• On the Foreign Policy Concept of Russia
  Alexander MEZYAEV | 15.05.2013 | 00:00 A new version of the Foreign Policy Concept of Russia was approved 12 February 2013. President Putin signed a decree regarding the development of this concept on the day of his inauguration, which clearly shows how much importance the Russian head of state attaches to foreign policy. There was a time when Russia's foreign policy concept could be expressed in a brief circular which stated that Russia had "achieved her natural development; there is nothing for her to wish for, nothing for her to solicit from anyone," and "it only remains for her to consolidate her position, defend herself from external danger and develop her internal strengths, both moral and material, by accumulating reserves of resources and multiplying her prosperity." That was in the time of Emperor Alexander III. Today the situation is completely different.Moscow's approval of a new foreign policy concept took place amid serious changes in international relations and the introduction of new foreign policy concepts by several large states.
• Russia eyes stronger naval presence in Mediterranean
  Xinhua, May 12, 2013 The Russian Navy plans to strengthen its Mediterranean task force and increase the number of its warships, Navy Commander Admiral Viktor Chirkov said Sunday. Currently, the navy is forming the headquarters of the Mediterranean task force, Chirkov said during a celebration of the 230th anniversary of the Black Sea Fleet. "We are selecting and appointing officers to posts in accordance with the headquarters structure. The headquarters will include twenty officers, mainly from the Black Sea Fleet," Chirkov told local media. The Mediterranean task force will comprise warships from the Northern, Baltic, Black Sea Fleet and probably the Pacific Fleet, Chirkov said, adding it plans to have five to six warships and support vessels from those fleets starting from this year.
• Russia's New Tip of the Spear
  What's got the Kremlin so worried that it created a Special Operations Command? BY DMITRI TRENIN | MAY 8, 2013 Addressing the Russian National Security Council meeting on May 8, President Vladimir Putin said that the forthcoming departure of U.S. and coalition forces from Afghanistan confronts Russia with a more precarious situation on its southern borders. Valery Gerasimov, Russia's chief of the General Staff since November 2012, who was also present at the meeting, had announced last month the formation of a Special Operations Command -- Russia's version of SOCOM. According to Gen. Gerasimov, the new command will include a special forces brigade, a training center, and helicopter and air transportation squadrons. These forces will be used exclusively outside Russian territory, including in U.N.-mandated operations. Creation of a separate SOCOM is not a new idea; it had been presented to Anatoly Serdyukov, who retired last fall as defense minister amid allegations of corruption in the Ministry of Defense (MOD), and who rejected it. The new minister, Sergei Shoigu, decided differently. What's behind this about face? [Special forces]

• The Korean crisis: The peak is over, what next?
  April 23, 2013 Ekaterina Zabrovskaya, RBTH Experts warn diplomats not to overlook the chance to continue talks on denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. The Korean crisis: The peak is over, what next? North Korean soldiers, workers and students place flowers before the statues of North Korean founder Kim Il-sung (left) and his son, late leader Kim Jong-il, on the 101st anniversary of Kim Il-sung's birth, in Pyongyang. Source: Reuters The peak of the crisis on the Korean Peninsula that threatened to escalate into a military conflict is behind us, experts believe. It is important not to let the “window of opportunity” close and establish a dialog with North Korea. Instead of the six-party talks, which many analysts think have fizzled out, one option is to call a large-scale conference involving a wide circle of countries. Is the worst behind us? Many analysts expected the crisis on the Korean Peninsula, which was triggered by North Korea’s third nuclear test in February, to hit its peak on April 15. This is the day North Korea marked the 101st birthday of Kim Il-sung – founder of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and the grandfather of the country’s current leader. Experts did not rule out that a ballistic missile could be launched on the occasion, as a “gift” to the country’s leader and its people. But that did not happen. “The crisis is easing. Of course, it cannot be kept up forever, but tensions will persist at least until the end of the month, while the U.S. is holding military exercises on the peninsula,” Alexander Panov, senior research fellow with the Institute for U.S. and Canadian Studies at the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) and former Russian ambassador to South Korea, told a press conference in Moscow.

• North Korea impasse: Will there be the second Korean war?
  April 4, 2013 Alexander Vorontsov, special to RBTH Asian studies expert Alexander Vorontsov examines recent events surrounding the conflict on the Korean Peninsula. Vorontsov argues that North Korea’s belligerent rhetoric is just a warning – the country is actually more focused on economic development. However, the expert warns that further antagonistic steps taken by North Korea’s external opponents could escalate the situation. [Spring Crisis]
• Once Championed By Putin, Medvedev Falls Precipitously Out Of Favor
  by Corey Flintoff April 02, 2013 3:13 PM Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev appears increasingly isolated from the centers of power surrounding President Vladimir Putin. Analysts say Medvedev is the target of a campaign to wreck his reputation and drive him from office. It's a risky situation for the former president, who was once regarded as Putin's partner. The attacks have come from many directions. One of the harshest was an anonymous, documentary-style film that was posted on the Internet in January. The film, Game at Giveaway, accuses Medvedev of betraying Russia's national interest. It refers to the Medvedev's decision as president not to oppose the U.N. resolution that authorized NATO military action in Libya. Why, the announcer asks, did Medvedev give away all of Russia's interests in Libya, its military and civilian contracts, and its friendly relations with Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi? Why, he asks, did Medvedev take away the gains made by Putin and give them to Russia's main rival, the West? “I think that Putin miscalculated the fact that although Medvedev was a weak leader, he served as a banner for the camp that was pushing in the direction of political modernization. - Nikolay Petrov, political analyst The film calls for Medvedev to be court-martialed. [Medvedev] [Putin] [UNUS] [Libya] [Russia confrontation]
• War and Peace on the Korean Peninsula
  By Alexander Vorontsov 15 April 2013 Reports coming from the Korean peninsula in the past few weeks have been disturbing and contradictory. On the one hand, tensions continue to escalate as Pyongyang and Seoul are locked in an upward spiral of threats to raze each other to the ground. This is the most severe situation since the 1968 Korean crisis, when the DPRK captured the US Navy spy ship USS Pueblo. Pyongyang’s suggestion on April 5, 2013, to evacuate foreign diplomats from North Korea for their own safety is also unprecedented. On the other hand, the March 31 plenary session of the Korean Workers’ Party (KWP) adopted a policy of economic development to run parallel with a further build-up of the country’s nuclear forces. This event was followed by a session of the Supreme People’s Assembly (SPA), which re-appointed former Prime Minister Pak Pong Ju, a supporter of economic reforms, to head the cabinet. These developments suggest that, rather than unleashing an all-out war, Pyongyang is in fact keen to develop its economy. Of no less importance is the fact that, for the time being, people in both countries continue to live their normal daily lives. In analyzing the current Korean escalation we must specifically look at two major recent events: North Korea’s announcement on March 8 that it was invalidating the 1953 Armistice and all associated agreements with South Korea; and also Pyongyang’s cutting of military hotlines between Seoul and Washington. International media reports have been primarily focusing on Pyongyang’s increasingly belligerent statements that an order had already been issued to deliver nuclear strikes against US military bases in different regions of the world and that North Korea is now at war with South Korea. This news certainly cannot leave anyone indifferent. However if we discard emotions and scrutinize the North Korean documents that are being cited by the media, we will find the following. First, just as was the case with similar statements Pyongyang has made in the past, the fresh threats clearly state that any military action would be entirely reciprocal, only to be resorted to if the country was subjected to an outside aggression. [Buildup] [Conditionality][Spring Crisis]
• The reasons for the crisis on the Korean Peninsula
  Alexander VORONTSOV | 12.04.2013 | 09:27 Tensions are rising on the Korean Peninsula. Pyongyang has decided to close the industrial complex in Kaesong, which is a joint enterprise zone with South Korea, and has suggested that foreign embassies evacuate the Democratic People's Republic of Korea for reasons of safety. Most significant in this series of steps has been the decision of the Plenum of the Central Committee of the Korean Workers' Party, held in March 2013, regarding legal confirmation of North Korea's nuclear status and the decision of the Supreme People's Assembly of North Korea «On further strengthening the status of a country in possession of nuclear weapons for the purposes of self-defence». The majority of media, while painting a vivid picture of North Korea's militancy, is not trying to understand the reasons why the conflict on Korean soil is currently escalating so dramatically. When they do try, they usually name Pyongyang as the instigator of all the troubles, stressing that it was North Korea's third nuclear test that triggered the «nightmare». Consequently, a pressing need has arisen to examine the real, underlying causes of what is commonly referred to as «the Korean problem». [US NK policy] [Buildup]
• Russian War Games send a Strong Message against NATO Intervention in Syria?
  By Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya Global Research, April 04, 2013 RT Op-Edge 3 April 2013 Is there a connection between events in Syria (maybe even US tension with North Korea) and Russia’s impromptu Black Sea war games that started on March 28, 2013? While on his way from Durban in South Africa, where the BRICS — Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa — announced they were forming a new development bank to challenge the IMF and World Bank, Russia’s Vladimir Putin gave the go ahead for unscheduled war games in the Black Sea. By themselves the games mean little, but in a global context they mean a lot. According to the Kremlin, the war games involved about 7,000 Russian servicemen; Russian Special Forces, Russian Marines, and airborne rapid deployment troops. All of Russia’s different services were involved and used the exercises to test their interoperability. Over thirty Russian warships based out of the Ukrainian port of Sevastopol in the Crimean Peninsula and the Russian port of Novorossiysk in Krasnodar Krai will be participating. The objective of the games are to show that Russia could mobilize for any event at a moments notice.
• North Korea: Sabre Rattling Escalates to State of War
  Andrei AKULOV | 03.04.2013 | 00:00 The round of threats is taking on a more virulent tone than ever. On March 7, Pyongyang threatened to launch «preemptive» nuclear strikes on the United States. On March 12, North Korea threatened to «wipe out» an island in the South as tension on the Korean Peninsula has risen to its highest level for years. It announced that the armistice agreement has been nullified, Making good on its threats, Pyongyang appeared to have suspended the Red Cross hotline with South Korea, an emergency link for quick, two-way communication used by the countries in the absence of official diplomatic channels. On March 30 North Korea declared that it is in a «state of war» with South Korea. It warned that any provocation by Seoul and Washington will trigger an all-out nuclear war. «The long-standing situation of the Korean Peninsula being neither at peace nor at war is finally over», a statement said. On March 26, North Korea said that its military should be prepared to attack «All US military bases in the Asia-Pacific region, including the US mainland, Hawaii, and Guam» and South Korea». The North Korean state media announced that the country was going into a «No. 1 combat readiness status», the highest state of alert. The statement said the participation of US B-52 and B-2 nuclear-capable bombers in South Korea as part of an ongoing annual military drill was viewed as intimidation. On March 31, US air force F-22 stealth fighter jets were flown from a base in Japan to South Korea to join the exercises too. The announcement came days after South Korea and the US signed a new military agreement in response to what they called provocations by Pyongyang. The excessively strident rhetoric out of Pyongyang follows the adoption of U.N. Security Council Resolution 2094 that imposed additional sanctions against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) for its third nuclear test on Feb. 12. [Joint US military]
• Korea: North and South on Verge of War
  Alexander VORONTSOV | 02.04.2013 | 00:00 The tensions on the Korean Peninsula have been escalating these days. A flow of tough rhetoric exchanges is unrelenting, Seoul and Pyongyang promise to wipe each other off from the face of the earth. The new phase of crisis was launched on March 8. North Korea pulled out of the 1953 armistice agreement and cut off the hot line with the United States and Seoul. For over half a century the unstable peace and balance of forces on the Peninsula had been based on this very legal infrastructure. Now North Korea has destroyed it. Pyongyang is launching bellicose statements. It is saying the order is given to strike US military bases in different parts of the world, including the United States territory, North Korea considers itself to be in the state of war with South Korea etc. It’s hard to remain indifferent having heard such news. At that! If we try to keep away from raging emotions and make a deep insight into the recent events, if we attentively study the cited North Korean documents, then we’ll see the following. 1) As before, the North Korea’s declarations make it clear the devastating strikes will be delivered only in response, in case the country is under attack. But there is ground to believe the words are a warning not to cross the “red line”.

• Russia warns against unilateral actions on Korean Peninsula – Lavrov
  30.03.2013 | 06:11 Russia warns against unilateral actions on the Korean Peninsula, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday. "Our attitude is negative to any steps from any side that in some or other way increase tension. We will monitor the situation," he said. "We will judge not by bellicose statements, which, by the way, are heard not only from Pyongyang, but what specific steps one or the other party can take, and only then we will take a position." The steps taken by North Korea – the missile and nuclear excesses in the form of launches and nuclear weapon tests – are prohibited by the U.N. Security Council resolution, the minister noted. "We actively supported the corresponding response of the U.N. Security Council to the actions." he added. The main thing is that the resolution has emphasized the priority of efforts to overcome the deadlock in the six-nation talks. The mechanism must work as soon as possible, the minister noted. "We are concerned that along with the adequate collective reaction of the U.N. Security Council, unilateral actions are taken to step up military activity," he noted. "We may just lose control of the situation. It is sliding into a spiral of a vicious circle,” he said. It is necessary not to build up military muscles, not to use (the situation) as a pretext to solve geopolitical problems by military means, but to concentrate efforts to create conditions for the resumption of the six-nation talks," the Russian foreign minister stressed.
• China Purchasing Russian Jets and Subs?
  By Harry Kazianis March 27, 2013 Yesterday various news outlets reported Russia and China had seemingly concluded a large defense deal with important implications for the Asia-Pacific. If accurate, the deal will be the largest purchases by China of Russian military equipment in recent memory – and some of the most technologically advanced. Such a deal has been rumored for several months. As CCTV explains: “According to the contract, the two countries will jointly produce four Lada Class air-independent propulsion submarines which will then be sold to China. China will also buy 24 Su-35 jet fighters from Russia. Experts say that the Su-35 will reduce the pressure on China’s air-defense before China’s stealth fighter is put into use. This is the first time China has bought important military equipment from Russia in ten years. The Defense Ministries of both countries have said that military cooperation between the two countries is of great significance in maintaining regional stability.” Such a deal would be a major boon for China, giving the PLA access to advanced fighter jet engines as well as possible advanced Air Independent Propulsion (AIP) technology for potential future use in domestic submarine designs. Beyond gaining access to advanced technology for later use, such weapons could be of deterrent value in ongoing disputes with neighbors in the East and South China Seas.
  Russia must also consider the long term ramifications of such a deal. While Russia and China have cordial relations at the moment, selling some of your most advanced military equipment to a possible future geostrategic competitor is always a risky proposition. Given China’s history Moscow is likely concerned that such technology could be reproduced and resold at lower prices, undercutting Russia’s own position in the arms export business. This is especially to be on Moscow’s mind given recent reports that China’s position in the global arms business has been steadily rising. While Russia may gain a lucrative arms sale in the short term, the long term ramifications must weigh heavily in Moscow’s strategic calculus. Could China have floated the idea of an agreement to put pressure on Russia? It’s possible. Or maybe Moscow just got cold feet. [Arms sales]
• Russia: No Deal on Sale of Fighters, Subs to China
  Mar. 25, 2013 By Wendell Minnick TAIPEI — Russia is denying Chinese media claims that Moscow and Beijing have signed agreements to sell Russian-made arms and military technology to China, including 24 Su-35 multirole fighter jets and four Amur-class diesel submarines. During a recent visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to Moscow from Friday to Sunday, no discussions took place regarding “military-technical cooperation” issues, the ITAR-TASS news agency reported Monday. This was in response to an earlier report by China’s CCTV on the same day. [Arms sales]
• Agreements strengthen China-Russia ties
  China Daily, March 23, 2013 China and Russia signed a joint statement to strengthen their key partnership on Friday after President Xi Jinping arrived in Moscow to start his first visit abroad since taking office last week. Despite the frigid weather, Xi received a warm welcome at the airport, which was blanketed in snow. The Chinese leader stepped off the plane with his wife Peng Liyuan. The couple wore dark coats lightened by Peng's blue scarf. The visit, during which more than 20 documents and deals were signed, will create the blueprint for future cooperation between Beijing and Moscow and "start a new era", experts and diplomats said. It also testifies to the two countries' solid political ties and will deepen tangible cooperation, they added. "China will make developing its relations with Russia a priority of its diplomacy," Xi said in a written statement released upon his arrival.
• China wants strong Russian army ties: Xi
  From: AAP THE new Chinese president has met with Russia's military leaders to reinforce the main message of his trip that the two countries must work together more closely if they want to counter rising US influence in Asia. Xi Jinping said his visit to the Defence Ministry on Saturday was intended to show that China and Russia will strengthen their military and political relations and improve cooperation between their armed forces. Russia's state media stressed that Xi was the first foreign leader ever to be allowed inside the Russian armed forces' Operational Command Centre. He began his trip to Russia - his first outside of China since becoming president last week - by holding talks in the Kremlin on Friday with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Xi pointedly told Putin that he expected Russia and China to "resolutely back each other's efforts to protect sovereignty, security and developmental interests". Xi repeated the message in a speech on Saturday to Russian and Chinese students. "Strong high-level Chinese-Russian ties not only meet our interests, but serve as an important, reliable guarantee of international strategic balance and peace," Xi said in his speech before a full auditorium at the prestigious Moscow State Institute for International Relations. [Russia China]
• Russia shows little concern over North Korean nukes (for now)
  March 3rd, 2013 Author: Artyom Lukin, FEFU The international community has unanimously condemned the nuclear test conducted by North Korea on 12 February 2013. But the danger emanating from the DPRK’s nuclear and missile programs is perceived in very different ways by the key players in Northeast Asia. Whereas Seoul, Washington and Tokyo are extremely worried and want to impose harsher sanctions on the recalcitrant regime, Beijing and Moscow are obviously not ready to act tough on Pyongyang, even while showing some concern. Russian Foreign Ministry officials have made bland statements on the matter, and the public’s reaction has been muted as well. Overall, Russia’s reaction to the test in February was certainly more subdued than its reaction to North Korea’s first nuclear detonation in 2006, when there was even a mass rally of protest in Russia’s main Far Eastern city of Vladivostok. Russia’s soft stance appears difficult to comprehend. Many South Korean, Japanese and US supporters of a tougher line on Pyongyang believe that Russia has ample reason to be far more proactive on the North Korean nuclear problem than it is now.

• China, Russia oppose military action against DPRK
  China Daily, February 23, 2013 UN deputy chief says China 'could have a positive influence on developments' China and Russia expressed their opposition on Friday to any foreign military intervention on the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula, as the UN's deputy head and Chinese foreign affairs officials discussed the tension. The two countries' foreign ministers condemned last week's test and said any action against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea has to be agreed at the United Nations Security Council. "We are against the carrying out of a nuclear test in the DPRK," Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi told a joint news conference after talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow. "The UN Security Council should give an adequate response, but the action should be directed towards peace on the Korean peninsula," he said. Lavrov said China and Russia had agreed that it was "vitally important not to allow the situation to be used as a pretext for military intervention". [Takeover] [Military option]
• Russia’s Strategic Nuclear Forces and Deterrence
  Yuriy RUBTSOV | 18.02.2013 | 00:00 Rose Gottemoeller, the United States Department of State's Assistant Secretary for Arms Control, Verification, and Compliance and also Acting Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security, has visited Moscow recently. The visit took place within the framework of the second round of the Obama’s reset Russia’s policy, which places the strategic arms control issues at the top of priorities list. «We will engage Russia to seek further reductions in our nuclear arsenals», Obama said in his recent State of the Union address. [Deterrence] [Missile defense]
• Funding Russian NGOs: opportunity in a crisis?
  Almut Rochowanski 13 February 2013 Russian NGOs have traditionally looked abroad for their funding, and are dismayed at recent legislation setting up new barriers to this practice. Almut Rochowanski argues, however, that this should be seen as a challenge to increase the involvement of the Russian public in the development of civil society. Russian civil society had not yet recovered from the upheaval caused by the notorious ‘foreign agent’ law (which requires organizations receiving funds from foreign donors and engaging in ‘political activities’ to declare themselves foreign agents), when the so-called Dima Yakovlev bill, signed into law by President Putin on December 28, delivered yet another blow: organizations receiving funding from the US and engaging in ‘political activities’ would simply have ‘their activities stopped’. ‘Stopped’ is, it seems, to be read as ‘temporarily halted’; the law has provision for an NGO to resume its work after it has discontinued its offending activities and renounced US funding. But even with this less than final threat, the spectre of months and years of frozen accounts, sealed offices and prolonged court battles is just about the worst-case scenario for the average Russian NGO. This newest law was adopted as a retaliatory measure for the US’s Magnitsky Act and, not surprisingly, reeks of mean-spirited hostility. It’s the same law that prohibits US adoptions of Russian children – the bill was named after a Russian child who died after adoption by an American couple. [NGO] [Russia] [US global strategy]
• Russia Slams N.Korean Nuclear Test
  Russia on Tuesday denounced North Korea's latest nuclear test. Reuters cited Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as saying, "Increasing military tensions in the region is extremely dangerous." Speaking in South Africa, Lavrov added, "North Korea should abandon it nuclear arms program." The Russian Foreign Ministry on its official website voiced regret that North Korea, its longtime ally, went ahead with the nuclear test. [test]
• Battle of Stalingrad: 70 years later
  Russia this weekend remembers the Red Army victory in the Battle of Stalingrad, defeating invading Nazi forces in one of the bloodiest battles in human history. [Photos]
• Russia marks 70th anniversary of end of Battle of Stalingrad, a turning point in WWII
  (hpr, File/ Associated Press ) - FILE - In this early 1943 photo, captured German soldiers, their uniforms tattered from the battle, make their way in the bitter cold through the ruins of Stalingrad, Russia. On Saturday, Feb. 2, 2013, Russia marks the 70th anniversary of the end of the Battle of Stalingrad, considered a turning point in World War II. By Associated Press, VOLGOGRAD, Russia — An aged T-34 tank clattered into the center of the southern Russian city once known as Stalingrad and soldiers dressed in World War II-era uniforms marched solemnly as Russia marked the 70th anniversary of the end of one of modern warfare’s bloodiest battles. President Vladimir Putin came to the city later Saturday to take part in the commemorations, including a visit to the famous hilltop memorial complex surmounted by a towering 87-meter (280-foot) statue of a sword-wielding woman representing the motherland. “Stalingrad will forever remain a symbol of unity and invincibility of our people, a symbol of genuine patriotism, a symbol of the greatest victory of the Soviet liberator soldier. And as long as we are devoted to Russia, our language, culture, roots and national memory, Russia will be invincible,” Putin said at an evening commemorative concert.

