President Obama walks with Russian President Medvedev, left,

and French President Sarkozy, at the NATO Summit in Portugal.

 

 

Rossijskaya Gazeta, Russia

President Medvedev Lays Down Markers for Russia-NATO Missile Defense

 

"There can be no other kind of involvement - nothing just for show … Either we fully participate, share information, and share responsibility for solving certain problems, or we won't participate at all. But, if we don’t participate at all, then, for obvious reasons, we'll be forced to defend ourselves.”

 

By Kira Latukhina

 

Translated By Igor Medvedev

 

November 22, 2010

 

Russia - Rossijskaya Gazeta - Original Article (Russian)

LISBON: Russian President Dmitry Medvedev spent Saturday evening at the NATO summit in the Portuguese city of Lisbon.

 

For the first time since the freezing of relations after the conflict with Georgia in 2008, a meeting of the Russia-NATO Council was held, in which Moscow and Brussels discussed cooperation on missile defense. During the meeting, it was agreed that the parties no longer represent a threat to one another.

 

A discussion on practical cooperation was opened by NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who called the Council’s summit a turning point in the history of Russia-NATO relations. Washington, too, views Moscow as a partner, rather than an adversary. “After a two-year break, we are also resuming cooperation between NATO and Russia. I was very pleased that my friend and partner, President Dmitry Medvedev, joined us today at the NATO-Russia Council Summit,” said American leader Barack Obama. “Together we’ve worked hard to reset the relations between the United States and Russia … Now we’re also resetting the NATO-Russia relationship.” Following the summit, Obama and Medvedev held an unplanned one-on-one meeting - at the request of the United States.

 

By agreeing to permit NATO to transport non-military cargo to Afghanistan, Russia has taken a step that is important for NATO and the U.S. Moscow is “becoming involved in the work of the temporary international presence in Afghanistan,” Obama said, praising the decision. [translated quote]

 

Alongside Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, Dmitry Medvedev spoke about the fact that the period of difficulties has been overcome. “Today, everyone waited for you with great impatience. It must be acknowledged that you've become a man who that shows great determination and has restored relations after a difficult period,” Berlusconi said, directly praising his colleague and stressing that the “specter of the Cold War is behind us.”

 

The Russia-NATO Council issues a joint statement that the security of the Alliance and the Russian Federation are interconnected, and that their partnership would be based on trust, transparency, and predictability.

 

“All states - members of the Russia-NATO Council - shall refrain from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any other state, or in any other manner incompatible with the United Nations Charter,” the document says.

 

The Alliance's new Strategic Concept also pays considerable attention to Russia. “NATO poses no threat to Russia,” it states. “On the contrary, we wish to see a genuine strategic partnership between NATO and Russia, and we will act accordingly, expecting reciprocity from Russia.” The document lists issues on which NATO would like to cooperate: ABM (anti-ballistic missile defense), counter-terrorism, narcotics, piracy and strengthening international security.

 

“Overall, everyone spoke of the need to develop partnerships and an alliance - the term 'union' was even used. These are, of course, emotional things; today, they aren't included in any documents, but this reflects the course of the discussion,” said Dmitry Medvedev, sharing his impressions of the summit with journalists [see video below]. “What do we expect from this? We simply expect normal, fully-fledged relations with the NATO countries … We wouldn't want to spend money on an arms race.”

 

The Russia-NATO Council expressed support for early ratification of the New START Treaty and approved the review of the common security challenges of the 21st century. “It would be a profound mistake for us to slip back into mistrust as a consequence of our failure to ratify [the START Treaty],” noted Barack Obama. “I hope that legislators in the United States will take a responsible approach,” agreed the Russian president. “We will act symmetrically depending on the actions that take place in the United States.”

 

It could be argued that the most important element of cooperation is anti-ballistic missile defense: the Russian president accepted NATO’s offer to cooperate on the creation of a territorial missile defense system for the entire Euro-Atlantic region. The decision remains only political - details are yet to be finalized.

