associated Press that government forces would face stiff opposition in Homs and the residents would fight until "the last person".
President Assad is pressing ahead with his plan to hold a referendum on Sunday on a new constitution for Syria.
Human rights groups believe more than 7,000 people have been killed since the uprising began.
The Syrian government says at least 2,000 members of the security forces have died fighting militants.
Syria restricts access to foreign media and it is not possible to verify casualty figures.
Correspondents say the fact that the ICRC has spoken publicly about the negotiations shows just how concerned it is by the situation in Syria.
Thousands have died there in an 11-month uprising against the government.
ICRC spokesman Bijan Farnoudi said the group was "discussing several possibilities" to enable humanitarian aid to be delivered.
He said the aim of the discussions was "to facilitate swift Syrian Arab Red Crescent and ICRC access to the people in need."
"The content of the discussions we are having with the Syrian authorities and all those involved in the fighting remains bilateral and confidential," he added.
Smoke billows in Homs (handout picture received February 17, 2012) Homs has been repeatedly shelled by government forces
The ICRC has been delivering food and medicine to civilians in Syria since the start of the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad.
It is the only international aid agency operating inside the country, but it has had difficulty reaching the areas badly affected by the conflict.
The BBC's Imogen Foulkes in Geneva, where the ICRC is based, says it is very unusual for the organisation to discuss any talks it might be having with participants in an armed conflict.
'Awaiting death'
Opposition activists say that government forces in the city of Homs are being reinforced, and they fear that a ground assault on the city is planned.
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elizabeth smart
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downton abbey
raul ibanez
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bay bridge
fat tuesday
elizabeth smart
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king cake
presidents
allen iverson
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russell westbrook
president day
new york knicks
snl
ash wednesday
lin
downton abbey
raul ibanez
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celebrity apprentice
bay bridge
fat tuesday
elizabeth smart
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king cake
presidents
allen iverson
phil mickelson
stephen colbert
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president day
new york knicks
snl
ash wednesday
lin
downton abbey
raul ibanez
knicks
celebrity apprentice
bay bridge
fat tuesday
elizabeth smart
jr smith
kevin durant
king cake
presidents
allen iverson
phil mickelson
stephen colbert
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president day
new york knicks
snl
ash wednesday
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downton abbey
raul ibanez
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bay bridge
fat tuesday
elizabeth smart
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Analysis
Imogen Foulkes BBC News, Geneva
The ICRC says conditions in Homs and Bludan are deteriorating, and that the sick and wounded are bearing the brunt of the violence.
It is likely the Red Cross wants a ceasefire in these areas in order to deliver food and medical supplies, and to evacuate the wounded.
A senior official from the Syrian Red Crescent was shot dead last month while travelling in a clearly marked vehicle.
The ICRC also says its ambulances have been regularly subjected to harassment and unnecessary delays.
It seems that without at least a temporary ceasefire, the ICRC does not believe it can do its job in Syria at all.
They say five people were killed on Monday in renewed shelling of the city, according to Reuters.
Hadi Abdallah, an activist in Homs, has called for women and children to flee from the heavily bombarded area of Baba Amr.
He told the AFP news agency that residents of the suburb were living in cold and "unsustainable" conditions, and that they were "awaiting death".
Another activist told the Associated Press that government forces would face stiff opposition in Homs and the residents would fight until "the last person".
President Assad is pressing ahead with his plan to hold a referendum on Sunday on a new constitution for Syria.
Human rights groups believe more than 7,000 people have been killed since the uprising began.
The Syrian government says at least 2,000 members of the security forces have died fighting militants.
Syria restricts access to foreign media and it is not possible to verify casualty figures.
IAEA talks could ease Iran tensions
A team of experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has arrived in Tehran for talks that promise to start a process, which could help ease tensions between Iran and the West.
The IAEA hopes to achieve some “real results,” during the two-day talks, the team's leader Herman Nackaerts, the Deputy Director of the global body, said ahead of his departure to Tehran. “We hope to have a couple of good and constructive days in Tehran.”
Monday's talks have begun at a time when both sides may be willing to take a breather during the course of their on-going covert war and concerted drive for one-upmanship.