• Russia, China Working On Deal Despite Property Rights Trouble
  Jan. 24, 2013 - 04:44PM | By WENDELL MINNICK Russia is in negotiations to sell the Su-35 fighter (above) and the Amur-1650 submarine to China. TAIPEI — “Once bitten, twice shy” appears to mean nothing to Moscow in doing business with Beijing. Russia was badly burned by China a decade ago after an agreement to build the Sukhoi Su-27/J-11A in China ended up being reverse-engineered by Shenyang Aircraft Corp. as the J-11B fighter. China’s decision to ignore intellectual property rights (IPRs) in the Su-27 deal ended further production of the fighter in 2004. China appears to have made no effort to hide the fact it was violating IPR and would continue to do so. And yet, it was recently announced that Russia is in negotiations to sell the Su-35 fighter and the Amur-1650 submarine to China. [IPR] [Arms sales]
• The rise and fall of China-watching in Russia
  Alexander Gabuyev 21 January 2013 Russia’s relations with China have long been governed by need and fear, even when they were supposedly linked by common ideology. Now China’s financial might means it can offer seductive loans to its cash-light neighbour. But Russia has so few specialist China-watchers to offer proper advice, says Alexander Gabuyev. In their time, both imperial Russia and the USSR were home to many outstanding sinologists. Russia today is very considerably more dependent on China than she was even 20 years ago, but the levels of knowledge about her eastern neighbour have fallen dramatically. This deterioration could well lead to miscalculations in Russia’s policy decisions as regards China, entailing significant risks for Moscow.
• Lavrov: 'Either secure Syria's chemical weapons, or arm its rebels'
  24-12-2012, 14:00 Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov tells RT that Western powers' habit of dividing terrorists between "bad and acceptable" could have lasting consequences for the whole world. Syria’s chemical arsenal has become a central point of international concern since the country’s civil conflict flared up in March 2011. Syria is reportedly in possession of nerve agents including mustard gas, while NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen has already accused the country’s government of deploying the Scud missiles needed to deliver it. The worst-case scenario, as acknowledged by many governments including the US, would be for the weapons to fall into the hands of Syria’s various opposition groups – some of whom are affiliated with al-Qaeda. But to date Syria’s chemical arsenal is secure, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told RT in an exclusive interview. “Every time we hear rumors, or pieces of information come to the surface that the Syrians are doing something with the chemical weapons, we double-check, we triple-check,” says Lavrov, adding that the latest move concerning the chemical weapons was related to the Syrian government’s intent to gather and consolidate the dispersed arsenal in order to make sure that it is “absolutely” protected. However, Lavrov says it shows a “strange logic” when the Western powers involved in solving the Syrian crisis pin the full responsibility for the arsenal on the sitting Syrian government – “even if the rebels take hold of it” – and at the same time, continue to encourage the conflict by supplying the rebels with arms and money. Meanwhile, Western governments have begun distinguishing between “bad terrorists and acceptable terrorists” on the ground in Syria, refusing to condemn acts of terror there, saying the overall context should be taken into account to explain why people choose terror – an “absolutely unacceptable,” route, the FM continues. No war can last forever, and all wars finish in the same way: parties sit down to talks. This is what will happen in Syria – and it should happen as soon as possible, Lavrov concluded. [Heading] [Russia global strategy]

• Russia Faces New Missile Defense Threat
  Andrei AKULOV | 14.11.2012 | 00:00 It’s an open secret the locus of global military spending and global military power is shifting towards Asia. The US Asia’s pivot threatens to exacerbate the trend. Asian powers are beginning to transform post-Cold War economic growth into military might, producing more modern and capable military organizations. The bulk of new investment is in air and naval capabilities, a universal phenomenon. The purveyors of the most sophisticated defense technology start to come from the region. Japan, of course, remains constitutionally committed to 1% spending, but it is an enormous amount taking into account the sheer size of the Japanese economy. As a result new breakthrough technologies appear that are not limited by the region’s borders but have a global affect leading to a revolutionary turn in contemporary warfare. Japan is planning «to develop the drone, which will be equipped with an infrared sensor to seek out low-altitude missiles that could help detect a North Korean nuclear missile attack and to counter China’s military buildup», the Japanese defense ministry report said on November 4. According Yomiuri Shimbun, the ministry has demanded 3 billion yen ($372 million) over the next four years to develop the aircraft, which would come into operation in 2020. A portion of this amount is expected to be allocated in the draft budget to be decided this December. Taiwan and South Korea are already looking at the development with interest. Being a US strategic ally and having a special agreement on missile defense technology cooperation, Japan’s will provide full access to whatever it comes up with to the United States. It means an advent of a new killing component for Russian intercontinental strategic ballistic missiles (ICBM) is to be expected pretty soon. Now the issue of US (and allies) – Russia divergence on the issue is becoming much more complicated than it has been until now… [Missile defense] [Japanese remilitarisation] [Threat]
• Democracy in America today (I)
  Dmitry MININ | 03.11.2012 | 16:53 Who has more rights to human rights? Washington believes that one of the achievements of its propaganda and diplomatic machinery was that after a meeting in Helsinki in 1975, they managed to make the so-called «third basket» which in the main placed emphasis on human rights. Decade after decade, the United States used the «third basket» as an important weapon of foreign policy influence. Tectonic upheavals happened in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union in the late 80's and 90's. The twentieth century convinced the Americans of the effectiveness of the chosen instrument... In the end; Washington began to claim almost a monopoly in the field of human rights and the role of final arbiter in determining who is observing them, and who is not. And the more accusations put forward about others, the more hobbled became America`s own practice in this area. Claims to an absolute right, are absolutely ruined by absolute power. Russia has tried to respond to the constant assaults in this regard, but sluggishly, working on the principle: «You do not touch us, and we will not touch you». And then, finally, it looks like the ice broke. On October 22, 2012 the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation presented the first special report on the human rights situation in the United States, and brought it to be heard in the State Duma. The strength of the document is that it refers to the systemic problems facing American society, and this is all illustrated by convincing examples. The report presented by the Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov stressed, «That the treatment of human rights in the U.S. are is far from perfect, and even sometimes resemble something from another era». [Human rights] [Softpower] [Resurgence]

• Putin in Beijing: testing new political course
  Igor TOMBERG
  18.10.2011
  Though Vladimir Putin planned his two-day visit to Beijing (from October 11 to 12) as the current Prime Minister in the result but arrived there as the future president. It is quite symbolic that in his new status Putin made his first foreign to China where he definitely could not avoid speaking about changes in the Russian foreign policy, which is by all accounts turning towards the East. The receiving party, which traditionally gives Putin a warm welcome, has seized the shift of Moscow’s foreign policy and the commonality in setting strategic tasks on the global level…Beijing was very touchy upon the fact that the US’ Senate approved the bill aimed at making China revaluate Yuan. In such conditions the task to “reform the current institutions and first of all global financial institutions such as the Internationally Monetary Fund and the World Bank”, which was openly assigned by V. Putin, as well as the increasing role of BRICS countries in these processes set the guidelines for the Sino-Russian strategic partnership. [Russia China]
• Russia writes off 90 percent of DPRK's debt to Soviet Union
  (Xinhua)09:28, September 19, 2012 MOSCOW, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- Russia has agreed to write off 90 percent of the 11-billion-U.S.-dollar debt owed by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to the former Soviet Union, Russian Finance Ministry said Tuesday. An agreement on the restructuring of the debt was signed on Monday in Moscow, deputy finance minister Sergei Storchak told reporters. DPRK owed former Soviet Union 11 billion dollars since the 1950s. Russia claims to be a legal successor of the Soviet Union which has built 70 plants and factories in DPRK and supplied the country with energy on subsidized prices. Moscow and Pyongyang have been negotiating the debt issue for four years without finding a mutually acceptable solution, said the Russian Finance Ministry. Under the newly-reached agreement, Russia decided to write off 90 percent of the debt and offered to restructure the remaining part. The remaining debt would be included into a "debt for assistance" exchange scheme as investment to be injected into Russia-DPRK joint projects in humanitarian areas and energy sector, said the ministry. [Debt]

• Kim Jong-un 'Visited Siberia Last Year'
  North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visited Siberia last year, the ITAR-TASS news agency reported Tuesday quoting a senior North Korean official. In a speech marking Liberation Day at the Russian Embassy in Pyongyang, North Korea's Minister of Foreign Trade Ri Ryong-nam said this year marks the 10th anniversary of former leader Kim Jong-il's visit to Russia and the first anniversary of the "new leader's" visit to Siberia. Ri did not name the "new leader" but would evidently have been referring to Kim Jong-un. South Korean intelligence officials appear to have no inkling of the visit. At the time, they said Kim Jong-il alone traveled to Russia and China. At the time they reported that Kim Jong-un seemed to be on stand-by back home while refraining from official activities. It is also possible that Kim junior visited Russia either before or after Kim senior's trip, or that Ri's remarks were for whatever reason wholly inaccurate. Meanwhile, Ri pledged to expand economic cooperation with Russia, singling out the modernization of railways linking the North's Rajin-Sonbong Port with Russia's Khasan and cooperation in oil and gas projects. [Intelligence] [Russia NK]
• Kim Jong Un Sends Greetings to Russian President
  Pyongyang, August 15 (KCNA) -- The dear respected Kim Jong Un sent a message of greeting to Russian President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin on Wednesday. The message said: I extend warm greetings to you and, through you, to the Russian people on the occasion of the 67th anniversary of Korea's liberation. Believing that the traditional relationship of friendship and cooperation between the DPRK and Russia provided in the hard-fought anti-Japanese war will steadily develop in the spirit of the joint documents agreed upon at the top level and in conformity with the aspiration and desire of the two peoples, I wish you greater success in your responsible work to build powerful Russia.
• Dispatch from Moscow: What to Expect When Russia Finally Joins the WTO
  July 26, 2012 by Jan Dirk Waiboer July 26, 2012One of the biggest remaining holes in the formal global trading system could be filled in late August. That is when Russia is expected to finally join the World Trade Organization. Russia is entering the trade body with dramatically less fanfare than China received when it joined in 2001. One reason is that negotiations have dragged on for 18 years. Another is that many top Russian leaders have seemed indifferent to the prospect until recently. But enthusiasm clearly is building. In our meetings with multinational corporations, executives say they are revamping their Russia strategies to take advantage of lower duties and more liberal investment rules in order to tap the growing consumer market, directly invest in industries such as insurance and telecom, and sell advanced equipment to the country’s burgeoning oil, chemical, aerospace, and telecom industries. Russian executives, for their part, are planning to take advantage of lower tariffs on all kinds of state-of-the-art capital equipment to become more globally competitive by modernizing their facilities [WTO]
• The Pussy Riot Flap
  by MIKE WHITNEY In March 2012, three women from the feminist punk-rock band Pussy Riot were arrested and charged with “hooliganism motivated by religious hatred or hostility” for staging an unauthorised and profane performance at Moscow’s Christ the Saviour church. The women who were arrested — Maria Alyokhina, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Ekaterina Samutsevitch– claim that their action was not intended to ridicule the church or poke fun at religious believers, but to draw attention to political repression under Russian President Vladimir Putin. “We did not want to offend anybody…Our motives were exclusively political,” said Tolokonnikova. ???The trial of the 3 girls is now underway in Moscow where a verdict is expected any day. The prosecution is asking for a 3 year sentence in a minimum security prison. The trial has attracted worldwide attention and a number of celebrities, including Sting, Madonna and Danny Devito have spoken out on the defendants behalf. Here’s an except from an article in Reuters which appeared on Tuesday morning:??? “Pop singer Madonna urged Russia on Monday not to jail three women from the punk band Pussy Riot for staging a protest in a church, while jailed former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky likened their trial to a medieval inquisition.” (Reuters) [Putin]

• Moscow supports Kim Jong-un
  July 21st, 2012 Author: Leonid Petrov, University of Sydney Russia claims it is willing to link divided Korea through energy pipelines and electricity grids, but its economic relations with North Korea indicate a return to the Cold War politics of the past. In 1948 Stalin sponsored the creation of the DPRK in the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. The following year, Prime Minister Kim Il-sung travelled to Moscow to collect a loan of 212 million roubles at 2 per cent interest. Some of this money was allocated to build the centrally planned economy, but much of the funding was used to fuel the 1950–53 war against the South. After the end of the disastrous Korean War, the Soviet Union continued to help North Koreato rebuild its cities, industry and infrastructure.
• DPRK FM Spokesman Refers to Russian Roving Ambassador's Visit to DPRK
  Pyongyang, July 2 (KCNA) -- A spokesman for the DPRK Foreign Ministry Monday gave the following answer to a question put by KCNA as regards the Pyongyang visit paid by the roving ambassador of the Russian Foreign Ministry: Grigory Semyonovich Rogbinov, roving ambassador of the Russian Foreign Ministry for the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula, paid a visit to the DPRK from June 29 to July 2.
• Roadblock Removed—The Issue of North Korean Debt to Russia Settled
  by Georgy Toloraya June 29, 2012 Georgy Toloraya considers the implications of Russia’s recent decision to forgive 90% North Korea’s 11 billion dollar debt (USD). According to reports, the remainder will be transferred to the Russian Vnesheconom bank account at the North Korean Bank of Foreign Trade, to be used for projects that will promote the development of educational and health care systems and the energy industry. Toloraya notes that the absence of the debt problem will make financial arrangements for future projects, like the proposed gas pipeline, easier, but that the fate of such projects now depends on Seoul’s position, not on Pyongyang’s credit rating. [Debt]

• Russia to write off North Korean debt
  By Kim Young-jin Russia’s finance ministry said Saturday it has agreed to a plan to write off 90 percent of North Korea’s debt of $11 billion, underscoring what observers say is an interest to boost economic ties with the Stalinist state. The remaining 10 percent will be invested in joint projects in the impoverished North in education as well as medical and energy sectors, the ministry said on its website. The agreement over the Soviet-era debt was struck during a trip to Pyongyang by Russian Deputy Finance Minister Sergei Storchak early this month and will soon be submitted to the Russian Cabinet for approval. [Debt]
• Pragmatism, transparency, multi-vector approach
  Sergey Filatov, observer with the International Affairs journal 09.05.2012 Right after his inauguration Russia’s President Vladimir Putin signed more than ten decrees of strategic nature which set the guidelines for the country’s development and the activities of the governing bodies. The documents, including Executive Order “On Measures to Implement the Russian Federation Foreign Policy”,[1] concern the directions for Russia’s development in both foreign and domestic policies, which are regarded as priorities by the head of the state. Let’ have a look at the key aspects of Russia’s foreign policy the President points out, how he sets the priorities, whom he sees as a partner and what tasks he sets. It is an extended document and it contains answers to all these questions. In the first lines of the document three principles are formulated, which must serve as a base for implementation of a coherent foreign policy of the Russian Federation that would protect its national interests. These are principles of pragmatism, transparency and a multiple-vector approach in “forming a new polycentric system of international relations”. Thus: pragmatism, transparency and a multiple-vector approach. Let’s try to expand it. Pragmatism means being guided first of all by Russia’s interests. Transparency - Russia’s foreign policy is open, transparent and predictable. Multiple-vector approach – Russia is ready to cooperate with all the countries, all the regions, all the international organizations and associations. It is important to remember that the Russian coat of arms has a two-head eagle, which eyes both the West and the East! [Russia global strategy] [Putin]
• Debt Deal Looks Like Set Deal
  Andray Abrahamian | Tuesday, June 26th, 2012 | No Comments » Russia has decided that if North Korea’s Soviet-era debt is never going to be repayed, it might as well not stand in the way of better trade relations and geopolitical influence. Over the weekend, Russia’s finance ministry said it has agreed to write off 90% of North Korea’s debt of $11 billion. This is a huge sum, obviously, equivalent to 20-25% of North Korea’s GDP, depending on which set of made-up statistics you like best. North Korea’s previous attempts -and failures – to free itself from the burden of Cold War era debt are well documented, including asking Hungary to write off 10 million in debt two years ago and, more curiously, offering to pay part of a similar sized debt to the Czech Republic in Ginseng. The debt that Russia holds dwarves the amounts owed the other former Eastern-bloc states. As such, it represents a huge victory for the budding Kim Jong Un era. Kim Jong Il’s “fun trip” to Siberia last fall to meet President Medvedev was partly about political succession, but was also in no small part about debt, aid and economic co-operation. It was then that the debt restructuring was agreed upon and now looks set to be implemented. [Debt]
• History’s Obscure Pages: The Plight of Russian Soldiers in Polish Captivity (III)
  Nikolai MALISHEVSKI | 15.06.2012 | 00:00 Part I, Part II Russian captives were exploited as a replacement for horse traction or sent to work as lumberjacks, road construction workers, or plowmen in many of the Polish prisoner camps. It was known that inmates, not horses, hauled carts when cesspits were cleaned in Strzalkowo. Russia's official envoy to Poland wrote on January 6, 1922 that “inmates were on a daily basis taken outdoors, and the people extremely weakened physically were ordered to run, drop into mud, and rise. Those who refused to or were unable to stand up after falling were systematically beaten with riffle butts”. The envoy's August 10, 1922 report from Warsaw read that “the punishments imposed on prisoners of war in Poland are deliberately barbarian. The lock-up cells are abnormally small and as dirty as pigsties, and are routinely used to contain 10-17 people. The inmates frequently suffer beatings with fists or clubs. The Polish side serially neutralized our delegation's attempts to get the camp administrations to soften the regime”. It must be noted in the context that Polish communists, of whom several thousands perished in Poland, were subject to similar treatment in the camps.
• History’s Obscure Pages: The Plight of Russian Soldiers in Polish Captivity (II)
  Nikolai MALISHEVSKI | 13.06.2012 | 00:00 Part I Contrary to the claims circulating in the Polish media, mass executions of Russian prisoners of war in Poland in 1919-1920 are not a propaganda myth. One of the earlies accounts of the massacres can be found in "Jak to bylo w armii austriackiej (How it was in the Austrian Army)” by Tadeusz Kossak who served in the Polish Corps which Austria created in 1914. The book describes the execution of 18 Red Army soldiers in Volynia by the uhlans from the Legion's 1st regiment. Polish researcher A. Weleweisky wrote in a paper featured on February 23, 1994 by Gazeta Wyborcza that Gen. W. Sikorski, subsequently Poland's premier, ordered to mow down 230 Russian captives by machine gun fire and Gen. Piasecki – to kill Russian soldiers upon surrender. Information about similar cases can be found elsewhere - for example, K. Switalski, an associate of J. Pilsudski, admitted that the Polish forces routinely butchered captives in the battle zones. Polish historian M. Handelsman, a volunteer in 1920, also mentioned that the Red Army commissars were always murdered instead of being taken captive. S. Kawchak who fought in the battle of Warsaw wrote in his “Eternal Echo. Reminiscences of the 1914-1920 War” that the chief of the Polish 18th regiment ordered to hang all captive Red Army commissars. Red Army soldier A. Chestnov, taken captive by the Polish forces in May, 1920, testified that all communists from their group of prisoners – a total of 33 people – were separated from others and immediately shot dead in Siedlce. Another Red Army serviceman, V.V. Valuev, captured on August 18 near Nowominsk, managed to escape and later told interrogators in Kowno (Kaunas) that communists, commissars, and Jews had been picked from the ranks of Soviet captives and one of them – a commissar of Jewish nationality - beaten and shot dead right away. Valuev added that cloths were taken from all of the captives and that whoever disobeyed the Polish legionnaires on any occasion was beaten to death. In Valuev's account, the captives were sent to the Tuchola concentration camp. Many of the people held there had wounds, with the bondages not changed for weeks, so that parasites bred in the wounds. Many of the wounded - 30-35 prisoners daily – died in the camp.
• Asia-Pacific International Relations Study Center, Khabarovsk
  Asia-Pacific International Relations Study Center (APIR Center) is an autonomous non-profit organization established by private persons. Now Asia-Pacific region is the third largest center of economic integration in the world after North America and Europe. It accounts about 60% of world Gross Domestic Product (GDP), 1/2 of world trade, 40% of the population, 1/2 direct foreign investment. Russia is geographically and politically presents in the Asia-Pacific region, but its integration with the region is extremely weak. Weak influence of Russia in the Asia-Pacific region is partly caused by a lack of awareness of Russian political, economic and other spheres of processes that take place in the Asia-Pacific region. Insufficiency of information about the economic and political situation of individual countries in the region, their attitude towards Russia and the degree of their readiness for wider cooperation with Russia.
• History’s Obscure Pages: The Plight of Russian Soldiers in Polish Captivity (I)
  Nikolai MALISHEVSKI | 11.06.2012 | 00:00 Last spring, the European Court of Human Rights issued a landmark decision that Russia was not guilty of the massacre of Polish soldiers and officers in Katyn. Apart from relatively minor aspects, Warsaw lost the case which was central to its historical agenda, but, unfairly, the Court’s ruling went practically unreported in the media. It would be a huge mistake to let the informational vacuum persist, with allegations and political bias dominating the Polish-Russian discourse. Complete truth must be revealed, and not only about the deaths of thousands of Poles in Katyn, but also about the plight of tens of thousands of Russian soldiers who were held in Polish captivity in the wake of the 1919-1921 conflict. The present paper was written as an attempt to shed light on the tragic and least-known pages of the history of the Polish-Soviet relations. Over 150,000 Red Army servicemen ended up in Polish captivity as a result of the war unleashed by Warsaw against the Soviet Russia in 1919. Moreover, counting political convicts, civilians, soldiers and officers of the Russian anticommunist White Army, plus members of Ukrainian and Belorussian nationalist groups, the number of inmates in Polish concentration camps topped 200,000. At that time, Poland ran a giant Gulag comprising dozens of concentration camps, train stations for shifting prisoners, jails, and detention facilities as in Modlin and Brest fortresses, the latter serving as a site for four prison camps. The network stretched across Poland and parts of Belarus, Ukraine, and Lithuania, with its concentration camps, most of which - Strzalkowo, Szczypiorno, Lancut, Tuchola - had originally been built by Germany and Austria, unequivocally described as death camps in European newspapers.
• Russia claims new missile can overcome missile defenses
  Russia says it conducted a successful test of a new missile that is meant to outwit the NATO antimissile shield and has a maximum range of 10,000 miles. By Fred Weir, Correspondent / May 24, 2012 MOSCOW Within days of NATO's announcement that its European antimissile shield is now "provisionally operational," Russia has claimed to have tested a new type of intercontinental missile that can outwit the new missile defenses. Russia's new threats may endanger Obama's 'reset' policy The new missile, which some Russian media said is named the "Avante-garde," was successfully fired on Wednesday from Plesetsk cosmodrome in northwestern Russia, and reportedly hit its target on the Kamchatka Peninsula, several thousand miles away, a few minutes later. The Russian Defense Ministry says the new weapon has a maximum range of about 10,000 miles and can carry a bigger payload than any previous Russian missile. "This new intercontinental ballistic missile is intended to strengthen the capabilities of Russia's Strategic Missile Forces, including its capabilities for overcoming antimissile defenses," Defense Ministry spokesman Vadim Koval told journalists. "The missile was built with maximum use of existing components with new elements and technologies developed during the production of fifth-generation missile systems, in order to shorten its development time," he added. In Pictures: Russia's military might Analysts say the new missile is probably a modification of the Topol-M, a modern, mobile ICBM that is well known in the West and is accounted for under the terms of the new START accord signed by US and Russian leaders two years ago. That treaty stipulates that both sides have the right to modernize their missile delivery systems as long as they remain under a ceiling of 1,550 deployed strategic warheads. The new missile reportedly can boost into space faster than previous models thanks to a powerful new fuel, which would presumably enable it to outrun any ground-launched interceptors from NATO's European antimissile system. [Military balance] [Missile defense]