 

“European people, as well as the NATO states, still don’t exactly know what will come out of this, how all of this will look, and finally, how much it will cost. At the same time, however, everyone understands that a missile defense system only has value when it's universal and isn't only for the benefit of certain countries, or is allocated in isolated theaters of military operations,” Dmitry Medvedev said, expressing his views.

 

This was the topic the Russian leader focused most on during his address to the Council. But at a press conference, he recalled the earlier U.S. notion of creating a third missile deployment area, which has been abandoned by the country’s current leadership. “In response, the Russian Federation decided to forego deployment of it own well-known missile and radar system in the Kaliningrad region. I think this dramatically defused the situation and made it possible to talk about ABM defense - not as an idea that targets a single state or group of states, but as a global system of protection from missile launches.”

 

Given this, Medvedev noted that it is absolutely necessary to consider the impact of the new anti-missile defense system on nuclear weapons potential. “If we are all engaged in working on missile defense, such missile defense must not destroy the existing parity.” He continued, "After all, if the nuclear balance changes, an arms race will begin."

 

In regard to European missile defense, the Russian president believes that one first must understand what it will look like and how it will work, and of course presume that Russia’s contribution will be absolutely equitable. “There can be no other kind of involvement - nothing just for show,” Medvedev asserted. “Either we fully participate, share information, and share responsibility for solving certain problems, or we won't participate at all. But if we don’t participate at all, then, for obvious reasons, we'll be forced to defend ourselves.”

 

 

SEE ALSO ON THIS:

The Nation, Pakistan: For Afghanistan's Sake, NATO Should Leave Before 2014

Xinhua, China: Russia-NATO Partnership 'Easier Said than Done'

Nezavisimaya Gazeta, Russia: For its Own Good, We Must Help in Afghanistan

The Independent, U.K.: Our Afghan Exit is Now Overdue

BBC News, U.K.: Obama Announces Missile Shield for all NATO States

The Independent, U.K.: Afghan Police Corruption 'Hits NATO Pullout'

Kommersant, Russia: Madeleine Albright Instructs Russia to 'Know its Place'

Gazeta, Russia: 'Un-European' Obama Shows Why Europe Needs Russia

Romania Liberia, Romania: Obama Rebuilds the Iron Curtain

 

 

Moscow has also put forward its thoughts on participation in the Euro-ABM. “These truly are principles of equality, transparency, adaptability and having responsibility for the solution of certain problems. We proposed creating a so-called "sectoral" defense,” Dmitry Medvedev explained.

 

The Russian Federation and NATO will also complete an analysis of missile threats prior to a meeting of defense ministers in June 2011. In addition to that, Russia will help NATO with personnel: a second police training center for counter-narcotics will open in St. Petersburg. And an increase on joint naval action in the fight against piracy will intensify, as well as counter-terrorism cooperation, which, incidentally, never weakened, even during the period of cooling Russia-NATO relations.

 

Of course, one drop of poison spoils a whole cask of wine: Moscow and Brussels continue to have disagreements. But even here, that's not a problem. Rasmussen explained, “We are changing our perception of Russia; Russia is also changing its attitude toward NATO. The parties have many claims and doubts about one another, but the vector for cooperation has been laid down.” The secretary general didn't elaborate. But, Medvedev spoke plainly and directly.   

Posted by WORLDMEETS.US

 

The parties disagree on the question of sovereignty for Abkhazia and South Ossetia [Georgia] - the Alliance doesn't recognize the independence of these republics. “But we've found that the issue needn't become a stumbling block. We will lead a discussion,” promised the Russian leader. But, of course, Russia will not deviate from its position.

 

The date and place of the next meeting was set at the summit - it will be held in the United States in 2012. Moreover, it became known that the president of Afghanistan will travel to Moscow at the invitation of Dmitry Medvedev on January 21. As for Russia’s accession to NATO (a question posed by the journalists), that isn't necessary now - although the Russian leader said with everything changing, “never say never.”

 

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[Posted by WORLDMEETS.US November 22, 3:49pm]