On Sunday, Iran announced that it was suspending oil exports to Britain and France — two countries which have been at the forefront of targeting Syrian President, Bashar Al Assad, Iran's key ally in the Levant.
The Iranian decision is being mainly measured for its psychological value, rather than its commercial bite. While it does not significantly hurt the two countries — with Britain importing only 1 per cent of its energy requirements from Iran, and France 3 per cent — it does add credence to Iran's threat that it could, in a calibrated manner, cut-off oil supplies to an unprepared European Union, if it does not quickly reverse its decision of boycotting Iranian oil from July this year. Despite facing a steep economic downturn, the EU had announced on January 23 that in a bid to pressurise Iran over its nuclear programme, it would look for alternative suppliers, and stop buying Iranian oil from July.
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On Wednesday, Iran introduced domestically built nuclear fuel plates inside the Tehran Research Reactor (TRR), marking a technological advancement that has been scaled only by a handful of countries. Iran had run out of the 20 per cent enriched fuel that had been imported for this reactor, used for making isotopes that are required for the treatment of cancer.
But amid the tough talk, which has included the threat of waging war against Iran, tangible steps have been taken, that promise to ease the seemingly spiralling tensions between the two adversaries. Nuclear talks between Iran and the six global powers — United States, Russia,
China, France, Britain and Germany — could well resume in the not-too-distant future.
On Wednesday, Saeed Jalili, Iran's top negotiator on the nuclear issue had written to the EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashtonexpressing an urgency to resume talks, stalled since January 2011. Mr. Jalili proposed to “resume our talks in order to take fundamental steps for sustainable cooperation in the earliest possibility in a mutually agreed venue and time”. He said that Iran's “new initiatives in this round of talks could open a positive perspective for our negotiation”.
Departing from the phase of sabre rattling, the Obama administration also appeared to have imparted a tone of sobriety in making its assessment of Iran's nuclear capabilities. James Clapper, the U.S. director of national intelligence, said on Thursday, at a hearing of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee that, despite acquiring some skills, Iran has remained so far, undecided about pursuing atomic weapons. In a separate testimony, Lieutenant General Ronald Burgess, director of the U.S. Defence Intelligence Agency, observed that Iran has the technical, scientific and industrial capability to “eventually” produce atomic weapons.
While the Iranians have not spelled out in any detail their roadmap for defusing nuclear tensions, some analysts, drawing on the writings of some Iranian scholars, are of the view that Tehran appeared inclined to consider Russia's “step-by-step” proposal. According to the Russian plan, sanctions against Iran would be dismantled incrementally, as it addresses an ascending list of demands of the IAEA. In last August, Iran had agreed to work within the framework of the Russian proposal. “The Islamic Republic of Iran has positively received Russia's idea for a step-by-step solution and is ready to prepare suggestions for cooperation in the nuclear sphere,” read the official statement by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, after he had met Secretary of the Russian Security Council, Nikolai Patrushev.
The IAEA hopes to achieve some “real results,” during the two-day talks, the team's leader Herman Nackaerts, the Deputy Director of the global body, said ahead of his departure to Tehran. “We hope to have a couple of good and constructive days in Tehran.”
Monday's talks have begun at a time when both sides may be willing to take a breather during the course of their on-going covert war and concerted drive for one-upmanship.
On Sunday, Iran announced that it was suspending oil exports to Britain and France — two countries which have been at the forefront of targeting Syrian President, Bashar Al Assad, Iran's key ally in the Levant.
The Iranian decision is being mainly measured for its psychological value, rather than its commercial bite. While it does not significantly hurt the two countries — with Britain importing only 1 per cent of its energy requirements from Iran, and France 3 per cent — it does add credence to Iran's threat that it could, in a calibrated manner, cut-off oil supplies to an unprepared European Union, if it does not quickly reverse its decision of boycotting Iranian oil from July this year. Despite facing a steep economic downturn, the EU had announced on January 23 that in a bid to pressurise Iran over its nuclear programme, it would look for alternative suppliers, and stop buying Iranian oil from July.