• Fundamental Treatise on the History of Russia's 1941-1945 Great Patriotic War
  Yuriy Rubtsov | 08.05.2012 | 12:09 In 2011, on the eve of the 70th anniversary of the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union which marked the start of Russia's Great Patriotic War, the country launched a fundamental academic project by publishing the first of the planned twelve volumes of the treatise titled The 1941-1945 Great Patriotic War. The final volume of the series is due in May 2015, by the 70th anniversary of the victory in World War II. The last collection of comparable scope saw the light of day in the early 1980ies, when the Soviet Union presented to the readership the 12-volume History of the 1939-1945 World War II. It was preceded by a six-volume collection - the 1941-1945 Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union - released in the 1960ies and, in the post Soviet-era, followed by the release of four volumes of The Military-Historical Studies of the 1941-1945 Great Patriotic War. The latter was composed in the process of Russia's economic and political transition and under the conditions of a dramatic change in the social climate in the country, but, as the initiative originated in the former USSR, largely reflected the entrenched approaches and perceptions of the Soviet school of historical thought. The past two decades have been a period of time sufficiently long and rich in intellectual dynamics for the conditions to arise which clearly necessitated a new fundamental portrayal of the Great War. It must be noted that the theme continues to attract exceptionally wide audiences. ?ven these days - 67 years since the end of World War II - the majority of respondents in polls conducted in Russia describe the Great Patriotic War as the central event of the XX century.

• Navies begin maiden drill
  Global Times | April 23, 2012 01:45 By Huang Jingjing China and Russia Sunday launched a joint naval exercise in the Yellow Sea. The six-day drill, following six military exercises between the two nations since 2003, is their first formal joint navy drill. The exercise, themed as "joint maritime defense and protection of navigation," marks a deepening of Sino-Russian military ties and will help ease the regional tensions and prevent outside intervention in regional issues, experts say. A total of more than 4,000 servicemen and 16 vessels and two submarines from the Chinese navy, including a missile destroyer, missile frigate, support vessel and hospital ship, will participate. They will be joined by 13 aircraft and five helicopters, the Xinhua News Agency reported. Another four warships as well as three supply ships from Russia's Pacific Fleet, including the missile cruiser Varyag, flagship of the naval force dubbed as "aircraft carrier killer," will join them. "The drill has sent a message, one that hopes other countries in the region will cautiously deal with conflicts and avoid worsening tensions," Li Jie, a senior researcher at the Chinese Naval Research Institute, told the Global Times Sunday, adding that both sides have sent their top fleet elements. [Military exercises] [Russia China] [Warning] [NCW]
• Russia-China joint naval exercise starts
  Xinhua | April 22, 2012 10:07 By Agencies Admiral Vinogradov, a Udaloy-class destroyer of Russia's Pacific Fleet, arrives at a naval base in Qingdao, east China's Shandong Province, April 21, 2012. A China-Russia joint maritime drill is scheduled to take place from April 22 to 27 on the Yellow Sea. A welcome ceremony was held by China's Beihai Fleet at the naval base on Saturday. Photo: Xinhua Russian naval deputy chief of staff Rear Admiral Leonid Sukhanov announced on Sunday the official start of the joint exercise with the Chinese navy. Ding Yiping, deputy commander of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy, delivered exercise tasks. This marks the first naval drill between China and Russia, following four military exercises involving the two nations since 2005. The April 22-27 drill, taking place in the Yellow Sea off China's east coast, involves a total of 16 vessels and two submarines from Chinese navy and four warships from Russian navy's Pacific Fleet as well as three supply ships being summoned for the exercise. The exercise will focus on joint maritime air defense and defense of marine traffic arteries, including subjects of joint escort, maritime search and rescue, anti-submarine tactics as well as joint effort to rescue hijacked vessels. [Military exercises] [China Russia] [
• Russians say they’ll keep trying to bring home arms dealer imprisoned in NYC terror case
  Elizabeth Williams/AP - In this courtroom illustration, defendant Viktor Bout, right, is seated next to his defense lawyer Albert Dayan at the federal courthouse in New York, Thursday, April 5, 2012. Text Size PrintE-mailReprintsBy Associated Press, Published: April 6 | Updated: Saturday, April 7, 10:55 AMAP NEW YORK — Russian authorities say they’ll pressure the U.S. government, including Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, to send home an ex-Soviet officer known as the Merchant of Death after he was sentenced to 25 years in prison on terrorism charges. The subject of 45-year-old Viktor Bout will be raised in talks with Clinton, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was quoted by the Russian news agency ITAR-Tass as saying Friday in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan. An arms dealer once known as the Merchant of Death has been convicted of trying to sell heavy weapons to a Colombian terror group. A federal jury in New York City reached the verdict Wednesday against Viktor Bout. (Nov. 2) .“We are not being guided by a desire to take revenge but by the desire to ensure the observance and respect of the rights of our countryman,” Lavrov was quoted as saying. “We will actively support the appeal that Bout’s lawyers plan and in any case will secure his return to his homeland. We have legal instruments for this in relations with the United States.” Separately, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement: “The Russian Foreign Ministry is taking all necessary measures for the return of Viktor Bout to his homeland, using existing international legal mechanisms. This matter, without a doubt, will remain among our priorities in the Russian-American agenda.” {Arms sales] [Double standards] [Russia US] [Resurgence]
• Viktor Bout sentenced to 25 years in prison
  Russian arms dealer known as 'the Merchant of Death' convicted on terrorism charges resulting from a US sting operation Share 38 reddit this Associated Press guardian.co.uk, Thursday 5 April 2012 23.32 BST Article history Russian arms trafficker Viktor Bout, the 'Merchant of Death' has been sentenced to 25 years in prison. Photograph: AP Viktor Bout, the notorious Russian arms dealer dubbed 'the Merchant of Death', has been sentenced to 25 years in prison following his conviction on terrorism charges resulting from a US sting operation. Bout, 45, had faced a mandatory minimum of 25 years in prison and a maximum life sentence when he faced US district judge Shira Scheindlin in Manhattan. He was arrested in Thailand four years ago, and held there until his extradition to the US for trial in late 2010. The judge also ordered a $15m forfeiture. The sentencing came after the government portrayed Bout as one of the world's worst villains, capable of empowering dictators in war-torn countries by supplying weapons that they could turn on their own people [Arms sales] [Double standards] [Extraterritoriality]
• Rajin-Khassan Cargo Train Service to Begin in October
  Pyongyang, April 2 (KCNA) -- A Rajin-Khassan cargo train service will run from October this year. Kim Chang Sik, a department director of the DPRK Ministry of Railways, told KCNA that the laying of railroad and renovation of railway stations, tunnels and communications facilities are now under way in the section. The railway project was highlighted in the historic DPRK-Russia Moscow Declaration, which was signed in August 2001, he said, adding: In line with the declaration, a cooperation agreement between the DPRK Ministry of Railways and the Russia Railway Holding Corporation was concluded in April 2008 to be followed by an agreement on joint venture between Rajin Port and the Corporation. A contract on the lease of the Rajin-Tumangang railway was made between the Ministry's Eastern Railway Ryonun Company and the Rason International Joint Venture Container Terminal, under which the 54 km-section has been rebuilt into a mixed track from October 2008. A trial train service took place in October 2011 between Rajin of the DPRK and Khassan of Russia. At least 100 000 containers will be yearly carried along the line. This section will serve as an international railway container transport line linking Northeast Asia with Europe. [Railway] [TSR]
• Russia Warns of Response to U.S. Missile Shield
  Russian President Dmitry Medvedev says Russia will aim missiles at U.S. anti-missile sites in eastern Europe if the United States does not heed Russian concerns about its missile defense plans. Medvedev said in a televised statement Wednesday that Russia will deploy long-range missiles in the southern and western parts of the country if it fails to agree with the United States on its plans for an anti-missile shield. [Missile defense]

• Putin's Russia Presents Worries and Opportunities
  Han Sung-joo Vladimir Putin has become Russian president for the third time after winning an overwhelming 63 percent of the votes in election early this month. Putin was also elected president in 2000 and in 2004, and in 2008 only handed the presidency to his sidekick Dmitry Medvedev to become prime minister instead. Under the revised constitution, Putin can now hold the presidency again for the next six years and up to 12 years if he is re-elected.
• Russia looks to the Pacific in 2012
  March 6th, 2012 Author: Artyom Lukin, Far Eastern Federal University Russia’s foreign ambitions have been directed almost entirely westward throughout its long history. And while relations with the West continue to dominate Moscow’s foreign policy, recent developments suggest that Russian policy makers are now reassessing the importance of the Asia Pacific region. In the last decade, Russia has actively engaged with its neighbours through multilateral cooperation and efforts at economic integration. This year, Moscow’s new Pacific strategy will be highlighted as Russia hosts the 2012 APEC Summit in its principal Pacific city, Vladivostok
• Why Putin is driving Washington nuts
  By Pepe Escobar Forget the past (Saddam, Osama, Gaddafi) and the present (Assad, Ahmadinejad). A bet can be made over a bottle of Petrus 1989 (the problem is waiting the next six years to collect); for the foreseeable future, Washington's top bogeyman - and also for its rogue North Atlantic Treaty Organization partners and assorted media shills - will be none other than back-to-the-future Russian President Vladimir Putin. And make no mistake; Vlad the Putinator will relish it. He's back exactly where he wants to be; as Russia's commander-in-chief, in charge of the military, foreign policy and all national security matters [Putin]
• North Korean vice foreign minister visiting Moscow and Beijing
  Ri Yong-ho apparently improving relations with US, Russia and China, while North-South relations remain frozen By Kwon Tae-ho, Washington correspondent in New York North Korean vice foreign minister Ri Yong-ho departed Monday for Moscow after attending a seminar on Korean Peninsula security in New York organized by Germany’s Friedrich Ebert Foundation and others. Ri flew out of New York Monday on Aeroflot Flight 316, which left John F. Kennedy Airport at 8:05 pm. He arrived in Moscow at 1:25 pm Tuesday. Ri is expected to meet with Igor Margulov, the Russian foreign ministry’s vice minister for Asia-Pacific affairs and Ri‘s counterpart in six-party talks. After visiting Moscow, Ri is expected to visit China to meet with officials involved in the six-party talks. Observers are predicting North Korea will speed up efforts to resume the talks. After that, Ri is believed be to heading to Beijing for discussions on the talks with Chinese special representative for Korean Peninsula affairs Wu Dawei before returning to Pyongyang. Ri initially scheduled a return flight when coming to New York from Beijing, but ended up canceling from the US and booking a new flight for Moscow, sources reported. Analysts believe Ri will be sharing the outcome of the New York seminar with Moscow and Beijing and soliciting their cooperation on the normalization of Pyongyang-Washington relations and the resumption of the six-party talks

• In Russia, Putin allies sharpen anti-American attacks ahead of elections
  View Photo Gallery — Can U.S.-Russian relations withstand the damage from a new wave of anti-Americanism sparked by Vladi­mir Putin? View photos of Putin’s rise and rule. Text Size PrintE-mailReprintsBy Kathy Lally, Published: February 17 MOSCOW — A nasty spate of anti-Americanism set off by Vladimir V. Putin has grown into waves of attacks aimed at the new American ambassador and Russian opposition leaders, raising questions about the future of U.S.-Russian relations. The attacks started just before the December parliamentary elections and have intensified as the March 4 presidential vote approaches. Although widely viewed as aimed primarily at a domestic audience, they have grown shriller and more aggressive, provoking debate about whether Russia is deliberately giving a cold shoulder to President Obama’s effort to promote more productive relations. Tens of thousands of people filled the streets after December’s parliamentary elections to demand government reform and continue to pressure Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. .A main target of the attacks is Michael McFaul, the new ambassador, a longtime democracy advocate and Russia expert who as a top aide to Obama has been an architect of what the White House calls a “reset’’ with Moscow. [Putin] [Inversion] [Media]
• The Tug of War in Moscow
  by Israel Shamir Moscow For a month, Moscow was bracing itself for the February 4 Rally. It was pre-planned and prepared by the anti-Putin pro-Western liberal opposition. Despite sub-zero Fahrenheit (minus 20 degrees Centigrade) arctic frost, the organizers hoped to break their pre-Christmas record and gather a huge crowd and a procession to shatter the will of the government supporters. They had bought up all the thermal underwear in the city stores, joined forces with anti-Muslim nationalists of Pym Fortuyn kind, and marched in strength probably exceeding the previous rallies. Police counted them at 38,000; by their own calculation they were up at 60,000. But the surprise of the day loomed elsewhere. While the pro-Western opposition gathered on the Bolotnaya Heath («Marais») just across the river from the Kremlin’s red crenelated walls, a small demo was also planned as a token of government support on the Poklonnaya Hill, overlooking Moscow from the west. The White Fronde of the Heath applied for a 60,000 rally permit and made it; pro-government forces planned for 15,000, and even this assessment was considered too optimistic: a previous pro-government rally made between three to five thousand. Indeed, demos are good “against”, not “for” the government. But the Poklonnaya Hill demo turned something completely different – the rally of the opposition to the White Fronde. And this rally had 138,000 participants, by the police count, almost ten times more than predicted. Vechernyya Moskva, a city paper, ran a huge headline 138 000 : 36 000 Putin Leads. Echo Moskvy, the voice of the Orange, liberal opposition, gave 62, 000 Bolotnaya vs 80, 000 Poklonnaya. There’s the usual gap in assessments partly due to methods of counting. One can count how many people were located on the square at any given time (this will be a low estimate) but it is just a guess how many people came and went away; perhaps the flow was high. By this guess you can reach a very high estimate. I would guess that on Bolotnaya there was a considerable flow: it is a downtown place, easy to come, easy to go. Probably Poklonnaya would have less flow, as it is an out-of-town place, hard to get there, hard to leave. So my estimate would be 50,000 on Bolotnaya, and 110,000 on Poklonnaya. Though precise numbers are being argued over, the numerical victory of Poklonnaya was accepted by the Boloto people. [Putin] [Subversion] [Media]

