Russia

NOVANEWS Uncategorized    Russia is facing a heightened risk of being drawn into conflicts at its borders that have the potential of turning nuclear, the nation’s top military officer said Thursday. Gen. Nikolai Makarov, chief of the General Staff of the Russian armed forces, cautioned over NATO’s expansion eastward and warned that the risks of Russia being pulled into local conflicts have “risen sharply.” Makarov added, according to Russian news agencies, that “under certain conditions local and regional conflicts may develop into a full-scale war involving nuclear weapons.” A steady decline in Russia’s conventional forces has prompted the Kremlin to rely increasingly on its nuclear deterrent. The nation’s military doctrine says it may use nuclear weapons to counter a nuclear att...

NOVANEWS Uncategorized   Haaretz Russian warships are due to arrive at Syrian territorial waters, a Syrian news agency said on Thursday, indicating that the move represented a clear message to the West that Moscow would resist any foreign intervention in the country’s civil unrest. Also on Friday, a Syrian official said Damascus has agreed “in principle” to allow an Arab League observer mission into the country. But the official said Friday that Syria was still studying the details. The official asked not to be named because the issue is so sensitive. The Arab League suspended Syria earlier this week over its deadly crackdown on an eight-month-old uprising. The 22-member body has proposed sending hundreds of observers to the country to try to help end the bloodshed. The report came a day...

NOVANEWS http://risu.org.ua/en During his conversation with the Russian people today, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin cites with approval the conclusion of “certain theoreticians [who] say that [Orthodox Christianity] is much closer to Islam than Catholicism is,” something that he suggests should be the basis for restoring national concord. In his responses to questions, Putin stresses that “Caucasians must not be afraid to live in Moscow or Russians to live in the North Caucasus.” Instead, he continued, “all citizens of Russia of whatever faith or nationality must recognize that we have a single common Motherland” (www.baltinfo.ru/2010/12/16/Pravoslavie-blizhe-k-islamu-chem-katolitcizm–Putin-177816). “From very beginning,” the Russian leader said, “Russia was built up as a multi-nati...

NOVANEWS  by crescentandcross in Uncategorized Russia urges IAEA to list countries which provided documents for the report on Iran, which ‘contains no new details’, RIA Novosti quoted Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov as saying on Monday. “The IAEA Director General’s recent report lacks anything new,” Lavrov told journalists. “It just reaffirmed that Iran has provided no necessary explanations for so-called ‘proposed military developments’.” He noted that the IAEA claims the report was developed based on documents which were submitted by another country. “We urge the IAEA to name ‘another country’ so that we could investigate the case,” Lavrov said. IAEA General Director Yukiya Amano said in the report issued on Nov. 8 that the “information indicates Iran has carried out activities ...

NOVANEWS by crescentandcross in Uncategorized  FM Sergei Lavrov says Western countries inciting opponents of Assad to seek his removal; EU government agree to extend sanctions on more Syria individuals. Haaretz Russia opposes the Arab League’s decision to suspend Syria and believes Western nations are inciting opponents of President Bashar Assad to seek his removal, Russian news agencies quoted Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as saying on Monday. Lavrov also underlined Russia’s opposition to imposing new sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program and said nations were whipping up tension over Tehran to impose additional unilateral sanctions against it, the reports said. Meanwhile, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al Muallem discussed the League’s decision during a press conference in Damasc...

NOVANEWS by crescentandcross in Uncategorized   Haaretz Russia, which built Iran’s first nuclear power station, said on Thursday it might help the Islamic Republic construct more atomic plants – dangling a carrot in front of Tehran amid tense diplomacy over its nuclear program. Oil-producing Iran finally plugged the $1 billion Bushehr nuclear power station into its national grid in September, 19 years after Russia first agreed to build the 1,000-megawatt plant. Moscow has periodically said it might build more reactors for Iran, which has ambitious plans for atomic power and an active nuclear program that the United States and its allies ear is aimed at developing weapons. Iran denies it. The statement by the head of Russia’s state nuclear corporation came as Moscow hosted a sen...

NOVANEWS  by crescentandcross in Uncategorized  by Gareth Porter   The report of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) published by a Washington think tank Tuesday repeated the sensational claim previously reported by news media all over the world that a former Soviet nuclear weapons scientist had helped Iran construct a detonation system that could be used for a nuclear weapon. But it turns out that the foreign expert, who is not named in the IAEA report [.pdf] but was identified in news reports as Vyacheslav Danilenko, is not a nuclear weapons scientist but one of the top specialists in the world in the production of nanodiamonds by explosives. In fact, Danilenko, a Ukrainian, has worked solely on nanodiamonds from the beginning of his research career and is considered o...

NOVANEWS  by crescentandcross in Uncategorized  Haaretz Russia will not support new, tougher sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program, Interfax news agency quoted a senior Russian diplomat as saying on Wednesday. “Any additional sanctions against Iran will be seen in the international community as an instrument for regime change in Iran. That approach is unacceptable to us, and the Russian side does not intend to consider such proposals,” Interfax quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov as saying. Earlier on Wednesday, France said it wanted to convene the UN Security Council and could push for unprecedented sanctions against Iran after an International Atomic Energy Agency report said Iran had worked to develop an atomic bomb design. “Convening of the UN Security Council ...

NOVANEWS  by crescentandcross in Uncategorized  Daily Mail Russia and China have expressed growing concern about a possible American military strike against Iran over its nuclear programme. And this week the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is to publish a damning report with ‘compelling evidence’ that Iran is secretly building an arsenal of nuclear warheads. Fresh details suggest that Iran could even be ‘nuclear ready’ within months. And laying bare the disturbing extent of the country’s atomic weapons programme will increase calls in the United States for pre-emptive action against the Islamic state. And that plays into the hands of Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who is said to be pushing for an airstrike on Iran’s nuclear facilities. However, Iran has threatened...

NOVANEWS  by crescentandcross in Uncategorized  FM Lavrov urges int’l community to continue talks with Islamic Republic, says military strike would be ‘catastrophic.’ Israeli politician: Delivery of S-300s may compel attack Imposing swift additional sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program would be a “serious mistake,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday. UN Report Details from UN nuclear watchdog report continue to leak. Iran apparently mastered critical steps needed to build nuclear weapon with help of former Soviet weapons scientist, Washington Post reports Monday.  “Today there is a real chance to conclude talks whose results should be an agreement restoring trust in the purely peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear program,” Lavrov said in televised remarks. “...