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fat tuesday
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jr smith
kevin durant
king cake
presidents
allen iverson
phil mickelson
stephen colbert
russell westbrook
president day
new york knicks
snl
ash wednesday
lin
downton abbey
raul ibanez
knicks
celebrity apprentice
bay bridge
fat tuesday
elizabeth smart
jr smith
kevin durant
king cake
presidents
allen iverson
phil mickelson
stephen colbert
russell westbrook
president day
new york knicks
snl
ash wednesday
lin
downton abbey
raul ibanez
knicks
celebrity apprentice
bay bridge
fat tuesday
elizabeth smart
jr smith
kevin durant
king cake
presidents
allen iverson
phil mickelson
stephen colbert
russell westbrook
president day
new york knicks
snl
ash wednesday
lin
downton abbey
raul ibanez
knicks
celebrity apprentice
bay bridge
fat tuesday
elizabeth smart
jr smith
kevin durant
king cake
presidents
allen iverson
phil mickelson
stephen colbert
russell westbrook
president day
new york knicks
snl
ash wednesday
lin
downton abbey
raul ibanez
knicks
celebrity apprentice
bay bridge
fat tuesday
elizabeth smart
jr smith
kevin durant
king cake
presidents
allen iverson
phil mickelson
stephen colbert
russell westbrook
president day
new york knicks
snl
ash wednesday
lin
downton abbey
raul ibanez
knicks
celebrity apprentice
bay bridge
fat tuesday
elizabeth smart
jr smith
kevin durant
king cake
presidents
allen iverson
phil mickelson
stephen colbert
russell westbrook
president day
new york knicks
snl
ash wednesday
lin
downton abbey
raul ibanez
knicks
celebrity apprentice
bay bridge
fat tuesday
elizabeth smart
jr smith
kevin durant
king cake
presidents
allen iverson
phil mickelson
stephen colbert
russell westbrook
president day
new york knicks
snl
ash wednesday
lin
downton abbey
raul ibanez
knicks
celebrity apprentice
On Wednesday, Iran introduced domestically built nuclear fuel plates inside the Tehran Research Reactor (TRR), marking a technological advancement that has been scaled only by a handful of countries. Iran had run out of the 20 per cent enriched fuel that had been imported for this reactor, used for making isotopes that are required for the treatment of cancer.
But amid the tough talk, which has included the threat of waging war against Iran, tangible steps have been taken, that promise to ease the seemingly spiralling tensions between the two adversaries. Nuclear talks between Iran and the six global powers — United States, Russia,
China, France, Britain and Germany — could well resume in the not-too-distant future.
On Wednesday, Saeed Jalili, Iran's top negotiator on the nuclear issue had written to the EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashtonexpressing an urgency to resume talks, stalled since January 2011. Mr. Jalili proposed to “resume our talks in order to take fundamental steps for sustainable cooperation in the earliest possibility in a mutually agreed venue and time”. He said that Iran's “new initiatives in this round of talks could open a positive perspective for our negotiation”.
Departing from the phase of sabre rattling, the Obama administration also appeared to have imparted a tone of sobriety in making its assessment of Iran's nuclear capabilities. James Clapper, the U.S. director of national intelligence, said on Thursday, at a hearing of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee that, despite acquiring some skills, Iran has remained so far, undecided about pursuing atomic weapons. In a separate testimony, Lieutenant General Ronald Burgess, director of the U.S. Defence Intelligence Agency, observed that Iran has the technical, scientific and industrial capability to “eventually” produce atomic weapons.
While the Iranians have not spelled out in any detail their roadmap for defusing nuclear tensions, some analysts, drawing on the writings of some Iranian scholars, are of the view that Tehran appeared inclined to consider Russia's “step-by-step” proposal. According to the Russian plan, sanctions against Iran would be dismantled incrementally, as it addresses an ascending list of demands of the IAEA. In last August, Iran had agreed to work within the framework of the Russian proposal. “The Islamic Republic of Iran has positively received Russia's idea for a step-by-step solution and is ready to prepare suggestions for cooperation in the nuclear sphere,” read the official statement by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, after he had met Secretary of the Russian Security Council, Nikolai Patrushev.
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