• Russia pulls out of Korea fighter project
  By Lee Tae-hoon Russia will not enter Korea’s advanced jet acquisition project as none of its aircraft manufacturers including Sukhoi expressed their intent to join the heated competition, officials here said. The Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) listed Sukhoi’s T-50 PAK-FA in July last year as one of the four contenders to have expressed an interest in joining the open bidding worth 8.29 trillion won ($7.3 billion) along with Boeing, Lockheed Martin and the European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company (EADS). [Arms sales]
• Russia asserting itself against West, this time over Syria regime change
  By Colum Lynch, Published: January 29 UNITED NATIONS — With the United States and its allies pressing President Bashar al-Assad to step down, the Arab League last week issued a detailed plan for a political transition in Syria. The plan was welcomed by the Obama administration, and Arab leaders quickly said they would refer it to the United Nations. And a day later, Russia had its say: Not a chance. .“This is an effort from the Arab League, if I understand correctly, to sort of already put a precooked solution on the table,” said Vitaly I. Churkin, Moscow’s envoy to the United Nations. “I understand that the attitude of Damascus to that has been negative.” [Syria] [Resurgence]
• Situation in DPRK Is Peaceful as It Was: Russian Foreign Minister
  Pyongyang, January 27 (KCNA) -- Moscow did not see any sign that the situation on the DPRK is likely to develop in the direction of instability, said Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov, when interviewed by Kyodo News on Thursday. He continued: According to the information we have received, the situation on the DPRK is peaceful as it was before. After its mourning period, the life in the DPRK has gradually returned to normal. It is our view that the announcement of Kim Jong Un's assumption of the supreme commandership of the Korean People's Army showed a smooth transition of power. Therefore, there is no sign that the situation in the DPRK is likely to develop in the direction of instability. As a close neighbor, Russia is interested in maintaining and developing political and economic relations with the DPRK. This was mentioned in the condolence message sent by President Medvedev, in particular, over the passing of Kim Jong Il. As far as the settlement of the nuclear issue of the Korean Peninsula is concerned, we are sure that there is no other alternative but to find a political and diplomatic solution to the issue within the framework of the six-party talks. Russia and other parties to the talks are seeking a reasonable way for restarting the talks. What is important, I think, is for all parties to be most prudent and exercise maximum restraint in their actions on the Peninsula and in its vicinity so that the tension is not escalated again. Lavrov's remarks amount to Russia's total denial of the misinformation about "the instability of the system" in the DPRK, etc. spread by hostile forces. [Transition]
• First stage of reconstruction of North Korea – Russia rail line completed
  14 Oct 2011 · by A. Samuel · in Rail News, Rail Projects · 0 Comments On October 13, the first stage of reconstruction of the railway between Hasan, Russia and Rajin, North Korea was completed. This section of the railway is part of a pilot project to restore the entire Trans-Korean line and connect it to the Trans-Siberian Railway. The project will also set up the port of Rajin as a major transit hub, said Russian Railways Senior Vice President Valeriy Reshetnikov. For three years, specialists from the Russian and Korean railway networks have worked together, and accomplished much. [Railways] [TSR]
• NK renews commitment to gas pipeline project with Russia
  MOSCOW (Yonhap) -- Top North Korean officials have vowed to move ahead with an ambitious project to build a pipeline through their isolated country to ship Siberian gas to South Korea. The North Korean officials reaffirmed their commitment to Russia following the death last month of their former leader Kim Jong-il, according to a diplomatic source in Moscow, without identifying the North Korean officials. Russia's Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko conveyed the North's intention to the South Korean ambassador to Moscow, Wi Sung-lac, on Wednesday, the source said. [Pipeline]
• Caught in Turbulence
  Elena PONOMAREVA | 23.01.2012 | 00:00 “The world has entered the era of thorough transformation. Geopolitical landscape is radically evolving, and those changes are accompanied by the growing turbulence both globally and regionally”, said Russian diplomacy chief Sergey Lavrov at the opening of the media conference which convened at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on January 18, 2012 to draw the line under the key developments of 2011. As a country tightly integrated into the global economy Russia is, similarly to the rest of the world, exposed to the sweeping turbulence. As a result, Moscow's foreign-policy priorities have to depend on the answer to the pressing question: what should the country do to preserve its statehood in the epoch of globalization and mounting challenges to the principle of national sovereignty which for decades served as the foundation of the world order? By doing so, Russia has a potential to prevent a global slide into a new conflict and unrestrained chaos, and Moscow indeed has a solution to offer, though this solution obviously runs against the plans of some international policy players. [Resurgence]
• Any conflict on Iran is a direct threat to Russia’s security – Rogozin
  13 January, 2012, 22:55 Edited: 14 January, 2012, 17:51 The escalating conflict around Iran should be contained by common effort, otherwise the promising Arab Spring will grow into a “scorching Arab Summer,” says Dmitry Rogozin, Russia’s former envoy to NATO. ­“Iran is our close neighbor, just south of the Caucasus. Should anything happen to Iran, should Iran get drawn into any political or military hardships, this will be a direct threat to our national security,” stressed Rogozin. Dmitry Rogozin, who served as Russia’s special envoy to NATO in 2008-2011, was appointed deputy prime minister by Vladimir Putin in December. On Friday he was bidding farewell to his NATO colleagues in the alliance’s headquarters in Brussels. As for Syria, if NATO persists in interfering in its affairs, a catastrophe will be hard to avoid, said Rogozin, talking to journalists on the premises of the Russian mission to the alliance. “The example of Libya should have cooled everybody down in matters dealing with foreign civil wars,” he said, stressing that this is his personal point of view.
• Not quite a foe, U.S. looms large in Russian world view
  Sergei Karpukhin/Reuters - Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said a Western military strike on Iran would be a "catastrophe" that would aggravate dangerous divisions already present in the Muslim world. Text Size PrintE-mailReprintsBy Will Englund, Thursday, January 19, 4:34 AM MOSCOW — Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov pushed back against U.S. policy on a wide range of topics Wednesday, from Syria to Iran to child adoption, his remarks coming on the heels of a program on state-run television attacking the new American ambassador, Michael McFaul. The five-minute segment on McFaul concentrated on his role with the National Democratic Institute promoting democracy in Russia in the 1990s. It overlooked his work of the past three years, when he was coordinating the Obama administration’s policy on Russia for the National Security Council and largely responsible for the “reset” in relations. [Russia global strategy]
• Nigeria with Nukes
  By John Feffer, January 3, 2012 John F. Kennedy essentially bought his way into politics. His father, the wealthy Joseph Kennedy, picked out a nice congressional seat in Massachusetts and basically paid the occupant of the position to step down and run instead for the Boston mayoralty. JFK’s father then tried to pay off the Democratic frontrunner to drop out of the race, and when that didn’t work, persuaded William Randolph Hearst not to run any of the candidate’s ads or pictures in Hearst-owned newspapers. Joe Kennedy even paid a janitor named Joseph Russo to run in the race in order to dilute support for another leading candidate named Joseph Russo. Recognizing the importance of PR, the Kennedy family contributed $600,000 – an enormous sum in 1946 – for a children’s hospital in the district where JFK was running for office. [Corruption] [Democracy] [Russia bashing] [Putin]

• China finds promise and setbacks in pursuit of Russian energy
  MOSCOW — At exactly 48 minutes past midnight on Jan. 1, Russia did something it had never done before: It began pumping oil to China across a 2,600-mile border that once bristled with tanks, troops and nerve-shredding tension. The oil flowed from eastern Siberia through a newly completed pipeline, the first such link between the world’s largest petroleum producer and its biggest energy consumer — and a symbol of what the two giant neighbors hail as a perfect symmetry of interests. .“We and the Chinese need each other,” said Nikolai Tokarev, the head of Transneft, a state company responsible for the Russian portion of the pipeline. “They need oil, and we need a market,” added the Russian, a longtime associate of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. [Energy] [Russia China]
• Post-Kim Jong Il DPRK
  Alexander VORONTSOV | 25.12.2011 | 20:20 The death of Kim Jong Il two months before his 70th birthday grabbed the headlines worldwide. False reports of his death had been a recurrent phenomenon, but his passing, when it did happen, came unexpectedly. The communist leader's death possibly marks a watershed moment between distinct epochs in the history of the DPRK, prompting intense debates over the scenarios of the anticipated transition. [Succession] [Takeover]
• Russians still nostalgic for Soviet comforts
  Global Times | December 22, 2011 20:13 By Kondrokov Alexander Share Sunday marks the 20th anniversary of the collapse of the Soviet Union. When I remember the Soviet Union I once lived in, even though there were various disappointments, I, like many others, am nostalgic for the past. The days of the Soviet Union were featured by stability and public confidence for future. A college student could be guaranteed a job in his or her major after graduation. And babies would have their names registered for kindergarten as soon as they were born. The country made every effort to develop education, focusing on the cultivation and development of children and providing them the opportunity to explore their talent. It was basically free for children to study music, dance, and sports. To many Russians of the previous generation, their memories of the Soviet Union are like a fairy tale of a golden age. [Communist]
• In Russia, the lost generation of science
  View Photo Gallery — ?The country has poured money into research in the past decade, but corruption and exhaustion have largely hollowed out its gains. By Will Englund, Thursday, December 22, 12:51 PM PUSHCHINO, Russia — For the past decade, Russia has been pouring money into scientific research, trying to make up for the collapse of the 1990s, but innovation is losing out to exhaustion, corruption and cronyism. In a rut and out of favor, the labs are barely wheezing here at Pushchino, once one of the brimming engines of Soviet science, a special closed city devoted to prestigious biological research. The government has turned its focus to newer ventures. The year 2011 marks the 20th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s collapse. Here’s a look back on the chaos that surrounded the USSR’s final months. Final days of the Soviet Union .But the result has been like a great deal else in this country: expensive, flashy and largely hollow. Shot through with back-scratching and favoritism, the government’s science program has tripled its spending in the past 10 years — and achieved very little. The number of papers published in scientific journals is the same as it was in 2000 and as it was in 1990, even while the rest of the world’s output has exploded. [Innovation] [S&T]
• Korea, Russia Agree to Try Another Rocket Launch Next Year
  Korea and Russia agreed to attempt a third launch of the Korean space rocket Naro before October 2012. The Korea Aerospace Research Institute and Russia's Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center reached the agreement after a technical consultation in Moscow on Dec. 14-16, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology said Tuesday. [Satellite]
• Where Communists See an Opening, Many Russians See a Closed Door
  By DAVID M. HERSZENHORN Published: December 20, 2011 MOSCOW — If there was ever a moment for a Communist comeback, it would seem to be now. The Communists were big winners in recent parliamentary elections, capturing nearly 20 percent of the popular vote and cementing their place as the most formidable opposition bloc, as voters began to express their exhaustion with United Russia, the governing party of Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin. [Communist] [Putin] [NCW]
• Question Mark Hangs Over Russian Oil Pipeline Through North
  The prospects of a project aimed at building a gas pipeline linking South Korea and Russia via North Korea have become more uncertain due to the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. The planned project is based on an estimated investment of US$3.4 billion. Before Kim's death was reported on Monday, two days after the "Dear Leader" died of a heart attack, Seoul and Moscow were making significant progress in terms of negotiations on the project. The two sides completed talks on how to supply the gas from Russia to the South, and aimed to conclude the deal in the first half of next year. As Kim is known to have visited Russia in August for discussions on the issue, the likelihood of the project being realized was believed to be high. "There is a high possibility that the project to receive gas from Russia via North Korea will make rapid progress," Choi Joong-Kyung, the former Minister of Knowledge Economy, said in September. He added that things were progressing smoothly and even faster than expected as Russia was actively chasing the deal and the North was not presenting any opposition to the plan. [Pipeline][KJI_death]
• Vladimir Putin blasts John McCain as a war criminal
  Vladimir Putin accused the United States of masterminding the murder of Libyan dictator Col Muammar Gaddafi as he mounted an extraordinary personal attack on Senator John McCain. Vladimir Putin, left, and John McCain Photo: AP By Andrew Osborn, Moscow and Alex Spillius 4:11PM GMT 15 Dec 2011 In his strongest outburst against America in years, the Russian prime minister alleged that Col Gaddafi's death had been meticulously planned and executed by Washington. "Who did this?," he asked rhetorically when discussing the late Libyan leader's death during a televised question and answer session designed to smooth his return to the Russian presidency next year. "Drones, including American ones. They attacked his column. Then using the radio - through the Special Forces, who should not have been there - they brought in the so-called opposition and fighters, and killed him without court or investigation." The Pentagon dismissed Mr Putin's claim out of hand.
• Putin says protesters were paid by rivals
  By Natasha Abbakumova and Michael Birnbaum, Published: December 15 | Updated: Friday, December 16, 4:26 AM MOSCOW — Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin worked to soften his authoritarian image Thursday, hinting at democratic concessions but also pushing back at protesters who have rocked the country in recent weeks, saying they had been paid to show up. Using a marathon televised question-and-answer session as his first full-scale response to demonstrations after a disputed parliamentary election earlier this month unsettled Russia’s stolid political order, Putin portrayed himself as tough but reasonable, agreeing that not all was perfect in the country he has led for 12 years. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin vehemently rejected opposition calls for a rerun the parliamentary election, accusing those who organized massive protests against vote fraud of working to weaken Russia at the West's behest. (Dec. 15) .If protests are “the result of ‘Putin’s regime,’ then it is good,” he said. “These are absolutely normal things as long as all the actions are within the law.”
• Russia's Elections and the Export of Chaos from the US
  Yuri GAVRILECHKO | 12.12.2011 | 00:00 Russia held parliamentary and several local elections on December 4, with crowds gathering across the country to protest against alleged rigging next day after the preliminary results for Moscow and St. Petersburg were announced. Needless to say, the federal media reports setting voter turnouts in the Rostov and Voronezh provinces at 146% and 130% simply had to prompt a public outcry, but the incidents should not overshadow a wider picture. As the pressure on Iran is mounting and the imminent military campaign against Syria is drawing closer, the West immediately put to work the complete arsenal of its manipulative techniques with the aim of destabilizing Russia. It is well-known that chaos can be successfully exported only to countries where the conditions making them receptive to such external influences exist, and in Russia we are witnessing at the moment barely disguised efforts to create the conditions… [Destabilisation] [Elections][US global strategy]
• Russia's Eastern Gas Program
  Alexander VORONTSOV | 09.12.2011 | 00:00 The plan to construct a pipeline linking Russia and South Korea is not exactly new. A similar project – building a pipeline from Russia's Yakutia to South Korea across the northern part of the Korean Peninsula – was eyed back in the late 1990ies, and at the time North Korea's ambassador to Moscow even told the Russian parliament that his government already had land lots earmarked to host the infrastructure. Later, Russia switched to the Sakhalin and adjacent marine shelf gas fields, where output grew steadily, as the resource base to sustain its export strategy in East Asia. [Pipeline]
• DPRK, Russia to Boost Cooperation in Air Search and Rescue
  Pyongyang, December 13 (KCNA) -- An agreement on cooperation in air search and rescue between the DPRK and Russian governments was signed at the Mansudae Assembly Hall Tuesday. Present at the signing ceremony from the DPRK side were Director Kang Ki Sop and other officials of the General Bureau of Civil Aviation of the DPRK and officials concerned and from the Russian side a delegation of the Russian Aerial Transport Administration led by Director Neradiko Alexandr and Russian Ambassador to the DPRK Valery Sukhinin. Kang Ki Sop and Neradiko Alexandr inked the agreement.
• FOX, lies & the wrong videotape: What’s NOT happening in Moscow
  Get short URL 07 December, 2011, 23:10 With so much going on in the world today, one can see how easy it would be to get confused. Are those pictures of the war in Iraq or Afghanistan? Poverty in Somalia or Congo? And what’s a news program to do if there aren’t any good pictures? So producers all over the world search, and talk to their own crews or news agencies who provide feeds for everyone, and find the best shots to grace their air time. Or – in some cases – ANY shots that look more or less similar to the covered topic. Case in point: protests in Russia and the ever-blundering FOX News. [Media]
• What Really Happened in the Russian Elections
  by ISRAEL SHAMIR Moscow is unusually warm: the temperature refuses to dip below zero degrees Centigrade, the freezing point. Instead, it is wet and dark. The sun gets up late and goes to sleep early. To make matters worse, President Medvedev decided to keep Russia on daylight savings time throughout winter. To offset this stupid decision, Christmas illumination was turned on a month before the usual time, in order to cheer up the voters. Now it lights the way for the armoured vans of the riot police sent in to pacify the cheery electorate. The parliamentary elections were deemed in advance as a futile and vain exercise of no practical importance. “It does not matter how you vote, what matters is how they count”, pundits said. But the results were quite impressive and they point to great changes ahead. The Russians have said to communism: “Come back, all is forgiven.” They effectively voted to restore the Soviet Union, in one form or another. Perhaps this vote will not be acted upon, but now we know – the people are disappointed with capitalism, with the low place of post-Soviet Russia in the world and with the marriage of big business and government.
  If communists proved the fallacy of their ideas in 70 years, the capitalists needed only twenty years to achieve this same result, joked Maxim Kantor, a prominent modern Russian painter, writer and thinker. [Communism] [Election]
• Putin accuses Clinton, U.S. of stirring election protests
  By Kathy Lally and Karen DeYoung, Friday, December 9, 4:29 AM MOSCOW — Russian Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin on Thursday accused the United States of supporting street protests against last Sunday’s elections and blasted Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton for suggesting the voting was rigged. In Brussels, meanwhile, Russian officials said the NATO alliance was trying to bully it into participating in a Europe-based missile defense system, which Moscow fears could be used against Russia but the United States says is intended to curtail threats from elsewhere. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton criticized Russia for a parliamentary election she said was rigged. Later, Clinton encouraged activists from Belarus to continue opposing a crackdown by President Alexander Lukashenko's regime. (Dec. 6) .Putin accused Clinton of declaring the vote unfair even before hearing from election watchdogs. He also expanded an attack he began last month on Golos, Russia’s only independent election monitor, which has raised serious questions about the legitimacy of the balloting. The organization receives aid from the United States and Europe. [Elections] [NGO]
• Russia targets U.S.-linked election monitor
  By Kathy Lally, Published: December 1 MOSCOW — Just days before parliamentary elections scheduled for Sunday, Russia’s only independent election monitor has been coming under ever more forceful attack. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin set the tone in a televised speech this past Sunday to delegates of the ruling United Russia party before they nominated him for the presidency. He made a lacerating, if veiled, allusion to the monitor, Golos, which operates on grants from the United States and Europe. .“Representatives of some states are organizing meetings with those who receive money from them, the so-called grant recipients, briefing them on how to ‘work’ in order to influence the course of the election campaign in our country,” Putin said.
• BOMBSHELL: US Caught Meddling in Russian Elections!
  Putin compares US funded NGOs to Judas the betrayer by Tony Cartalucci Global Research, December 6, 2011 landdestroyer.blogspot.com - 2011-12-05 December 4, 2011 - What would Americans say if they found their polling stations and certain political parties entirely infiltrated by Chinese money, Chinese observers, and Chinese-backed candidates promoting China's interests in an AMERICAN election? The answer ranges from incarceration, to trials featuring charges ranging from fraud, to sedition and even treason with sentences ranging from decades to life in prison, perhaps even death, as well as possible military action for what could easily be considered an act of war. Indeed, the attempted subversion of a foreign nation and/or meddling in its elections are acts of war, an act of war the United States government through its various "Non-Governmental Organizations" (NGOs) have been committing on and off for decades around the globe. In fact, the very "Arab Spring" is a geopolitical conflagration tipped off by this vast network of Western backed NGOs. [NGO] [Outsourcing]
• Russian election: police, troops and youth groups stifle anti-Putin protests
  Pro-Kremlin activists outnumber pro-democracy demonstrators in Moscow after disputed election result Miriam Elder in Moscow guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 6 December 2011 20.07 GMT Article history Russia sees anti and pro-Kremlin rallies in Moscow Link to this video The Kremlin mobilised thousands of police, interior troops and pro-government youth groups on Tuesday night to crack down on protests against the rule of Vladimir Putin after elections that saw his party returned to power with a greatly reduced majority. Riot police, clad in camouflage and black crash helmets, arrested around 250 people who had gathered at Moscow's Triumphal Square in an attempt to build a wave of demonstrations following Sunday's disputed parliamentary election, in which support for Putin's United Russia party fell below 50%. But the protesters were vastly outnumbered by pro-Kremlin youth activists, who converged on the square waving huge Russian flags and shouting "Medvedev, victory!" and "Putin, Russia!". [Media] [Spin]
• Russia voters turn away from Putin party
  By Kathy Lally and Will Englund, Published: December 5 MOSCOW — Russians voting in parliamentary elections apparently turned against the ruling United Russia party in large numbers Sunday, exit polls and early results suggested, to the great benefit of the Communist Party. In what only months ago would have been a nearly unimaginable scenario, the party dominated by Vladimir Putin was predicted to get less than 50 percent of the vote, while polling organizations put the Communists at about 20 percent, nearly double their count in the last election. Since taking the office in 2000, Vladimir Putin has expanded the powers of Russia's presidency, consolidating authority in the Kremlin and weakening other democratic institutions. Russia’s only independent election monitor called the vote the most flawed to date, an assessment echoed by opposition leaders, implying that United Russia’s actual haul would have been even less had the election been free and fair. Not long ago, anything under the 64.3 percent that United Russia won in 2007 would have been seen as unacceptable failure for the party and Putin, who has relied on its control of government and bureaucrats across the country to deliver ever more votes and entrench his authority. But now its aura of invincibility is badly dented, and opponents may begin to sense an opportunity. If United Russia falls short of 50 percent of the seats in the lower house of parliament, it will turn to the nationalist Liberal Democrats, or even the Communists, for support [Elections] [Other]
• Russia Urges N.Korea to Halt Nuclear Activities
  Russia has urged North Korea to halt its uranium enrichment program and re-admit United Nations nuclear monitors to pave the way for international disarmament talks. The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement Thursday that consistent implementation of the uranium program in North Korea cannot but create serious worry. It called on Pyongyang to announce a moratorium on all of its nuclear activities including the uranium enrichment program. Moscow is also urging its communist neighbor to invite inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency to examine its nuclear program and verify that it is purely peaceful.
• Russian MFA Press and Information Department Comment on the DPRK Foreign Ministry’s Announcement of a Uranium Enrichment Program
  1895-01-12-2011 We have taken note of the announcement by the North Korean side regarding the construction, at full pace, of a light water reactor (LWR) in the DPRK and capacity building for production of low enriched uranium as fuel for the LWR. In this connection we would like to note the following. The consistent implementation of uranium programs in the DPRK cannot but cause serious concern. Although we have never questioned the DPRK’s sovereign right to develop peaceful nuclear energy, we cannot agree with the fact that this right is being realized outside the scope of the generally recognized nonproliferation regimes, contrary to the relevant UN Security Council resolutions. We urge our North Korean partners to heed the opinion of the international community as expressed in UNSCRs 1718 and 1874, to begin practical efforts to return to NPT and IAEA safeguards, and as a first step – to declare a moratorium on all nuclear activity, including uranium enrichment, and invite IAEA specialists to examine its uranium enrichment facility at the Yongbyon nuclear centre. Favorable conditions will thus be created for the restart of the six-party talks on denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and the reinforcement of peace and stability in the Northeast Asia region. December 1, 2011 [LWR]

