"NATO, Russia work to mend ties; Kremlin to help deliver supplies to Afghanistan" by James G. Neuger, Bloomberg News | June 28, 2009
CORFU, Greece - NATO agreed to resume cooperation with the Russian military yesterday, counting on the Kremlin’s help in shipping supplies to Western forces battling the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Foreign ministers from the two sides met for the first time since Russia’s five-day war with Georgia last year, taking a step in President Obama’s “reset’’ of US-Russian ties. Western opposition to Russia’s treatment of Georgia will not “bring the whole NATO-Russia Council train to a halt,’’ said Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, NATO’s secretary general. “Russia needs NATO, and NATO needs Russia.’’
And NATO needs Russia MORE than Russia needs NATO!
Yesterday’s meeting marked a final break with the “no business as usual’’ policy imposed by the US-led alliance after the Georgia war and set the stage for Obama’s trip to Moscow next month to solicit Russian help on arms control, Afghanistan, and containing Iran’s nuclear program.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization is fighting Islamic militants in Afghanistan with roots in the rebel forces that drove out the Soviet army in the 1980s with American help.
See: The Boston Globe Knows About "Al-CIA-Duh"
NATO already hauls nonmilitary cargo across the Russian steppe for its 61,000 troops in Afghanistan. De Hoop Scheffer said he would not rule out Russia allowing “lethal’’ shipments as well. The 28-nation alliance also wants Russia to send a warship back to the Mediterranean Sea to join a NATO fleet that monitors suspicious vessels. Russia pulled out of the mission when NATO suspended ties in August.
De Hoop Scheffer said a more distant prospect would be Russian involvement in NATO’s counterpiracy mission off the coast of Somalia.
That's because NATO is PROTECTING an ISRAELI WEAPONS-RUNNING RING!
Both sides remain at odds over Georgia, a would-be NATO member. Russia crushed the Georgian Army and bestowed diplomatic recognition on two breakaway territories last year, a token of Kremlin efforts to reestablish the sphere of influence that crumbled with the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Yeah, good thing the U.S. isn't trying to do THAT.
“All have to accept the new realities,’’ said Sergei Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister. “The decisions that have been taken by Russia after the conflict started are irreversible.’’
Russia raised the pressure on Georgia this month when it blocked the extension of international monitoring missions in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, the two separatist enclaves. In April it granted five-year defense guarantees to both territories.
“We don’t intend to recognize the purported attempt to set up separate states within the territory of Georgia,’’ said James Steinberg, the US deputy secretary of state.
Still, Steinberg - standing in for Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who is recovering from an elbow injury - hailed the revived NATO-Russia forum as a place for “dialogue on areas of both common interest and areas of disagreement.’’
To forge a new bond with Russia, Obama has given less priority than his predecessor, President George W. Bush, to further expansion of NATO and construction of a missile-defense system in Eastern Europe....
--more--""Russia yields to request by US; Allowing weapons to cross its terrain, enter Afghanistan" by Nataliya Vasilyeva, Associated Press | July 4, 2009
MOSCOW - Russia said yesterday that it will allow the United States to ship weapons across its territory to Afghanistan, a long-sought move that bolsters US military operations but potentially gives the Kremlin leverage over critical American supplies.
This also sending a message: Troops gather on Georgian border
The announcement by a top Kremlin aide came ahead of President Obama’s visit to Moscow next week, when the deal is expected to be signed during a summit aimed at improving the nations’ strained relations. Russia’s concession on arms shipments also came as the Obama administration is shifting the US military’s focus from Iraq to Afghanistan, where a massive American offensive is underway in Taliban-controlled areas of Helmand Province....
I can see the Russians sitting back and saying sink deeper, s***ters!
Did we NOT LEARN from the EXPERIENCE WE GAVE THEM?
The normal supply route to landlocked Afghanistan via Pakistan has come under repeated Taliban attack, and the United States and NATO have been eager to have an alternate overland supply route through Russia and the Central Asian countries....
ANOTHER THING the MSM keeps AWFULLY QUIET!
Military analyst Alexander Golts, however, said the United States should be under no illusion about Russia’s intentions. Although Medvedev has set a warmer tone in relations with the West, his predecessor, Vladimir Putin, retains considerable power as prime minister.
“The least impression you should get from this is that Putin’s foreign policy style foresees gestures of good will,’’ Golts said. “If something goes wrong in Russian-US relations, this transit will cease as quickly and suddenly as it started,’’ Golts said.
--more--"
Sounds like the Ruskies have us by the short hairs.
