7th March, 2009
Russia repeated on Saturday its call for the Middle East to be made a nuclear weapons-free zone.
Posts Tagged ‘Russian diplomacy’
Russian FM: Make Middle East nuclear weapons-free zone
Posted by seumasach on March 8, 2009
Posted in Multipolar world | Tagged: Obama agenda, Russian diplomacy | Leave a Comment »
Zapatero: Spain, Russia To Sign Wide-Reaching Energy Agreement
Posted by seumasach on March 3, 2009
2nd March, 2009
Russia and Spain will sign a broad energy cooperation agreement Tuesday, Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said Monday on the first day of a visit by Russia’s president.
“We will tomorrow sign a broad energy cooperation agreement in the areas of prospecting, exploration, transportation and the sale of hydrocarbons,” Zapatero said.
The agreement will cover electricity production from renewable sources as well as liquid fossil fuels, the improvement of energy efficiency and the use of clean technology in the transportation of energy, the prime minister said.
Zapatero, who spoke at a civil society forum in Madrid with President Dmitry Medvedev at his side, did not provide further details.
Russia is the world’s biggest gas exporter and second-largest oil supplier, while Spain is home to several global leaders in renewable energy. It is also one of Europe’s biggest producers of wind power.
Medvedev arrived in Madrid Sunday with a business delegation in tow for two days of talks expected to culminate in the signing of a transit deal giving Spain the right to ship goods to Afghanistan through Russia.
Igor Sechin, Russia’s deputy prime minister in charge of oil and gas, is in Madrid as part of the Russian delegation, a Kremlin spokesman told AFP.
Zapatero said he would work to improve relations between Russia and the European Union when Spain holds the rotating six-month E.U. presidency during the first half of 2010.
“Russia is a priority nation for Spain,” he said.
Spain is not a Russian gas customer and was not affected by Russia’s dispute with Ukraine in January which left over a dozen European countries cut off from Russian gas supplies in the midst of winter.
Late last year, Lukoil Holdings (LUKOY) said it was interested in buying a 20% stake in Repsol YPF (REP) but the Russian energy giant dropped the bid after the deal met resistance from Spain’s opposition conservative party.
In an interview published Sunday in El Pais, Medvedev called opposition to Lukoil’s bid to buy the stake “idiotic,” and said he would like to see greater investments between Russia and Europe.
“The greater the amount of investment, the greater the level of security in Europe, because if countries are linked by common businesses, there is no reason for conflicts,” he said.
Posted in Multipolar world | Tagged: Multipolar world, Russian diplomacy | Leave a Comment »
The Geopolitical Great Game: Turkey and Russia Moving Closer
Posted by seumasach on February 26, 2009
F. William Engdahl
26th February, 2009
Despite the problems of the ruble and the weak oil price in recent months for the Russian economy, the Russian Government is pursuing a very active foreign policy strategy. Its elements focus on countering the continuing NATO encirclement policy of Washington, with often clever diplomatic initiatives on its Eurasian periphery. Taking advantage of the cool relations between Washington and longtime NATO ally, Turkey, Moscow has now invited Turkish President Abdullah Gul to a four day state visit to discuss a wide array of economic and political cooperation issues.
Posted in Multipolar world | Tagged: russia -Turkey strategic alliance, Russian diplomacy | Leave a Comment »
China loan turns Russian oil east
Posted by seumasach on February 24, 2009
John Helmer
24th February, 2009
See also:
Putin: post-US world blueprint
MOSCOW – Officials involved in the Russian oil industry, and the country’s state treasury, breathed a sigh of relief as the Chinese and Russian governments announced agreement on a revolutionary shift in future Russian crude oil flows.
Posted in Multipolar world | Tagged: China, China Develoment Bank, Russia-China cooperation, Russian diplomacy, SCO | Leave a Comment »
Iran general scores Moscow trip ‘success’
Posted by seumasach on February 21, 2009
20th February, 2009
Iran’s defense minister says he achieved the objectives of his official visit to Russia amid reports that Tehran sought the S-300 system.
Posted in Multipolar world | Tagged: Russia-Iran relations, Russian diplomacy, S-300 missile system | Leave a Comment »
Obama, Osama and Medvedev
Posted by seumasach on February 19, 2009
Posted in Afghanistan | Tagged: "War on Terror", Afghanistan, Obama agenda, Russian diplomacy | Leave a Comment »
World SCO regional security group considering Iran membership – source
Posted by seumasach on February 17, 2009
BEIJING, February 17 (RIA Novosti) – The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is considering Iran’s bid to become a full member of the regional security bloc, a SCO source said on Tuesday.
Posted in Iran, Multipolar world | Tagged: Multipolar world, NATO of the East, Russian diplomacy, SCO | Leave a Comment »
Russia must come back to Afghanistan
Posted by seumasach on February 15, 2009
“The global crisis is the basis for transition from speculative financial political models to the models of industrial development.”
February 15, 2009
A coalition of the major world powers can save Afghanistan, believes Yury Krupnov, Russian political analyst and the head of the Development movement and the Institute for Demography, Migration and Regional Development.
Posted in Afghanistan | Tagged: End of empire, financial collapse, Russian diplomacy | Leave a Comment »
Moscow, Tehran force the US’s hand
Posted by seumasach on February 9, 2009
M K Bhadrakumar
6th February, 2009
It may seem there could be nothing in common between the blowing up of a bridge in the Khyber, the usage of an air base nestling in the foothills of the Pamirs and the launch of a 60-pound (37.2 kilogram) satellite into the night sky that will circle the Earth 14 times a day.
Posted in Iran, Multipolar world | Tagged: CSTO, Death of Nato, Geopolitics, NATO expansion, New Cold War, Russian diplomacy, SCO | 2 Comments »
Russia must be part of European security structures – Merkel
Posted by seumasach on February 7, 2009
The consolidation of cooperative relations between Germany and Russia, including, by the look of it Russia’s new security proposals is the key development in the emergence of an independent Europe which has cast off the tutelage of the anglosphere. Twice last century the London- Washington axis managed to draw the two giants into conflict; this was then institutionalised in the Cold War and, of course, the division of Germany. Now, Germany and Russia are drawing inexorably together and the New Cold War is a damp squib.
Mackinder expressed the conditons for anglo-saxon hegemony as follows:
“Who rules East Europe commands the Heartland;
Who rules the Heartland commands the world-island
Who rules the world-island controls the world.”
The writing has been on the wall for some time: the US/UK are being pushed to the fringes of the “world-island” .We are witnessing the dramatic demise of a maritime, financier empire which has dominated the world for over three hundred years.
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MUNICH, February 7 (RIA Novosti) – Russia must be included in European security structures, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Saturday at the 45th Munich Conference on Security Policy
Posted in Multipolar world | Tagged: End of empire, Russia in Europe, Russian diplomacy | Leave a Comment »
CSTO – a NATO for the East?
Posted by seumasach on February 4, 2009
4th February, 2009
The members of the Collective Security Treaty Organization – Russia and six neighbouring states – have agreed to set up a collective rapid reaction force to combat terrorism, military aggression, and drug trafficking.
Posted in Multipolar world | Tagged: Collective Security Treaty Organization, CSTO, End of empire, Russian diplomacy | Leave a Comment »
In These New Times 