• Reward for Russian appeasement is futility
  Global Times | November 25, 2011 00:16 By Global Times Russian President Dmitry Medvedev sent a harsh warning to the US over its missile defense installations in East Europe on Wednesday. Despite these strongly-toned remarks, the White House firmly insists on keeping its missile shield, risking the destruction of easing tensions and improving relations. Moscow has been making efforts to reduce hostility with the US since Mikhail Gorbachev was in office. However it is frustrated because the dissolution of the Warsaw Treaty Organization and the collapse of the Soviet Union did not remove US vigilance. Former US president Bill Clinton initiated NATO's eastward expansion in the 1990s, which smashed the Russian dream of emerging into the West. The Russians realized that the US and the whole Western world did not truly wish to embrace Russia. What they want is to take advantage of Russia's difficulties and extend their influences into the area Russia formerly controlled. [NCW]
• The Kremlin Signals the Need for a Sensible Approach to the European Missile Defense and Warns that Moscow's Patience Has Its Limits
  23.11.2011 Victor Kazimirov is a Moscow-based military-political commentator On November 23, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev addressed the citizens of Russia – and also, from a broader perspective, a number of the world's countries – in connection with the alarming situation which has arisen as a result of the US and NATO efforts to build a broad missile defense system in Europe. The Russian leader announced a set of decisions made in response to the Washington-led European missile defense deployment which clearly undermines Russia's national and military-strategic interests. The process is gaining momentum, with the implementation of the program de facto underway in Poland, Romania, Turkey, and Spain and with Russia facing a fait accompli, said President Medvedev in a televised statement. [Missile defense] [NCW]
• PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA DMITRY MEDVEDEV: Citizens of Russia,
  I address you today in connection with the situation concerning the NATO countries’ missile defence system in Europe. Russia’s relations with the USA and NATO in the missile defence area have a long and complicated history. I remember that when US President Barack Obama revised his predecessor’s plans to build a missile defence system in Europe in September 2009, we welcomed this as a positive step. This decision paved the way to our being able to conclude the important New START Treaty which was signed not too long ago and which clearly states the intrinsic link between strategic offensive weapons and missile defence. Let me state that again, this was a major achievement. Subsequently, however, the USA began carrying out a new missile defence plan that foresaw the creation of a missile defence system in stages. This specifically raises concerns in Russia. It would eventually see the deployment of US missiles and military capability in close proximity to Russia’s borders and in the neighbouring waters. [Missile defense] [NCW]
• Russian ambassador proposes trilateral talks over pipeline
  The talks could include the expansion of trilateral collaboration between Russia, North Korea and South Korea By Son Won-je, Staff Writer Russian Ambassador to South Korea Konstantin Vnukov said the issue of a Russian pipeline passing through the North Korean and South Korean border may be discussed when the three countries engage in trilateral consultations on the issue. Vnukov made the proposal Tuesday while attending a forum at the Seoul Press Center sponsored by the Korean Council for Reconciliation and Cooperation and organized by the Hankyoreh Peace Research Institute. During his keynote address at the debate, Vnukov said, “The Russian government is currently discussing [the project] separately with North Korea and South Korea given the difficulty of getting all three countries at the same table for discussions.” Vnukov added, “During the stage of discussions on the issue of the pipeline passing through the Demilitarized Zone, there will naturally need to be trilateral dialogue” among North Korea, South Korea and Russia. Regarding concerns that North Korea might block the pipeline, Vnukov said the matter of the pipeline and the trilateral collaboration with North Korea and South Korea had been discussed in depth at a Russia-South Korea summit in St. Petersburg on Nov. 2. “Russia can make every guarantee, including the risks regarding the pipeline through North Korea,” he said. Vnukov added, “As all of you well know, Russia proposed trilateral collaboration projects among Russia, South Korea, and North Korea in the 1990s, including pipeline, railway, and power line connections.” “Russia is willing to discuss pursuit of the other two projects in addition to the pipeline with North Korea and South Korea,” he said. In the forum’s opening address, KCRC Chairman Kim Deok-ryong said, “Russia does need to have ways of guaranteeing a stable supply of gas through North Korea, but it is more important to build trust and cooperation between North and South.” [Pipeline]
• The West’s reaction to Russia-North Korea summit
  November 11th, 2011 Author: Alexander Vorontsov, RAS The Ulan-Ude summit on 24 August 2011 highlighted Russia and North Korea’s commitment to overcoming the Korean Peninsula nuclear problem — and they must be credited with considerable success. [Russia1108]
• Russia expects North Korea to collapse in late 2020s
  By Chung Min-uck The North Korean regime is likely to collapse by the late 2020s amid an intensifying power struggle among the government and military elite, a Russian state think tank said in a report Friday. “The destructive tendency of North Korea will strengthen and as a result the current form of North Korea could no longer exist,” according to Russia’s state-run think tank World Economy and International Relations (IMEMO). Under the IMEMO scenario, de facto unification between South and North Korea would start in the late 2020s. [Collapse] [Approval]
• Russia Expects N.Korea to Collapse by 2020
  The Institute of World Economy and International Relations (IMEMO), Russia's foremost national policy think tank, takes the imminent collapse of the North Korean regime as a given in a special report published recently. IMEMO concludes that Korean reunification led by South Korea coincides with Russia's national interests. IMEMO spent years to prepare the report, which is part of the Russian government's 20-year master plan and was published in September. [Collapse] [Russia SK] [Takeover] [Approval]
• S.Korea, Russia Agree to Push Gas Pipeline Through N.Korea
  President Lee Myung-bak and his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev greet each other at the closing ceremony of the annual Korea-Russia Dialogue in St. Petersburg on Wednesday. President Lee Myung-bak and his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev on Wednesday said they will push ahead with a project to build a gas pipeline linking the two countries via North Korea. The two met in St. Petersburg. Presidential spokesman Park Jeong-ha said the two leaders "agreed that the Russian natural gas pipeline project involving the North will bring economic benefits to all three countries." Lee said the project could contribute to peace on the Korean Peninsula and called for the commercial terms to satisfy the needs of all parties. [Pipeline]
• Seoul, Moscow agree to cooperate on pipeline
  By Kang Hyun-kyung ST. PETERSBURG, Russia — President Lee Myung-bak and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev agreed Wednesday to work closely together to push a pipeline project to send Russian gas to South Korea via North Korea. During a summit here, Lee and Medvedev shared the view that the three sides involved will benefit if the project goes ahead. Russia could send as much as 10 billion cubic meters of gas to South Korea a year if the trans-Korea pipeline is built. [Pipeline]

• S.Korea, Russia Discuss Gas Pipeline
  South Korea and Russia are in discussions this week about a project that would supply natural gas from Russia to the South, according to the ITAR-TASS news agency. It cited a Russian official as saying negotiations on building a gas pipeline from Russia to South Korea through North Korea will begin once Seoul and Moscow reach agreement. On Wednesday, high-ranking officials from the two countries will seek ways to expand cooperation in business, science and technology. [Pipeline]
• Friendship and cooperation between North Korea and Russia keep growing - Foreign Minister PAK Ui Chun
  TASS-TVPYONGYANG, May 17 (Itar-Tass) -- Relations of friendship and cooperation between North Korea and Russia are positive and continue to grow, North Korean Foreign Minister Pak Ui Chun said in an exclusive interview with Itar-Tass. "The Democratic People's Republic of Korea and Russia share a border, and peoples of the two countries have a long history and tradition of friendship and cooperation. Our countries have displayed the noble spirit of cooperation, they have always helped each other under complicated conditions and they have a huge potential for further broadening and development of bilateral relations. The Korean-Russian relations of friendship and cooperation have been positive and continue to grow," he said. "In the year of the tenth anniversary of the historic Moscow Declaration of the DPRK and Russia, our government is ready for the most active implementation of bilateral agreements and for raising to a new level of the
• Friendship and cooperation between North Korea and Russia keep growing - Foreign Minister PAK Ui Chun
  TASS-TVPYONGYANG, May 17 (Itar-Tass) -- Relations of friendship and cooperation between North Korea and Russia are positive and continue to grow, North Korean Foreign Minister Pak Ui Chun said in an exclusive interview with Itar-Tass. "The Democratic People's Republic of Korea and Russia share a border, and peoples of the two countries have a long history and tradition of friendship and cooperation. Our countries have displayed the noble spirit of cooperation, they have always helped each other under complicated conditions and they have a huge potential for further broadening and development of bilateral relations. The Korean-Russian relations of friendship and cooperation have been positive and continue to grow," he said. "In the year of the tenth anniversary of the historic Moscow Declaration of the DPRK and Russia, our government is ready for the most active implementation of bilateral agreements and for raising to a new level of the
• Anniversary of DPRK-Russia Diplomatic Ties Marked in Moscow
  Pyongyang, October 21 (KCNA) -- A reception was given at the DPRK embassy in Moscow on Tuesday to mark the 63rd anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the DPRK and Russia. Present there on invitation were Vice Foreign Minister Aleksei Borodavkin and officials of the Foreign Ministry, Ministry of Extraordinary Situation, Ministry of Agriculture, Academy of Sciences and the Railways Company of Russia
• Agreement on DPRK-Russia Cooperation Concluded
  Pyongyang, October 18 (KCNA) -- An agreement on cooperation in trade and economy between the DPRK Ministry of Foreign Trade and the Amur regional government of the Russian Federation was signed here on Tuesday. Present at the signing ceremony from the DPRK side were Minister Ri Ryong Nam and Vice-Minister So Kil Bok of Foreign Trade, Sim Kuk Ryong, DPRK consul-general to Nakhodka of Russia and officials concerned and from the opposite side Oleg Kozhemyako, governor of Amur Region and his party, Ambassador Valery Sukhinin and officials of the Russian embassy here. Ri Ryong Nam and Oleg Kozhemyako inked the agreement.
• Talks between DPRK Minister of Foreign Trade and Governor of Amur Region of Russia Held
  Pyongyang, October 17 (KCNA) -- Talks between Ri Ryong Nam, DPRK minister of Foreign Trade, and Oleg Kozhemyako, governor of Amur Region of Russia, were held here Monday. Present there were Kim Man Su, first vice-minister of Electric Power Industry, Sim Kuk Ryong, consul-general in Nakhodka of Russia, and officials concerned and entourage of the governor and Valery Sukhinin, Russian ambassador to the DPRK. The talks dealt with the matter of economic cooperation between the two sides and other matters of mutual concern. The talks proceeded in a friendly atmosphere.
• Who Doesn’t Like Russia-North Korean Rapprochement?
  By Alexander Vorontsov Observers from many countries have tried to analyze the breakthrough in relations between Moscow and Pyongyang that was reached at the August 24, 2011 summit. The Ulan-Ude meeting highlighted the commitment of both countries’ leaders to find a solution to the nuclear problem plaguing the Korean peninsula, and at the moment, the summit partners must be credited with considerable success. Kim Jong Il confirmed that North Korea is ready to return to the Six Party Talks, hoping they will commence without delay and without preconditions of any kind. Another key result produced by the summit is the Moscow-Pyongyang agreement to give a boost to the construction of a gas pipeline linking Russia and South Korea via North Korea. [Russia1108]
• Behind the Scenes with Kim and Dmitry
  By Stephen J. Blank The recent Russia-DPRK summit was both eventful and insightful regarding the devious multiple games being played behind the scenes of the Six Party Talks. At his summit with President Medvedev on August 24, 2011, Kim Jong Il agreed to resume the Six Party Talks without preconditions, and if the Talks take place, to then impose a moratorium on nuclear testing and production of (unspecified) nuclear materials. Kim also agreed to set up a commission to explore the possibility of building a gas pipeline from Siberia through the DPRK to South Korea. North Korea would obtain approximately $100 million in fees from this pipeline, which would open in 2017 and apparently ship 10BCM annually to South Korea for 30 years. Subsequently both Korean governments have expressed interest in building this pipeline and have started separate discussions with Russia about the logistics. Beyond those negotiations, Moscow has entered into unspecified discussions on military cooperation with Pyongyang, which could ultimately result in some form of arms sales or technology transfer, and the two countries are evidently preparing for naval search and rescue drills. [Russia1108]
• Russia proposes gas pipeline route through N.Korea’s east coast
  The estimated $2.2B project would represent significant economic cooperation between Russia, N.Korea and S.Korea » A map of the gas pipeline route linking Russia, North Korea and South Korea. By Son Won-je, Staff Writer It emerged on Tuesday that Russia has suggested a route for the gas pipeline that will connect it to South Korea via North Korea. The proposal would have a pipeline run through North Korea’s Gyeongseong and Wonsan, then on to South Korea’s Goseong, Incheon and Pyeongtaek. [Pipeline]
• Russia a Force to Be Reckoned with in the Coming Years
  13.10.2011 Dmitri Sedov, political scientist It is not going to be forgotten any time soon how, at the 43rd Munich Conference on Security Policy in 2007, V. Putin charged the US with building a unipolar world at the cost of “frequently illegitimate actions” and “new human tragedies”. A key point that loomed through the energetic speech delivered by the Russian leader was that the global proliferation of armed conflicts was in fact attributable to Washington's “almost unconstrained hyper use of force” and disregard for international law. “One state and, of course, first and foremost the United States, has overstepped its national borders in every way. This is visible in the economic, political, cultural and educational policies it imposes on other nations”, said Putin in Munich. At the conference, Putin hammered NATO over its expansion, which he described as “a serious provocation that reduces the level of mutual trust”, and made it clear that Moscow would not be buying the stated goals of modernizing the alliance and maintaining European security as the agenda behind the process. He further criticized the US for pressing ahead with the European missile defense and ignoring Russia's legitimate concerns about the impact the plan would likely have on the global security climate. [Resurgence] [Imperialism] [NGO]
• Putin visit to strengthen ties
  Global Times | October 11, 2011 01:12 By Huang Shaojie Share Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is set to arrive in Beijing today for a two-day visit, during which the two giants will sign billions of dollars in trade deals and seal a partnership to ensure mutual modernization. This will be Putin's first trip abroad since announcing in September his ambition to return to the presidency in Russia's 2012 elections after a power-swap agreement with incumbent President Dmitry Medvedev. A 160-member delegation, including top business leaders such as the CEOs of State-controlled energy firms Gazprom and Rosneft, will come with the prime minister.
• Eurasian Project a Threat to New World Order
  10.10.2011 Elena Ponomareva, PhD (History), MGIMO One might be tempted to regard Russian premier V. Putin's paper “A new integration project for Eurasia: The future in the making”, which saw the light of day in Izvestia on October 3, 2011, as the presidential front-runner's sketchily laid out program, but upon scrutiny that appears to be only one part of a wider picture. The opinion piece momentarily ignited wide-scale controversy in and outside of Russia and highlighted the ongoing clash of positions on global development. Regardless of interpretation details, the reaction of the Western media to the integration project unveiled by the Russian premier was uniformly negative and reflected with utmost clarity an a priori hostility towards Russia and any initiatives it floats. Mao Zedong, though, used to say that facing pressure from your enemies is better than being in such a condition that they do not bother to keep you under pressure. It helps to understand why, at the moment, Cold War-style headlines are constantly popping up in Western media and what perceived threat the West discerned in Putin's recent Eurasian integration. The obvious explanation is that, if implemented, the plan would come as a geopolitical challenge to the new world order, to the dominance of NATO, the IMF, the EU and other supranational bodies, and to the undisguised US primacy. Today's increasingly assertive Russia suggests and is ready to start building an inclusive alliance based on principles providing a viable alternative to Atlantism and neoliberalism. It is an open secret that these days the West is putting into practice an array of far-reaching geopolitical projects, reconfiguring Europe in the wake of the Balkan conflicts and against the backdrop of the crises provoked in Greece and Cyprus, assembling the Greater Middle East based on serial regime changes across the Arab world, and, as a relatively novel design, implementing the Asia project in which the recent disaster in Japan was an active phase. [NCW] [Russian global policy] [Resurgence]
• Russia-North Korea trade
  October 6th, 2011 Author: Andrei Lankov, Kookmin University and ANU In mid-August, the armoured train of the ‘Dear Leader’, Marshall Kim Jong-il once again crossed the Russian border. This time, he did not venture far: the summit with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev took place in the city of Ulan-Ude. Among other things, the summit produced a statement about a gas pipeline which is to go through the North to reach the South. This is an interesting and important project, so it is pertinent to take a brief look at its background, and at the state of the economic interaction between Russia and North Korea. In 2010, the volume of trade between these two countries was merely US$110 million. As international trade goes, this volume is tiny. By comparison, in the same year North Korea’s trade with China was around US$3.4 billion, some 30 times larger than its trade with Russia. [Russia NK] [Trade] [Gas]
• Putin's China Visit Watched for Strategic Signals
  By REUTERS Published: October 9, 2011 at 5:15 AM ET . MOSCOW (Reuters) - Vladimir Putin visits China on Tuesday in his first foreign trip since revealing plans to reclaim Russia's presidency, addressing a challenging relationship with a giant neighbour whose growth is both an opportunity and a potential threat for Moscow. .For Putin, whose main focus has been domestic in nearly four years as prime minister, the trip sets in motion a return to forefront of Russian foreign policy ahead of a March election in which he is expected to win a six-year term as president.
  His meetings with Chinese President Hu Jintao and Prime Minister Wen Jiabao will feature warm affirmations of friendship and solidarity on big global issues between two countries that often move in lockstep to counter the United States and Europe. [NCW]

