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MioMyo
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When he threatens & intimidates smaller countries from joining NATO?
So far Obama has elude to that he would have a Kum-Ba-Ya moment with foreign
thugs.
But this is an excellent question to raise with these democrat front
runners. Enough with these soft=ball questions like asking them if they're
tired from the campaign.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601085&sid=aAtcrmXpCcaw&refer=europe
Feb. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin lashed out at NATO
for its expansion up to Russia's borders and refused to drop a threat to aim
its missiles at Ukraine if it joins the military alliance.
Russia would have no choice but to respond if its neighbor hosts bases and
missile-defense sites, ``which we see as a threat to our national
security,'' Putin told a televised annual press conference in Moscow today.
He also repeated warnings that Russia would target a planned U.S.
missile-defense base in Poland.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice yesterday said Russian threats
toward Ukraine are ``unacceptable,'' and Putin's government should know it
can no longer intimidate former Soviet republics. Putin issued a similar
warning to Ukraine after talks with President Viktor Yushchenko on Feb. 12.
Russia is alarmed at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's expansion
further into former Soviet territory after the Baltic states joined the
alliance in 2004, bringing it within 100 kilometers (60 miles) of Russia's
second-largest city, St. Petersburg. It also opposes U.S. plans to deploy
anti- missile defense systems in eastern Europe, saying they are designed to
neutralize Russia's nuclear deterrent.
Russia's relationship with Ukraine has been tense since Yushchenko became
president in 2004 after defeating a Kremlin- backed candidate. Yushchenko
wants to join the European Union and NATO as he seeks to loosen ties with
Russia forged over the centuries the two states were part of one country.
NATO Bid
Another former Soviet republic, Georgia, is also seeking NATO membership.
Both Georgia and Ukraine want to be declared eligible to join at some future
date when NATO leaders hold a summit in Bucharest this April.
Putin said that a majority of Ukraine's population opposed NATO entry and
accused the Ukrainian leadership of riding roughshod over democratic
principles.
Russia opposed -- and was powerless to halt -- the first two rounds of
NATO's post-Cold War expansion, which brought one- time Soviet satellites in
eastern Europe and the Baltics into the alliance between 1999 and 2004.
Attempts by NATO to expand deeper into ex-Soviet territory would doom the
alliance and lead to the breakup of Ukraine and Georgia as sovereign states,
Russia's ambassador to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin, said today in an interview with
Bloomberg Television.
Kosovo Conflict
NATO spokesman James Appathurai said the alliance's members alone would
decide who joins the organization. ``The only countries that can decide on
the enlargement of NATO are the NATO countries. And no other country has a
say in this process,'' Appathurai said today.
Turning to the looming conflict over Kosovo's expected declaration of
independence, Putin said the European Union should be ``ashamed'' of its
``double standards'' for seeking to recognize a unilateral declaration of
independence by the Serbian province.
To do so would be ``immoral and illegal,'' Putin said.
Kosovo, a breakaway region of Serbia with a majority ethnic Albanian
population, will declare independence as early as Feb. 17, the Serbian
government has said. Most EU nations and the U.S. are expected to endorse
Kosovo's move.
The Russian leader became angry when asked by a French journalist if
Russia's move to revive Soviet-era military parades on Red Square reflected
a return to a Cold War-era mentality.
Cold War
Raising his voice, Putin said Russia wasn't being aggressive or
confrontational and was simply defending its interests. ``The suggestion
that we're striving to return to the days of the Cold War is a very bold
one. We have no interest in this,'' he said.
Putin denounced a European conventional arms control treaty that Russia
pulled out of last year in response to the U.S. missile-defense plans,
saying it imposed ``colonial'' conditions on his country by limiting
internal troop movements.
NATO nations had refused to ratify an adapted version of the treaty and
meanwhile ``one base appears, then another, one missile defense site, then
another, closer and closer to our borders,'' he said. ``How much longer can
we put up with this?''
Putin in November accused NATO of ``muscle-flexing'' along Russia's borders,
and said that while Russia was reducing its armed forces on its European
territory, NATO was building new bases in Bulgaria and Romania in addition
to the planned U.S. missile-defense sites in Poland and the Czech Republic.
Missile Shield
The U.S. wants to station 10 interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar base
in the Czech Republic.
Russia has dismissed arguments that the shield is needed to counter the
threat of a missile attack from so-called rogue states such as Iran and
North Korea. The dispute has provoked tensions reminiscent of the Cold War.
Thanks to revenues from oil and gas exports, Russia is reviving its military
clout to counter the U.S. The country has restarted Cold War-era strategic
bomber patrols and is upgrading its air force and missile arsenal.
In an incident harking back to the days of the superpower standoff, a Tu-95
long-range bomber buzzed a U.S. aircraft carrier at 2,000 feet (600 meters)
last week in the western Pacific Ocean.