• Russia-North Korea: Denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula
  September 17th, 2011 Authors: Alexander Vorontsov and Oleg Revenko, Russian Academy of Sciences Kim Jong-il’s recent visit to Russia and his brief meeting with President Dmitri Medvedev [Russia1108]
• Will pipeline give fresh hope?
  Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, right, shakes hands with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, outside Ulan-Ude in Byryatia, on Aug. 24. In the summit in a remote eastern Siberia, the two leaders discussed issues of energy deals, gas pilpeline construction and nuclear disarmament. / AP-Yonhap By Park Si-soo Given recently unfolding events, the roaring sound of construction is likely to resonate all the way from the northern tip of North Korea to its southern neighbor in the near future. President Lee Myung-bak has predicted “faster than expected” progress in talks with the North and Russia to build a transnational gas pipeline linking the three nations. Rep. Hong Joon-pyo, chairman of the ruling party in Seoul, has bolstered the view, saying “good news” will come in November. In the latest favorable signal, Russian state-controlled gas supplier Gazprom said Friday it has discussed prospects for building the pipeline with energy officials from both Koreas. All these remarks and events happened in less than a month after North Korean leader Kim Jong-il discussed the matter with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev during his trip to Russia last month. It’s obvious that the two Koreas will economically benefit from the project. The conduit, if realized, will enable South Korea to secure 7.5 million tons of high-quality Russian natural gas each year at cheaper prices than its existing sources, while the cash-strapped North is expected to earn $150 million in compensation for the facility’s passage through its territory. Yet, it’s still doubtful as to how much it would help ease inter-Korean tensions and eventually bring peace to the divided peninsula. Experts have presented mixed opinions with skepticism prevailing. “It is a ridiculous idea,” said Michael Green, a senior adviser for the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in the United States. “A pipeline project would allow North Korea multiple opportunities to blackmail the South.” [Pipeline] [US NK policy] [Russia1108]
• U.S. Concerned About Russia-N. Korea Exercises
  AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE Published: 15 Sep 2011 14:08 WASHINGTON - The United States said Sept. 15 that Russia's planned joint military exercises with North Korea should not be done in a way that undercuts international concern about its nuclear program. The State Department said in a written response to journalists' questions it was "aware from press reports that Russia and North Korea have announced their intention to hold joint naval exercises next year." "Any engagement with the North Koreans should be conducted in a way that does not detract from the international community's clear message of concern about the North's weapons programs, and the necessity for Pyongyang to do what is necessary to return to the six-party talks," the statement said.
  The decision to stage the unprecedented joint search-and-rescue naval operations was reached during a late August visit to Pyongyang by Russia's Eastern Military District commander, Igor Muginov, Interfax reported. "The idea is to hold the joint rescue maneuvers next year," Muginov said in reference to a Japanese news report suggesting that the exercises could begin later this year. Muginov's visit to Pyongyang for talks with one of North's Korea's top army commanders came less than a week after strongman Kim Jong-Il held rare talks in Siberia with President Dmitry Medvedev that focused on trade and economic assistance. North Korea rarely stages joint maneuvers with other nations. Russia's involvement is expected to be watched closely by the United States and South Korea, which conduct regular war games in the region. [Russia NK] [Military exercises]
• 2 Koreas, Russia Inch Closer to Pipeline Deal
  The energy chiefs of South and North Korea have discussed with Russian energy giant Gazprom a pipeline to funnel Russian natural gas across the peninsula to South Korea. Gazprom on Thursday said it signed a memorandum of understanding with North Korea's Ministry of Oil Industry and agreed to set up a working group on the project. Gazprom also said it signed a "roadmap" for future gas deliveries with South Korean gas pipeline operator KOGAS. There was no confirmation whether the energy chiefs of the two Koreas met as well. The pipeline is expected to be over 1,100 km long, including 700 km across North Korea. Arirang News / Sep. 16, 2011 12:48 KST [Gas] [Pipeline]
• Gas Chiefs of Two Koreas in Moscow to Discuss Pipeline
  Plans to build a natural-gas pipeline linking Russia to the Korean peninsula may be gaining momentum. The head of South Korea's state gas company left for Moscow on Wednesday to hold talks on a multi-billion-dollar plan to funnel Russian natural gas to South Korea via the reclusive North. The Korea Gas Corporation said that its president, Choo Kang-Soo would hold talks with executives of Russia's largest gas firm Gazprom during his four-day stay in Moscow. The trip came a day after Pyongyang's state media reported that a North Korean delegation led by Oil Industry Minister Kim Hui-yong had left for Russia. It was not known whether Choo would meet Kim in Moscow. The pipeline returned to the headlines last month when the North's leader Kim Jong-il reportedly gave it his backing during a summit in Russia with President Dmitry Medvedev. [Gas] [Russia1108][Pipeline]
• Russia, N. Korea forging closer ties
  By Kim Young-jin Russia has apparently launched a series of cooperative moves with North Korea following a recent summit between their leaders, including a large debt write-off and planned joint military drills, reports say. These appear to be part of a push by Moscow to boost its influence in the region. But how much pull the Kremlin has with its communist neighbor and on the peninsula remains to be seen. They come as the Kremlin pushes its proposal to pipe Siberian natural gas to the South via the North, which North Korean leader Kim Jong-il expressed his support for during a visit to his giant neighbor last month. On Wednesday, Russian newspaper Izvestiya reported that the Kremlin would write off some 90 percent of liabilities Pyongyang owed before the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, a total of some $11 billion. [Russia NK]
• N.Korea, Russia 'to Hold Joint Military Drills This Year'
  North Korea could hold its first-ever joint military exercise with Russia before the end of this year, the Asahi Shimbun reported Monday citing an unnamed North Korean source. The Japanese paper said the two countries' navies and air forces will engage in search and rescue training at sea. It is extremely rare for North Korea to stage a joint military drill with another country. North Korean leader Kim Jong-il proposed a full-scale joint military exercise when he met Russian President Dmitry Medvedev last month, but sources say Moscow was reluctant, so the two sides settled on rudimentary search and rescue training exercises instead. [Russia NK] [Military exercises]
• Russia to Deploy Nuclear Sub in Pacific
  Russia will deploy the new nuclear submarine Yury Dolgoruky with its Pacific Fleet this year, Russia's state-run ITAR-TASS news agency reported Thursday. The Pacific Fleet is headquartered in Vladivostok. ITAR-TASS quoted Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin as telling members of his United Russia Party on Sept. 5 that the submarine is successfully undergoing trials and should be delivered to the Pacific Fleet this year. Russia will cultivate the capacity to modernize its Navy so it can deal with matters ranging from nuclear deterrence to securing maritime interests, he added. [Military balance][Resurgence]
• Changing Lanes: The Russian Alternative
  By Georgy Toloraya After a considerable cooling of relations with Pyongyang in the wake of North Korean missile and nuclear tests and provocations in 2009-2010, Russia is back in the game. Kim Jong Il’s visit to Russia after a 9-year hiatus was a manifestation of this, although at first, it may have seemed for many observers to have strange timing and doubtful purposes. Was North Korea expecting new aid? Was Kim soliciting Russian support in his confrontation with South Korea and the West? Did Kim want to find an alternative to China’s tightening embrace? The diplomatic process on Korea is at a delicate crossroads now with the under-the-carpet struggle mainly between China and the US-ROK alliance. Whether or not the talks on denuclearization will start before the end of Obama’s first term in office will, I believe, largely determine their agenda. If negotiations do not resume now, future talks will likely have as a starting point North Korea’s full-fledged uranium enrichment program, its half-constructed new light water reactors, and whatever next stage of missile development can be achieved before the 2012 US and ROK presidential elections. In the absence of talks, we may well expect new nuclear and missile tests, production of highly enriched uranium, and maybe even new border conflicts. [Russia1108]
• Kim Jong Il's Visit to Russia: Just More Mixed Messages?
  By Ikhwan Kim, August 27, 2011 Kim Jong Il visits Russia.Historical partners North Korea and Russia held a bilateral summit on August 24th for the first time in a decade. According to a Russian spokeswoman, Kim Jong Il "made known his position that North Korea is ready to return to the six party talks without preconditions, and also ready to impose a moratorium on tests of weapons of mass destruction.” [Russia1108]
• Medvedev and Kim make capital
  By Sunny Lee BEIJING - Pundits are taking time to digest the significance or otherwise of North Korea leader Kim Jong-il's visit to Russia last week. Most attention is on the question of how it will reconfigure the geopolitical chess game surrounding Pyongyang's nuclear drive. On the surface, the summit between Kim and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev was a diplomatic stunt meant to draw outside attention and create a false sense of a "big deal" between the two. Perhaps that was the essence, since there was no big deal made. In Russia, Kim expressed his willingness to rejoin six-party talks aimed at persuading Pyongyang to ditch its nukes in exchange for economic aid and security guarantees. Kim also reportedly agreed to consider a moratorium on nuclear tests and ballistic missile launches once multilateral talks resume. [Russia1108]
• Russia’s Stake in a Denuclearized Korean Peninsula - Will the Ulan-Ude Summit Help?
  By Georgy D. Toloraya September 1st, 2011 Georgy D. Toloraya, Professor of International Relations (Korean studies) and Director of Korean Research Programs at the Institute of Economics of Russian Academy of Science, analyzes the prospects for resumption of the Six Party Talks and discusses Russia’s position on the Ulan-Ude Summit. He writes, “The first step is to freeze North Korea’s missile and nuclear activities, then reduce the state’s WMD arsenal. The chance to come back to the negotiating table should not be lost, and both President Obama and President Lee Myong-Bak should positively consider North Korean’s proposal at the Ulan-Ude Summit. The resumption of talks would get full support from Russia.” [Russia1108] [Six Party Talks]
• Russia-DPRK Joint Energy Program
  Pyongyang, August 31 (KCNA) -- Some countries are seeking to diversify transport of energy resources to suit the worldwide trend of energy use and development. The DPRK and Russia are now discussing a gas pipe project. At the talks in Ulan-Ude, Russia, on August 24, the top leaders of the DPRK and Russia agreed to form working groups for the development of economic cooperation in various fields, including gas and other energy sector, and railroad connection. After the talks, Russian President Dmitri Medvedev said, "I ordered our organs to form a special committee. The committee will confirm detailed issues of bilateral cooperation concerning the program of gas transport through the DPRK." In early August Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced that officials of the two countries held talks and discussed the prospect of the program. If gas experts reached the identity of views on the issue, the Russian government will support it in a political aspect, he said. Russia is one of the world's biggest nations in natural gas deposit and production and crude oil production. Russia, situated favorably for gas supply to Europe and other regions, is now interested in expanding its supply capacity. When the Sakhalin-Khabarovsk-Vladivostok natural gas pipe project with the annual capacity of 30 billion cubic meters, which was launched in 2009, is completed, Russia will be able to not only meet its domestic demand but have the capacity of supplying gas to Asia-Pacific nations. Russia plans to expand the energy supply to this region so that in 2020 crude oil and gas can take 30 percent from 3 percent, and 25 percent from 5 percent respectively in the country's total export. The gas pipe linking Russia with the DPRK is important in the effort for fulfilling the plan. Speaking to reporters on August 25, Russian Vice-Minister of Industry and Energy Anatoli Yanovsky said the gas pipe project has been under deliberation for years and various proposals have been examined for the project, but it has been confirmed that the project will cost most reasonably in case the pipe is laid across the DPRK. Analysts also pay attention to the political significance of the project. Dr. Leonid Petrov at National University of Australia said the project will be profitable to all parties concerned. The joint energy program Russia and the DPRK are discussing at a time when many countries are trying to make an effective use of energy draws interest of the international community. [Russia1108] [Gas]

• Pipeline project talks set for Nov.
  GNP chief says both Koreas and Russia to meet August 31, 2011 The two Koreas and Russia will begin discussing in November the construction of a pipeline through North Korea that will supply Russian natural gas to the South, the chairman of the ruling Grand National Party, Hong Joon-pyo, disclosed yesterday. “The project had been agreed to by South Korea and Russia and also won agreement between the North and Russia,” Hong said in two speeches for Grand National Party members. “Now, the project will be realized after reaching agreement by working-level officials of the three countries.” The director of the National Intelligence Service, Won Sei-hoon, told the National Assembly’s Intelligence Committee earlier this month that North Korea had agreed to the pipeline project. The pipeline was also discussed at North Korean leader Kim Jong-il’s meeting with Russian President Dmitri Medvedev last week. Speaking unusually optimistically about the ambitious project, Hong said the pipeline was “a dream of President Lee Myung-bak since he was chief executive of Hyundai Engineering and Construction.” Hong also said that Lee had pushed forward the project clandestinely since the beginning of his term. But the Blue House refused to discuss the pipeline project. “I have no information about what Hong’s remarks mean,” said Park Jeong-ha, presidential spokesman. [Pipeline] [Railways][Russia1108]
• Detailed Report about Kim Jong Il's Transit and Visit to Northeast China
  Pyongyang, August 29 (KCNA) -- Kim Jong Il, general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and chairman of the National Defence Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, paid a historic visit to Northeast China while passing through it from August 25 to 27 on his way home after winding up his tours of the Siberian and Far East regions of Russia. [Russia1108]
• Kim Jong-il 'Keen on Fees from Russia-S.Korea Pipeline'
  North Korean leader Kim Jong-il is prepared to let a gas pipeline be built through his country so Russia can export gas to South Korea, according to Viktor Ishayev, the Russian president's envoy to the Far Eastern Region who accompanied Kim during his stay in Russia on Aug. 20-25. Kim "apparently doesn't intend to participate in any consortium for the pipeline project linking Russia and South Korea, but seems interested only in collecting fees from handling transit and leasing territory," said Ishayev in an interview with a local press agency. [Russsia1108] [Opening] [Gas]
• N.Korea's Air Force Chief with Kim Jong-il on Russia Trip
  North Korean leader Kim Jong-il was accompanied on his Russia trip by the commander of the belligerent country's Air Force. "Photos taken by foreign news agencies during the North Korea-Russia summit show Gen. Ri Pyong-chol, the commander of the North Korean Air Force, standing in formal suits [not in military uniform] between Kim and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev," a South Korean security official said Sunday. [Russia1108] [Media] [Intelligence] [Arms sales]
• Detailed Report on Kim Jong Il's Visit to Far East and Siberian Regions of Russia
  Pyongyang, August 28 (KCNA) -- Kim Jong Il, general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and chairman of the DPRK National Defence Commission, paid an unofficial visit to the Far East and Siberian regions of the Russian Federation from August 20 to 25 at the invitation of Dmitri Anatoliyevich Medvedev, president of the Russian Federation. [Russia1108]
• Kim Jong-il: Tactical genius
  By Aidan Foster-Carter Coming from me, the title of this article might surprise you. No, I haven't suddenly turned into dear old Kim Myong Chol, whose cheery dispatches from a parallel universe through the looking-glass about how well North Korea is doing - or alternatively, is ready to nuke the rest of us to kingdom come - regularly entertain readers of Asia Times Online [Russia1108] [Agency]
• 'Kim's trip to neighbors successful'
  Kim Jong-il By Kim Young-jin North Korea’s state run media on Sunday reported the return of leader Kim Jong-il the previous day from a “successful” trip to Russia and China, saying he was greeted at a border train station by his youngest son and heir, Jong-un. The 69-year-old leader focused on the possible resumption of stalled negotiations on Pyongyang’s denuclearization and economic cooperation during the week-long trip during which he met with Russian President Dmitri Medvedev. [Russia1108]
• The West is jealous of Russia's diplomatic success
  26.08.2011 The first in nine years visit of "Dear Leader" Kim Jong Il to Russia attracted the attention of Western officials and Western media. They are eager to find out what agreements he has reached with the Russian leadership. At the same time the West does not believe in longevity of the agreements reached, and the media emphasize the dangerous behavior of North Koreans. [Russia1108]
• Uncertain World: Russia proposes a new Korean paradigm
  16:03 25/08/2011 Weekly column by Fyodor Lukyanov Any foreign trip by North Korean leader Kim Jong-il arouses a great deal of interest, as he practically never leaves his country. The only exceptions are his relatively regular trips to China and also a tour of Russia ten years ago. Therefore, his current visit to Siberia is an extraordinary event. Still, a diplomatic breakthrough is unlikely. The regime in Pyongyang remains very idiosyncratic. But even if the trip fails to produce any direct results (they will not be announced in any case), it still creates a chance that the political deadlock on the Korean Peninsula will be broken. Just attempting to do so is important, because the previous approach has not worked. [Russia1108]
• N.Korea to allow trans-Korean Peninsula gas pipeline through its territory
  North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has expressed support for a Russian project to pipe Siberian natural gas to South Korea through his country's territory, a Russian news agency said Friday, quoting a Russian official. The gas pipeline project was a major topic when Kim held a summit with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in a Siberian city earlier this week. The two countries said after the summit that they have agreed to set up a joint committee to push the project. In a meeting with reporters in Khabarovsk after the summit, Viktor Ishaev, Russia's presidential envoy to the Far East Federal District, quoted Kim as telling him separately that North Korea will permit the pipeline to go through its territory if Russia and South Korean sign a contract on the project, according to the Interfax news agency. Ishaev said he had a chat with Kim as he was assigned to escort Kim throughout his train journey for the summit with Medvedev, the agency said in a report. During the trip, Kim commented on the pipeline project, Interfax quoted Ishaev as saying. North Korean leader Kim Jong-il toured industrial facilities in northeastern China on Friday on his way back home from a trip to Russia, a source said. Kim visited the facilities in the Chinese city of Qiqihar, a hub of automobile industries, and Daqing, home to China's largest oilfield, the source said. After the tour, the North Korean leader met with Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo, according to China's state-run Xinhua news agency. During the talks, Kim told the Chinese official that North Korea wants the six-party talks to be opened without any pre-conditions attached, the news agency reported. (Yonhap News) [Russa1108] [Gas]
• Kim Jong Il Sends Message of Thanks to Medvedev
  Pyongyang, August 26 (KCNA) -- Kim Jong Il, chairman of the National Defence Commission of the DPRK, Thursday sent a message of thanks to Dmitri Anatoliyevich Medvedev, president of the Russian Federation, on his way home after winding up his visit to Siberia and the Far East Region of Russia. [Russia1108]
• Why Kim's nuke offer fell flat
  Guards watch over the military base outside the Siberian city of Ulan Ude where North Korean leader Kim Jong-il held summit talks with Russian President Dmitri Medvedev, Wednesday. / Yonhap By Kim Young-jin North Korean leader Kim Jong-il’s reported offer to impose a moratorium on nuclear and missile tests holds little water and is likely a tactic to win aid, analysts said Friday, explaining the tepid response in Seoul. [Russia1108] [Six Party Talks] [Rebuff]
• North Korea’s Strategic Outlook on Northeast Asia: The Syrian Litmus Test
  By Ruediger Frank The Libyan story seems to be over, at least for now. We do not exactly know who is going to rule that country next and with what consequences. There is room for experience-based pessimism, but only time will tell. So it is now worth looking closer at another of the anti-dictatorship uprisings in the region. What is the meaning of Syria for North Korea? The case is particularly interesting if we consider the international debate about its resolution. A few countries felt uneasy about intervening in Libya; however, in the case of Syria, one country is outspokenly against any international interference. That country is Russia, a long-time ally of Syria and a permanent member of the UN Security Council [Russia1108]
• Gas Pipeline Through N.Korea 'Part of a Bigger Game'
  Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in a meeting Wednesday apparently agreed in principle to lay a gas pipeline through North Korea to South Korea. Pundits say the project is a tactical move by Russia, which finds itself in fierce competition with China. Russia has bickered with China over the export price of Siberian gas since 2008, but their negotiations have reached a stalemate due to Chinese demands for a drastic price cut. [Russia1108] [Gas]
• Russia hopes pipeline through Korean Peninsula improves economy, political climate
  English.news.cn 2011-08-26 03:22:32 FeedbackPrintRSS MOSCOW, Aug. 25 (Xinhua) -- Russia hopes that a gas pipeline project from Russia to South Korea via the Democratic Republic of Korea (DPRK) will bring both economical and political fruits for the Korean Peninsula, said Russian Deputy Energy Minister Anatoly Yanovsky on Thursday. "Any infrastructure projects linking the two countries of the Korean Peninsula, including railroads, gas pipelines, or electric grids, will not only be economically efficient but also would work for normalization of their bilateral relations," Yanovsky told a news conference here. [Russia1108] [Gas]
• US, South Korea cool to North Korea’s efforts to restart stalled nuclear talks
  By Associated Press, Published: August 25MOSCOW — The United States and South Korea have reacted coolly to North Korean leader Kim Jong Il’s reported readiness to impose a nuclear test and production moratorium if international talks on Pyongyang’s atomic program resume. Kim’s armored train was said to be heading Thursday toward Manchuria in China, a day after he led his country’s latest effort to win new aid-for-disarmament discussions at a rare summit with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in eastern Siberia. [Russia1108] [Six Party Talks] [Rebuff]
• US: North Korean Nuclear Concessions Welcome, But Insufficient
  David Gollust | State Department ..... The United States has called reported North Korean nuclear concessions welcome but insufficient. North Korean leader Kim Jong Il told Russian officials that Pyongyang would freeze tests and production of nuclear weapons and missiles in the context of renewed six-party negotiations. [Precondition] US NK Negotiations] [Six Party Talks] [Russia1108]
• Medvedev, Kim Jong Il Meet in Siberia
  Jessica Golloher | Moscow ..... Photo: AP North Korean leader Kim Jong Il shakes hands with chief conductor of the main orchestra of the Defense Ministry, Viktor Yeliseyev, left, as Russian President Dmitry Medvedev smiles in Siberia's Buryatia region, August 24, 2011.Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and North Korea's Kim Jong Il met in Siberia to discuss resuming six-party nuclear talks, among other issues. This was Kim Jong Il's first trip to Russia in nearly a decade. He arrived in Russia, via his armored train, on Saturday, but his visit to Siberia and Russia’s Far East has been shrouded in secrecy. Medvedev met Kim at a military base in Sosnovy Bor. [Russia1108]
• Russian Gas Pipeline Could Improve Inter-Korean Ties
  North Korean leader Kim Jong-il and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev met in Ulan-Ude near Lake Baikal on Wednesday. Medvedev told reporters after the summit Kim "supported" a project to lay a gas pipeline from Russia to South Korea across North Korea. A spokesman for the Russian president said Kim also agreed to resume the stalled six-party nuclear disarmament talks. [Russia1108] [Gas]
• N.Korea, Russia Agree on Gas Pipeline
  North Korean leader Kim Jong-il and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev met at a military base in Sosnovy Bor on the outskirts of Ulan-Ude near Lake Baikal in Siberia on Wednesday. They discussed bilateral cooperation. [Russia1108] [Gas]
• Kim and Medvedev propose six-party talks without preconditions
  The proposal has reportedly been dismissed by South Korea and the United States » North Korean leader Kim Jong-il says goodbye to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev following the conclusion of their summit, Aug. 24. (AP Yonhap) By Son Won-je, Staff Writer North Korean leader Kim Jong-il reportedly suggested Wednesday a moratorium on nuclear testing and unconditional resumption of six-party talks on its nuclear program. This suggestion was dismissed by South Korea and the United States. [Russia1108] [Six Party Talks] [Preconditions]
• Kim, Medvedev agree on pipeline
  Summit succeeds in clearing deal, Russian media reports ?·? ????? ??? ???? ????… August 25, 2011 Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, right, welcomes North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-il, left, to a meeting at Sosnovy Bor military garrison in Zaigrayevsky District, Buryatia, yesterday. [AFP /YONHAP] North Korean leader Kim Jong-il and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev met for a rare summit in a military town in Russia’s Siberian region yesterday afternoon, according to reports, to discuss the North’s nuclear programs and economic deals, including one involving South Korea. [Russia1108] [Gas]
• Kim Jong Il Meets with Russian President
  Pyongyang, August 24 (KCNA) -- Kim Jong Il, general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and chairman of the DPRK National Defence Commission, met with Dmitri Anatoliyevich Medvedev, president of the Russian Federation, in Ulan-Ude, the capital city of the Republic of Buryatia in Russia, on Wednesday. Kim Jong Il exchanged warm greetings with Medvedev and had a talk with him. [Russia1108]
• Talks Held between Top Leaders of DPRK and Russia
  Pyongyang, August 24 (KCNA) -- Talks were held between Kim Jong Il, general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and chairman of the DPRK National Defence Commission, and Dmitri Anatoliyevich Medvedev, president of the Russian Federation, in Ulan-Ude, the capital city of the Republic of Buryatia of Russia, on Wednesday. [Russia1108]
• Russian President Hosts Banquet in Honor of Kim Jong Il
  Pyongyang, August 24 (KCNA) -- Dmitri Anatoliyevich Medvedev, president of the Russian Federation, hosted a grand banquet at the Presidential Guest House of the Russian Federation in Ulan-Ude City this evening in welcome of Kim Jong Il, general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and chairman of the National Defence Commission of the DPRK, visiting Russia. [Russia1108]
• Speech Made by Kim Jong Il at Banquet
  Pyongyang, August 24 (KCNA) -- General Secretary Kim Jong Il made a speech at the banquet given by Dmitri Anatoliyevich Medvedev, president of the Russian Federation, in welcome of his visit to Russia. He said: Respected Your Excellency President Dmitri Anatoliyevich Medvedev, Close friends of Russia, It gives me great pleasure to revisit Siberia and the Far East Region of Russia, a friendly neighbor, after the lapse of a decade and meet with you. [Russia1108]
• Speech Made by Medvedev at Banquet
  Pyongyang, August 24 (KCNA) -- The following is the speech made by Russian President Dmitri Anatoliyevich Medvedev at the banquet given in honor of General Secretary Kim Jong Il visiting Russia: Respected Your Excellency Kim Jong Il, Respected friends, The working-level meeting between me and Your Excellency Kim Jong Il, chairman of the National Defence Commission of the DPRK, is just over. [Russia1108]
• Kim Jong Il Seen off by Russian President
  Pyongyang, August 24 (KCNA) -- Kim Jong Il, general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and chairman of the DPRK National Defence Commission, was warmly seen off by Dmitri Anatoliyevich Medvedev, president of the Russian Federation, on Wednesday upon the conclusion of his historical visit to the Russian Federation. Present there were Alexandr Avramov, assistant to president for regional policy, Sergei Prikhodiko, assistant to president for external policy, Viktor Ishayev, presidential envoy to the Far East Region of the Russian Federation, Viktor Tolokonski, presidential envoy to the Siberian Region of the Russian Federation, Anatoly Serzhukov, minister of Defense, Igor Levitin, minister of Transport, Viktor Basargin, minister of Regional Development who is chairman of the Russian side to the Governmental Committee between Russia-DPRK for the Cooperation of Trade and Economy, Science and Technology, Valery Sukhinin, Russian ambassador to the DPRK, Aleksei Borodavkin, vice-minister of Foreign Affairs, Byacheslav Nagovitsin, president of the Republic of Buryatia, Matbei Gershevich, chairman of the People's Khural, Gennadi Aidayev, mayor of Ulan-Ude, Anatoly Sidorov, first vice commander of the Eastern Military District of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Tsilko, comma nder of the 36th Combined Forces of the Eastern Military District, and other central and local leading officials and commanding officers of the armed forces. Kim Jong Il and Dmitri Anatoliyevich Medvedev exchanged farewell greetings. [Russia1108]
• Kim Jong Il's Russian Visit Hailed as Great Event
  Pyongyang, August 24 (KCNA) -- Vorontsov, chief of Section for Korea of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, on a visit to the DPRK had this to say upon hearing the news of General Secretary Kim Jong Il's unofficial visit to Siberia and the Far East Region of the Russian Federation: Kim Jong Il's visit to Russia is a great event and it cannot but be an auspicious event for the peoples of the two countries. Kim Jong Il is a great leader. He has paid deep attention to the development of relations with Russia. It has great expectation towards his current visit. The visit would contribute to boosting the cooperation between the two countries in different domains. He visited the Bureya Hydro-electric Plant, a large power base in the Far East Region of Russia. His visit to Russia would mark an important occasion in developing the traditional friendly and cooperative relations between the two countries onto a new higher stage. I wish Kim Jong Il success in his Russian visit. [Russia1108]
• NK-Russia summit to focus on energy
  By Kim Young-jin North Korean leader Kim Jong-il arrived Tuesday by train in the eastern Siberian city of Ulan-Ude, where he is expected to hold summit talks with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev today. Kim was greeted by Russian officials at the town some 3,000 kilometers from Bureiskaya and ushered away by car on the fourth day of his rare trip to the neighboring country. [Russia1108] [Gas]
• North Koreans ‘pine’ for Dear Leader Kim as Russia trip winds up
  Topic: Kim Jong-il visits Russia North Koreans are counting the days until leader Kim Jong-il returns from his trip to Russia with “endless melancholia” in their hearts © RIA Novosti. Sergey Guneev12:23 25/08/2011MOSCOW, August 25 (RIA North Koreans are counting the days until leader Kim Jong-il returns from his trip to Russia with “endless melancholia” in their hearts, North Korean state media has said. Kim arrived in Russia at the weekend on a rare foreign visit and met with President Dmitry Medvedev for talks on Wednesday in East Siberia’s Buratiya region. He is currently travelling home in his armored train. [Media] [Russia1108]
• Kim Jong-il Arrives in Ulan-Ude
  North Korean leader Kim Jong-il on Wednesday meets Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in Ulan-Ude, the capital of the Republic of Buryatia in Siberia. Kim arrived in Ulan-Ude at around 9 a.m. Tuesday aboard his armored train and was greeted by Buryatia President Vyacheslav Nagovitsyn. A government source on Tuesday said since Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is visiting Vladivostok on Friday to check preparations for the APEC Summit in 2012, Seoul is "keeping an eye" on whether Putin will also meet Kim. Kim and Putin, who is widely seen as Russia's real ruler, met in Vladivostok in 2002. On arrival in Ulan-Ude, Kim moved under police escort to the downtown area in a bullet-proof Mercedes sedan that had traveled aboard the armored train. A limousine without license plates reportedly carrying North Korean leader Kim Jong-il is seen in Ulan-Ude, Russia on Tuesday. /AP-Newsis Local media reported that residents of Ulan-Ude were surprised to see the North Korean leader traveling in an old Mercedes that dates back to the 1990s
• North Korea seeks allies in Russia talks
  By Charles Clover in Moscow and Christian Oliver in Seoul Kim Jong-il, North Korea’s leader, met Russia’s president, Dmitry Medvedev, in Siberia on Wednesday in a further attempt to reintegrate himself into the diplomatic fold after international condemnation over two attacks against South Korea last year. Mr Medvedev hailed him as one of his “partners”, which Mr Kim is likely to see as an important sign of reacceptance after Seoul accused North Korea of killing 50 South Koreans in military attacks last year. [Russia NK] [Media] [Russia1108]
• North Korea to return to Six-Party Talks: Kim
  Global Times | August 25, 2011 01:06 By Liu Linlin Share North Korean leader Kim Jong-il speaks with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev during their meeting on Wednesday. Photo: AFP North Korean leader Kim Jong-il reiterated Pyongyang's readiness to return to the Six-Party nuclear talks at a meeting with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Wednesday in Siberia. "Kim expressed readiness to return to the talks without preconditions," Natalya Timakova, Medvedev's spokeswoman, told reporters after the two leaders met at a military base in the Siberian town of Sosnovy Bor near Lake Baikal. "In the course of the nuclear talks, the North Koreans will be ready to resolve the issue of imposing a moratorium on testing and production of missile and nuclear weaponry," she added. [Russia1108]
• Russia's Medvedev begins talks with DPRK top leader
  Xinhua | August 24, 2011 15:22 Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Wednesday met with Kim Jong Il, the top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), near Russia's eastern Siberian city of Ulan Ude, according to the Itar-Tass news agency. The meeting was held at a closed military base in the Sosnovy Bor village, some 50 km from Ulan-Ude, the capital of Buryatia republic, it said. [Russia1108]
• Resumption of six-party talks top agenda at DPRK's Kim, Medvedev meeting
  Xinhua | August 24, 2011 15:16 The resumption of the six-party talks will be a top agenda at an upcoming meeting between Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and visiting Kim Jong Il of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), the Itar Tass reported on Wednesday. Citing a source from the Russian president's office, the report said both leaders will concentrate on the topic of resuming the stalled talks on denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula. [Russia1108] [Six Party Talks]
• NK to halt nuke tests if six-way talks resume
  North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, left, shakes hands with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev prior to a summit at a military garrison outside Ulan-Ude in Byryatia, Wednesday. The meeting’s agenda focused on energy deals, economic aid and nuclear disarmament. / AP-Yonhap Kim backs Russian gas pipeline to South By Kim Young-jin North Korea is willing to impose a moratorium on its testing of weapons of mass destruction if stalled denuclearization talks resume, an official said, in a move likely to provide momentum to efforts to revive negotiations. The offer came during summit talks with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev outside the Siberian city of Ulan Ude, a spokeswoman for the Kremlin said on the fifth day of Kim’s rare trip to the giant neighbor. [Russia1108] [Six Party Talks] [Overtures] [Gas]
• Kim Jong-il's armored train returns to North Korea after Russia visit
  Topic: Kim Jong-il visits Russia © RIA Novosti. Dmitry Astakhov20:28 24/08/2011ULAN-UDE, August 24 (RIA Novosti) North Korean leader Kim Jong-il is returning to his homeland after talks with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and visiting the east Siberian republic of Buryatia, a government spokesman for the republic said on Wednesday. Kim, who is traveling in his own armored train, arrived on Tuesday in Ulan-Ude, the capital of Buryatia. "The main purpose [of the visit] was to meet with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev [in Buryatia]," the spokesman said. The meeting was held on Wednesday in the military town of Sosnovy Bor. One of the main results after negotiations was the start of cooperation in the gas industry. Medvedev and Kim gave instructions to create a special commission that would determine the specific parameters of the bilateral cooperation on gas transit through the territory of North Korea. [Russia1108]
• Medvedev and Kim Jong-il at President’s Temporary Residence in Buryatia
  photos
• North Korea may return to nuclear talks, Russia says
  The reclusive leader is to discuss economic projects, such as railways and gas pipelines, with President Dmitry Medvedev. By Will Englund, Updated: Wednesday, August 24, 9:14 PM MOSCOW — North Korea is ready to resume international talks over its nuclear weapons program without “preconditions,” according to a Russian official describing the meeting Wednesday between North Korean leader Kim Jong Il and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev [Russia1108] [Media]
• A Quiet Day for Kim Jong-il in Siberia
  North Korean leader Kim Jong-il did not attend any public events on the second day of his visit to Siberia, leaving it to pundits to speculate what the secretive North Korean leader may have been up to. Diplomatic sources speculated that he may have visited Skovorodino, a town in Amur Oblast where a Russia-China crude oil pipeline starts. Kim is interested in securing energy resources for his impoverished country and may have taken a look to review a pipeline project involving both Koreas and Russia, they said. The Russian business daily Vedomosti said Kim will meet Russian President Dmitri Medvedev on Wednesday, not at a military base in Ulan-Ude, as previously reported, but at a government guest house nearby. A special warfare unit of the 11th Airborne Brigade in the Russian Eastern Military District in Ulan-Ude is preparing to demonstrate various activities for Kim, including detonation of bombs, laying of mines, penetration of a building, and hand-to-hand combat with terrorists, the Russian daily Izvestia reported. The daily quoted a Russian Defense Ministry official as saying, "Airborne troops and a scout search team are awaiting North Korean guests, but we will not show any new weapons to Kim Jong-il." It added this suggests Russia decided not to sell any up-to-date weapons to the North.
• N. Korea's Kim Jong-il arrives in Russia's Buryatia
  Topic: Kim Jong-il visits Russia North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, who is traveling across Russia in his armored train, arrived on Tuesday to the south Siberian republic of Buryatia © Photo Port Amur09:40 23/08/2011ULAN-UDE, August 23 (RIA Novosti) Related News North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, who is traveling across Russia in his armored train, arrived in the south Siberian republic of Buryatia on Tuesday, the regional government said. Kim's route across Buryatia is under tight secrecy. However witnesses said his cortege was headed towards Lake Baikal, where ambitious resort facilities are under construction.
• Kim Jong-il's Russia Trip Prompted by Economic Hardship
  North Korean leader Kim Jong-il talks with the governor of Amur Oblast, Oleg Kozhemyako, on arrival at Bureya Station on Sunday. /Courtesy of Port Amur The main reason for Kim Jong-il's visit to Russia that began on Saturday seems to be North Korea's dire economic hardship, a senior Unification Ministry official said Sunday. The North Korean regime urgently needs money to celebrate regime founder Kim Il-sung's 100th birthday next year, when it has announced it will become a "powerful and prosperous" nation.
• Kim Jong Il Visits Amur Region of Russian Federation
  Pyongyang, August 21 (KCNA) -- Kim Jong Il, general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and chairman of the National Defence Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, visited Amur Region in the Far East Region of the Russian Federation on August 21. He arrived in Amur Region this morning. Flags of the two countries were seen fluttering at Bureya Railway Station and crowd was present there with pennants of the two countries in their hands.
• NK, Russia likely to hold summit Wednesday
  By Kim Young-jin North Korean leader Kim Jong-il will likely hold summit talks with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Wednesday, a day later than expected, officials said as the reclusive leader continued his trip to the neighboring country. The meeting could be pushed back to enable Kim to make a symbolic stop at an oil pipeline, an intelligence source said. Reports said Kim’s armored train was headed to the eastern Siberian city of Ulan-Ude, where the summit will be held, on the third day of Kim’s first trip to Russia in nine years.
• Russia Trip Hints North Korea Is Ready to Do Business
  By CHOE SANG-HUN Published: August 21, 2011 SEOUL, South Korea — An armored train carried the North Korean leader Kim Jong-il to a hydroelectric plant in Siberia on Sunday, according to news reports and two South Korean officials, amid signs that Mr. Kim might be seeking a lucrative role in relaying Russian energy sources to South Korea and Japan. [Russia NK] [Inversion]
• North Korean leader Kim Jong Il arrives in Russia
  Photos
• N.Korean leader's train arrives in Russia's Khasan
  North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's special train arrived in Russia's Khasan Saturday, a government source here said. “We understand Chairman Kim's special train arrived at Khasan Station at about 10 a.m. after crossing the border between North Korea and Russia and that a welcoming ceremony is happening there,” the source said. Kim Jong-il may begin his Russian visit on Saturday and is expected to hold summit talks with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in a Siberian city on Tuesday, an informed source here said. The Kim-Medvedev summit will take place at a military facility in Ulan Ude, said the source, noting an advance team from the Kremlin has already arrived in the third-largest city in eastern Siberia. The Russian daily Izvestia also reported Friday, quoting an official of the country's presidential office, that the leaders of North Korea and Russia will meet in Ulan Ude next week. Ulan Ude is the capital city of the Buryat Republic, Russia, located about 100 kilometers southeast of Lake Baikal, with a population of about 400,000. Major industries there are metals and machinery.
• NK leader welcomed by Russian officials in border station
  08-20-2011 18:23 SEOUL/MOSCOW (Yonhap) ? North Korean leader Kim Jong-il arrived in the Russian Far East aboard a special train on Saturday on his first visit to the neighbor country since 2002, a government source in Seoul said. Kim's train crossed the North Korean-Russian border early Saturday morning and stopped in the Russian border city of Khasan around 10 a.m., about two to three hours behind schedule, said the source.
• With North Korea in Need, Kim Jong-il Goes to Russia
  By MICHAEL SCHWIRTZ Published: August 20, 2011 MOSCOW — North Korea’s reclusive leader, Kim Jong-il, rumbled across the border into Russia aboard an armored train early Saturday amid growing hopes for a resumption of talks over ending his country’s nuclear weapons program. It was Mr. Kim’s first visit to Russia in nearly a decade, part of a return to the international stage that experts say may have been prompted by an urgent need for economic aid to assuage a spiraling food crisis at home. Yet, as in past visits abroad, Mr. Kim, who reports say lives in constant fear for his security, has kept the details of his trip secret. The Kremlin released a terse statement on Saturday, saying the North Korean leader would visit sites in Russia’s Far East and Siberia, and meet with the president, Dmitri A. Medvedev. [Media]
• N. Korean leader Kim Jong Il arrives in Russia ahead of Medvedev meeting
  By Chico Harlan, Saturday, August 20, 10:21 AM TOKYO — In a rare foreign visit confirmed by Pyongyang’s state-run media, North Korean leader Kim Jong Il arrived Saturday via armored train in Russia, where he is to discuss economic projects and meet with President Dmitry Medvedev. A Kremlin statement described the meeting between the leaders as the “main event” during Kim’s trip to the Far East and Siberian regions. The trip comes at a time when the Stalinist dictatorship is pushing for aid and facing international pressure to resume nuclear talks, suspended since early 2009. N. Korean leader Kim Jong Il arrives in Russia ahead of summit meeting .Kim’s train passed into Russia on Saturday morning near the border town of Khasan. South Korea’s Yonhap news agency, citing a government source in Seoul, said that Kim would meet with Medvedev on Tuesday in Ulan Ude, a Siberian town several hundred miles northwest of Vladivostok.
• Short Track Star Ahn Confirms Emigration to Russia
  Ahn Hyun-soo Short track star Ahn Hyun-soo has applied for Russian citizenship, he confirmed on his website on Wednesday. This is a preliminary move for the skater, who has notched an impressive haul of five world titles and three Olympic gold medals in his illustrious career, to represent Russia when it hosts the Winter Olympics in Sochi in 2014.
• Vladivostok Teeming with N.Korean Laborers
  In the scorching afternoon heat last Thursday, two Asian laborers sat in front of a grocery store near a building site in Vladivostok, Russia, cooling themselves with mugs of draft beer. When asked if they were North Koreans, the men asked, "Are you from South Korea?" One of the laborers, who was in his 40s, then said there were around 50 workers from all over North Korea, including Pyongyang and Nampo, at this particular site alone, and they can be seen at practically every construction site in Vladivostok
• Russia Wants to Boost Cooperation with 2 Koreas
  Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said his country is willing to step up cooperation with both Koreas in gas, energy and railways, North Korea's state-run KCNA news agency reported Monday. In a message to North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il on Korea’s 66th Liberation Day, Medvedev said Russia is willing to expand cooperation with North Korea in matters of mutual concern, including a trilateral project in gas, energy and railway construction involving Russia and both Koreas.
• Russia urges N.Korea to help with border projects
  Global Times | August 16, 2011 04:40 By AFP Share South Korean family members of victims of World War II hold portraits of family members during an anti-Japanese rally to commemorate the 66th anniversary of liberation from Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule in Seoul Monday. Photo: AFP Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has called for cooperation with North Korea in the building of a gas pipeline, railways and power lines across the heavily fortified border with South Korea. The call came in a message sent by Medvedev to North Korean leader Kim Jong-il Monday, on the occasion of the anniversary of the end of Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean peninsula. "We have willingness to boost cooperation with North Korea in all directions of mutual concern including a three-party plan encompassing Russia, North and South Korea in the fields of gasification, energy and railway construction," read the message published by the North's official Korean Central News Agency. Russia will ship at least 10 billion cubic meters of natural gas to South Korea every year from 2017, and wants to build a gas pipeline across North Korea to transport this gas. Talks are also under way between Russia and North Korea on the laying of power lines and railways. "They will be of important economic significance and contribute to stabilizing the situation in Northeast Asia and denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula," the Russian leader said. South Korean President Lee Myung-bak also urged North Korea in a speech marking the anniversary to stop military "provocation" and work toward peace and cooperation on the divided peninsula. "We have lived in an era of confrontation for the past six decades. Now is the time to ... open the age of peace and cooperation," Lee said. [Media]
• Greetings to Kim Jong Il from Russian President
  Pyongyang, August 15 (KCNA) -- Kim Jong Il, chairman of the National Defence Commission of the DPRK, Monday received a message of greeting from D. Medvedev, president of the Russian Federation on the occasion of the day of Korea's liberation. The message said: Esteemed Your Excellency Kim Jong Il, I congratulate you on the occasion of the day of Korea's liberation, national holiday of the Korean people. We feel thankful to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea for valuing the memory of the Soviet Army soldiers who made great contributions to the cause of liberating Korea from the colonial rule. History proved the solidity of the friendship between the peoples of our two countries. We have willingness to boost cooperation with the DPRK in all directions of mutual concern including a three-party plan encompassing Russia, the DPRK and the Republic of Korea in the fields of gasification, energy and railway construction. They will be of important economic significance and contribute to stabilizing the situation in Northeast Asia and denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula. Respected Your Excellency Kim Jong Il, Please accept my best wishes for your good health and success in your work and the Korean people's peace and prosperity. Respectfully Yours.
• N.Korea Favors S.Korea-Russia Gas Pipeline
  North Korea is "positive" about a project to lay an overland gas pipeline transporting Russian natural gas to South Korea, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Thursday. Lavrov, who met with his South Korean counterpart Kim Sung-hwan in Moscow on Monday, added he is optimistic about the success of the project, according to a South Korean government official. Executives from Gazprom, Russia's largest extractor of natural gas, met with North Korean officials recently and agreed to meet again to discuss the details, Russian officials told their South Korean counterparts. During President Lee Myung-bak's first visit to Russia in September 2008, South Korea and Russia signed a memorandum of understanding whereby Seoul will import 7.5 million tons of natural gas from Siberia every year for 30 years from 2015. Once completed, the pipeline would reduce transportation cost for Russian natural gas to a mere 30 percent of the current cost of transporting it by ship. Meanwhile, diplomatic sources speculated that there is a chance that North Korean leader Kim Jong-il will visit Vladivostok to meet with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, probably next month when Putin is in Siberia to mark the completion of a gas pipeline from Sakhalin to Vladivostok.
• S.Korea, Russia and N.Korea move forward with gas pipeline
  Seoul has promoted the project in part as a step toward improving inter-Korean relations By Son Won-je, Staff Writer The South Korean government has decided to move ahead with a three-way economic cooperation project, together with North Korea and Russia, to build a pipeline to carry Russian natural gas through North Korea without preconditions such as an apology from North Korean for the sinking of the Cheonan and the shelling of Yeonpyeong Island. [Energy]