So far Obama has elude to that he would have a Kum-Ba-Ya moment with foreign
thugs.
But this is an excellent question to raise with these democrat front
runners. Enough with these soft=ball questions like asking them if they're
tired from the campaign.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601085&sid=aAtcrmXpCcaw&refer=europe
Feb. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin lashed out at NATO
for its expansion up to Russia's borders and refused to drop a threat to aim
its missiles at Ukraine if it joins the military alliance.
Russia would have no choice but to respond if its neighbor hosts bases and
missile-defense sites, ``which we see as a threat to our national
security,'' Putin told a televised annual press conference in Moscow today.
He also repeated warnings that Russia would target a planned U.S.
missile-defense base in Poland.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice yesterday said Russian threats
toward Ukraine are ``unacceptable,'' and Putin's government should know it
can no longer intimidate former Soviet republics. Putin issued a similar
warning to Ukraine after talks with President Viktor Yushchenko on Feb. 12.
Russia is alarmed at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's expansion
further into former Soviet territory after the Baltic states joined the
alliance in 2004, bringing it within 100 kilometers (60 miles) of Russia's
second-largest city, St. Petersburg. It also opposes U.S. plans to deploy
anti- missile defense systems in eastern Europe, saying they are designed to
neutralize Russia's nuclear deterrent.
Russia's relationship with Ukraine has been tense since Yushchenko became
president in 2004 after defeating a Kremlin- backed candidate. Yushchenko
wants to join the European Union and NATO as he seeks to loosen ties with
Russia forged over the centuries the two states were part of one country.
NATO Bid
Another former Soviet republic, Georgia, is also seeking NATO membership.
Both Georgia and Ukraine want to be declared eligible to join at some future
date when NATO leaders hold a summit in Bucharest this April.
Putin said that a majority of Ukraine's population opposed NATO entry and
accused the Ukrainian leadership of riding roughshod over democratic
principles.
Russia opposed -- and was powerless to halt -- the first two rounds of
NATO's post-Cold War expansion, which brought one- time Soviet satellites in
eastern Europe and the Baltics into the alliance between 1999 and 2004.
Attempts by NATO to expand deeper into ex-Soviet territory would doom the
alliance and lead to the breakup of Ukraine and Georgia as sovereign states,
Russia's ambassador to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin, said today in an interview with
Bloomberg Television.
Kosovo Conflict
NATO spokesman James Appathurai said the alliance's members alone would
decide who joins the organization. ``The only countries that can decide on
the enlargement of NATO are the NATO countries. And no other country has a
say in this process,'' Appathurai said today.
Turning to the looming conflict over Kosovo's expected declaration of
independence, Putin said the European Union should be ``ashamed'' of its
``double standards'' for seeking to recognize a unilateral declaration of
independence by the Serbian province.
To do so would be ``immoral and illegal,'' Putin said.
Kosovo, a breakaway region of Serbia with a majority ethnic Albanian
population, will declare independence as early as Feb. 17, the Serbian
government has said. Most EU nations and the U.S. are expected to endorse
Kosovo's move.
The Russian leader became angry when asked by a French journalist if
Russia's move to revive Soviet-era military parades on Red Square reflected
a return to a Cold War-era mentality.
Cold War
Raising his voice, Putin said Russia wasn't being aggressive or
confrontational and was simply defending its interests. ``The suggestion
that we're striving to return to the days of the Cold War is a very bold
one. We have no interest in this,'' he said.
Putin denounced a European conventional arms control treaty that Russia
pulled out of last year in response to the U.S. missile-defense plans,
saying it imposed ``colonial'' conditions on his country by limiting
internal troop movements.
NATO nations had refused to ratify an adapted version of the treaty and
meanwhile ``one base appears, then another, one missile defense site, then
another, closer and closer to our borders,'' he said. ``How much longer can
we put up with this?''
Putin in November accused NATO of ``muscle-flexing'' along Russia's borders,
and said that while Russia was reducing its armed forces on its European
territory, NATO was building new bases in Bulgaria and Romania in addition
to the planned U.S. missile-defense sites in Poland and the Czech Republic.
Missile Shield
The U.S. wants to station 10 interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar base
in the Czech Republic.
Russia has dismissed arguments that the shield is needed to counter the
threat of a missile attack from so-called rogue states such as Iran and
North Korea. The dispute has provoked tensions reminiscent of the Cold War.
Thanks to revenues from oil and gas exports, Russia is reviving its military
clout to counter the U.S. The country has restarted Cold War-era strategic
bomber patrols and is upgrading its air force and missile arsenal.
In an incident harking back to the days of the superpower standoff, a Tu-95
long-range bomber buzzed a U.S. aircraft carrier at 2,000 feet (600 meters)
last week in the western Pacific Ocean.
vztj.11463$Ch6.8184@newssvr11.news.prodigy.net...