• U.S.-Russian Relations and the Rise of China
  By Anatol Lieven, New America Foundation July 11, 2011 | President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev sign documents on nuclear arms reduction before a news conference at the Kremlin in Moscow on July 6, 2009. (Photo/White House - Chuck Kennedy) Since the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union, U.S. policies towards Russia have been characterized by a level of hostility which is not justified by Russian threats to U.S. interests. These U.S. attitudes towards Russia have both encouraged and been encouraged by a strategy of the expansion of U.S. influence and U.S.-led alliance systems at Russia's expense. This has led the U.S. into strategic commitments in regions which past generations of U.S. policymakers would have regarded as almost surreally distant from real U.S. concerns. Not surprisingly, this U.S. strategy has converted what in the early 1990s was an almost exaggerated level of respect for the U.S. among educated Russians into feelings of distrust and hostility which extend from the security elites into much of the population. [US Russia] [US global strategy] [China confrontation]
• Talks Held between Ministry of Oil Industry, Gazprom of Russia Delegations
  Pyongyang, July 5 (KCNA) --Talks between the delegation of the Ministry of Oil Industry of the DPRK and the delegation of Gazprom of Russia were held at the Mansudae Assembly Hall Tuesday. Present at the talks from the DPRK side were Minister of Oil Industry Kim Hui Yong, officials concerned and from the Russian side members of the delegation of Gazprom of Russia headed by its Deputy Managing Chairman Alexandr Ananenkov. At the talks both sides discussed cooperation in oil and gas and a series of other issues of bilateral concern.

• Kim Jong-il's Train Stops Short of Russian Border
  Kim Jong-il (left) and Dmitry Medvedev An armored train believed to be carrying North Korean leader Kim Jong-il was spotted heading to the Russian border on Tuesday evening. Diplomatic sources in Seoul said U.S. and South Korean intelligence officials confirmed that the armored train left Pyongyang and headed toward Hamgyong Province, and Kim was expected to meet Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in Vladivostok. But the train never crossed the border, according to a source.
• N.Korea, Russia Cancel Summit
  North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has apparently cancelled a visit to the eastern Russian port city of Vladivostok to meet with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. "It's my understanding that a summit between Chairman Kim Jong-il and President Dmitry Mevedev was known to be scheduled to take place in Russia's Far Eastern region of Vladivostok on June 30 or July 1," a senior South Korean government source told the Yonhap news agency. "We have no idea yet why the talks were canceled."
• Leaders of N. Korea, Russia planning summit: reports
  TOKYO/MOSCOW (Yonhap) -- Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il are planning to hold their first meeting later this month or early next month in the Russian Far East, news reports claimed late Thursday. Citing local officials and Russian public security officials, Kyodo News reported that the two countries are considering having a summit around next Thursday on the outskirts of Vladivostok or in the Khasan region of Russia, near the border with North Korea.
• Kim Jong-il 'to Meet Medvedev'
  Dmitry Medvedev /Yonhap-Reuters North Korean leader Kim Jong-il and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev may meet next week in Vladivostok, PrimaMedia, a news agency for Russia's Far East, said Thursday. Medvedev "will visit Vladivostok between June 29 and July 1 to inspect preparations for the APEC Summit there next year and there is the possibility of a summit with North Korean leader Kim during the visit," PrimaMedia reported. "This has been confirmed by several sources." If the summit takes place, it would be the first meeting between the leaders of the two countries in nine years. Kim and Putin also met in Pyongyang in July of 2000, in Moscow in August 2001 and in Vladivostok in August of 2002 to discuss economic cooperation.

• Resolving the North Korean nuclear impasse: a Russian perspective
  May 19th, 2011 Author: Alexander Vorontsov, Russian Academy of Sciences During 2010, the nuclear problem on the Korean Peninsula played itself out in an intense, unchecked manner in the midst of worsening inter-Korean relations. At the same time, the mechanisms for resolving, freezing and eventually eliminating its nuclear program were virtually inactive. This applies to both the bilateral formats and the main international tool designed to meet those goals, the six-party talks. A fundamental factor behind the crisis on the Korean peninsula, beginning with the tragic sinking of the Cheonan in March 2010, appears to be North Korean resistance to the US-ROK alliance. This is not new, but escalated to a new level of antagonism. The initial strategic vision of the current ROK administration of Lee Myung-bak was to rapidly and decisively push North Korea to breaking point and unify the two countries — ‘absorbing’ the North. [Takeover]
• Lend-Lease Contribution to the Victory Over Nazis Overstated
  07.05.2011 Sergei Smolyannikov, political scientist (Ukraine) On the eve of the anniversary of the triumph over Nazis, we are reliving step by step the Soviet people's march to the great victory. It took years of fighting – in deep defense and in fearless attacks - to go all the way from the first battles at the border of the USSR to the glorious moments when Berlin was finally taken and the red flag was put atop the hills of Port Arthur. Those who worked tirelessly in the wartime to supply the Red Army which permanently needed new supplies of weapons and materiel made a tremendous contribution to the victory. In Russia in that epoch, it was not uncommon for women, senior citizens, and even children to take the physically challenging jobs left by the men who were fighting the Nazi. [F&E]

• Moscow’s Views on the Korean Peninsula
  By Alexander Vorontsov The Korean peninsula quite often reminds one of a pendulum swinging back and forth from crisis to negotiation. Now it looks as if the situation is beginning to move toward a new phase of talks. Observers often view this process as a vicious cycle. Nevertheless, from Russia’s perspective, negotiations are definitely better then confrontation. Last year, inter-Korean relations were aggravated to a point of dangerous escalation. There were many reasons why this happened. One reason was that throughout 2010, the U.S.-ROK alliance exerted unprecedented pressure on both North Korea (in order to facilitate regime collapse) and China to show Beijing that the price of supporting North Korea was becoming excessively burdensome, hoping thus to break the Chinese away from Pyongyang. What has been the result? These goals have gone unfulfilled. North Korea’s domestic political environment not only remains quite stable, but the political system has become increasingly consolidated and friendly relations between China and North Korea have continued to deepen across the board. At the same time, North Korea’s nuclear programs have remained largely unchecked. Pyongyang’s behavior has not improved, but instead has become more decisive and dangerous. For instance, North Korea’s November 23 artillery shelling of South Korea’s Yeonpyeong Island was, in part, to send a signal that the North is ready to fight for its survival at any price. As Victor Cha so soundly stressed in his recent Congressional testimony, “even a hawk must acknowledge that a long-term policy of sanctions and military exercises, in the end, may lead to war before they lead to a collapse of the regime.”[1] [Collapse] [Buildup]
• N.Korean Embassy Buildings in Moscow 'House Casino'
  A building that is part of the North Korean Embassy in Moscow is being used as an illegal casino, Russian media reported Thursday. According to the daily Izvestia, the North Korean government rented out a 2,000 sq. m administrative building adjoining the embassy to a company which registered it as a restaurant, but Russian authorities believe a casino has been operating there since December.
• The Russian Perspective on the Korean Peninsula in 2010 and Implications for the Future
  by Alexander Vorontsov April 1, 2011 Alexander Vorontsov, Director of the Department for Korean and Mongolian Studies at the Russian Academy of Sciences, writes, “We have concluded that the only real, workable method to first halt, then try gradually to limit, and, in the long run, eliminate North Korea’s nuclear programs and capability is for the main players to enter substantive negotiations on the issues as soon as possible. And while we closely monitor Pyongyang’s fulfillment of its obligations, we should not fail to meet our own.” [Engagement] [Russia]

• Pyongyang – Seoul: In Quagmire, with Dim Prospects for Solution
  21.02.2011 Alexander Vorontsov Head Korea Department Institute for Oriental studies of the Russian Academy of Science Oleg Revenko Political analyst Early this February, the South and North Korean army command envoys met in Panmunjom, on the de facto border between the two countries, to reach an agreement on the agenda, date, and location for the higher level talks suggested by Pyongyang at the end of January. The otherwise routine event drew abundant international coverage as the first inter-Korean contact since the unprecedented escalation in the late 2010, when, perhaps for the first time since the 1950-1953 war, a shelling of an island in the proximity of the border left the two Koreas on the brink of a full-blown armed conflict. At the time, only the urgent involvement of the neighbor countries, including Russia, combined with the UN Security Council's efforts helped to prevent the spiraling of the hostilities.
  While the mainstream perception is that the conflicts between the Koreas stem from the North Korean “totalitarian” regime's maintaining a nuclear program and pursuing likewise risky policies, the crisis actually has much deeper roots. In particular, certain aspects of the approach to North Korea adopted by Lee Myung-bak's conservative administration are downright alarming. Fairly quickly, South Korea wasted fully the positive inertia accumulated over the relatively peaceful past decade and opted for undermining the regime in North Korea as the cornerstone of its strategy. The lesson to be learned is that the egoistic and short-sighted policies on both sides contributed to the stalemate. As a result, other countries, notably Russia which under an unfavorable scenario may face a threat to its security, should seek a bigger role in resolving the conflict.
• N.Korea Red-Faced as Russia Denies UN Security Council Claim
  North Korea was acutely embarrassed on Saturday when the Russian Foreign Ministry rebutted its claim that Moscow does not back UN Security Council debate on its uranium enrichment program. The North made the claim last Wednesday. But the Russian statement said North Korea's uranium enrichment capability has reached a level where it can violate UNSC resolutions and needs more careful international inspection. "We respect the opinions of other permanent members of the Security Council on this issue," it added. The North's official KCNA news agency had claimed, "Russia does not back UNSC debate, but media reports make it look as if the country were backing such debate." Earlier on Jan. 28, Alexei Borodavkin, the chief Russian negotiator to the six-party talks on the North Korean nuclear program, said in Seoul that Russia does not oppose UNSC debate on the issue. "Russia is displeased at the North's arbitrary distortion of its stance," a South Korean Foreign Ministry official said. "The Russian statement is a warning to the North."

• Russia Distances Itself from China Over N.Korea
  Russia distanced itself from China in discussions about North Korea at the UN Security Council on Sunday, Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan said Tuesday. "In the process of adopting the statement, Russia clearly stated its intention to join international condemnation," Kim said. "I do not believe Russia is acting in concert with China." It was Russia that called the emergency UNSC meeting on Sunday to discuss South Korea's artillery drill on Yeonpyeong Island. But it apparently agreed to most of the demands made by the U.S. and the U.K., which stressed that the statement must focus on North Korea's provocations. "Russia supported calls to condemn North Korea's artillery attack on Yeonpyeong Island. The statement was not adopted because of opposition from China," Kim said.
• Russian, N.Korean Diplomats Discuss Regional Situation
  Senior Russian and North Korean diplomats met Tuesday in Moscow to discuss ways of stabilizing the situation on the Korean Peninsula. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Aleksey Borodavkin told North Korean ambassador Kim Jong-yae that Moscow remains committed to six-party talks on North Korean disarmament. He said Russia will work to help find
• End of an Epoch or a Fresh Start?
  20.12.2010 Andrei Volodin,political scientist, PhD(History), professor Russian president D. Medvedev will visit Delhi on December 21-22. Russia and India share a decades-long record of strategic partnership, and – considering that the relations between the two countries will largely shape the configuration of the emerging post-unipolar world order - the two heavyweights' contacts are drawing attention worldwide. The Soviet-Indian strategic partnership can be traced back to the epoch which followed the 1962 border conflict between India and China. By the time Moscow was already locked in an ideological conflict with Beijing and readily responded to Delhi's arms-buying appetites, while the West avoided clearly-defined obligations to India. Shortly thereafter, in the 1960ies-1970ies, the relations between the USSR and India grew into a full-scale strategic partnership. In the 1970ies the Soviet foreign-politics strategy gave India the role of a counterforce to China as the US-Chinese rapprochement was looming on the horizon. [Border war][Russia India]
• Russia's Diplomacy Moves in Mysterious Ways
  Jung Byung-sun The diplomatic moves Russia made last week carried the classic signature of the Kremlin. The "citadel," as Kremlin literally translates, remains shrouded in a thick veil of secrecy, and its moves are difficult to predict. After criticizing North Korea repeatedly over the artillery attack on Yeonpyong, Russia on Saturday abruptly demanded an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council, taking issue with planned South Korean artillery drills on on Yeonpyeong Island that have been held annually for decades. Just a few days ago Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov sharply criticized the artillery attack when he met North Korean Foreign Minister Pak Ui-chun, and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin also criticized North Korea's uranium enrichment program. Such contradictory behavior affirms Moscow's reputation for unpredictability. Following Russia's rare rebuke of the North, some South Korean diplomats got mistaken impression that they had gained a new ally. One South Korean diplomat even said, "Russia showed clear resolve not to protect North Korea any longer on the international stage." When it became clear that the North was solely responsible for the artillery attack, Russia could no longer remain silent on the issue and abandoned its amiable attitude to the North, the diplomat said. But that view quickly lost ground when Moscow began to take issue with the South Korean military exercises [Peace effort] [Cash]
• Russia urges Seoul to skip military drills in Yellow Sea
  English.news.cn 2010-12-17 21:44:42 MOSCOW, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- The Russian Foreign Ministry on Friday urged South Korea to skip planned military drills in the Yellow Sea, the ministry said in a statement. "The Russian Foreign Ministry importantly urges the Republic of Korea to restrain from the planned artillery gunnery to prevent further escalation of the tension in the Korean peninsula," the ministry said, adding that Moscow has been "highly concerned" with the possible aggravation of the situation there. The Foreign Ministry called on Pyongyang and Seoul to resume dialogue and to resolve all problems between the two states through political and diplomatic means. South Korea plans a live fire artillery drill from Dec 18 to Dec 21 near the island of Yeonpyeong in the Yellow Sea. The firing range practice in the same area in November led to the exchange of artillery fire between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and South Korea, killing two marines and two civilians. [Clash] [Peace effort]
• U.S. and Russia find some common ground on the Koreas
  15:33 16/12/2010© REUTERS/ Kim Kyung-HoonRIA Novosti political commentator Dmitry Kosyrev On Wednesday night, South Korea's Special Representative for Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs Wi Sung-lac departed from Moscow after talks at the Russian Foreign Ministry, two days after North Korean Foreign Minister Park Ui Chun had been there. These visits might look like the usual and often useless routine that always precedes the latest round of six-party talks on the North Korean nuclear program. But there are a few meaningful differences this time. To begin with, it is unclear whether it will even be possible to gather together all six nations - China, Japan, North Korea, Russia, South Korea and the United States. Moreover, there are doubts about the values of the talks. Some have proposed trying a new negotiating format. What is clear is that the Korean nuclear threat and related problems demand solutions, whether they are found in Beijing or elsewhere. There have been muted signals that Moscow and Washington are coming to a silent understanding on the Korean problem, given recent developments in the region. This has the potential to realign forces in Northeast Asia.
• Putin Urges N.Korea to Comply with UN Resolutions
  Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Tuesday urged North Korea to "unconditionally comply with UN Security Council resolutions" on its nuclear development. The previous day, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov denounced the North for its shelling of the South Korean island of Yeonpyeong in November.
• Russia Slams N.Korea Over Island Attack
  Russia on Monday criticized North Korea over the artillery attack on Yeonpyeong Island last month, brushing aside claims that it was a response to a preemptive strike by the South.    "It was confirmed that a fatal artillery attack on a nation's territory deserves denouncement," said a statement the Russian Foreign Ministry issued Monday after Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met his North Korean counterpart Pak Ui-chun [Clash]
• DPRK FM Spokesman on Talks between DPRK and Russia  
    Pyongyang, December 14 (KCNA) -- A spokesman for the DPRK Foreign Ministry today gave the following answer to a question put by KCNA as regards the talks held between foreign ministers of the DPRK and Russia in Moscow: Pak Ui Chun, foreign minister of the DPRK on a visit to Russia at the invitation of its Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, had talks with his Russian counterpart and signed the 2011-2012 plan for exchange between the two foreign ministries in Moscow on December 13. At the talks both sides estimated the fact that the two countries jointly commemorated in a significant manner the 10th anniversary of the DPRK-Russia joint declaration and the conclusion of the DPRK-Russia treaty this year and had an in-depth discussion on the matters of further developing the traditional DPRK-Russia relations of friendship and cooperation before reaching an agreement of views. An open-hearted exchange of views was also made there on regional and international issues of mutual concern. The Russian side gave a profound understanding of the DPRK's stand toward the grave situation recently prevailed on the Korean Peninsula and expressed deep apprehension over the facts that the Yonphyong Island incident occurred due to south Korea's provocation and the U.S. and south Korea have staged large-scale military exercises one after another, steadily aggravating the situation of the peninsula. On the LWR construction and production of enriched uranium for fuel supply by the DPRK, the Russian side took notice of the DPRK's stand that nuclear activity for peaceful purposes is the independent right of each country. Both sides agreed to make joint efforts to defend peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula through bilateral and multilateral talks, including the six-party talks, in keeping with the spirit of respect for sovereignty and the principle of simultaneous action stipulated in the September 19 Joint Statement.  
• Russian Armed Forces on High Alert Over North Korea
  Photo Courtesy - Yonhap News Agency(MOSCOW) -- Russia announced Tuesday that its armed forces in the east are on high alert. This comes in light of what it calls an "inadequate situation" on the Korean peninsula as tensions have increased in recent weeks between the North and South. The head of Russia's military said they continue to follow what is happening and have taken measures to raise the forces' combat readiness. On Monday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov welcomed his North Korean counterpart to Moscow. In the meeting, Lavrov expressed concern with North Korea's ongoing uranium enrichment activities. He also condemned North Korea's attack on the South's Yeonpyeong Island, which has been the source of the recent increased tension. South Korea's top nuclear official is on his way to Moscow to discuss the disclosure of North Korea's newest uranium enrichment facility and the shelling of Yeonpyeong Island. Russia joined the U.S. and others in condemning the November attack, which killed four people and brought about the highest tension on the peninsula in years. Copyright 2010 ABC News Radio [Media]
• 2 Koreas Lobby Russia for Support
  Senior South and North Korean foreign ministry officials are visiting Russia almost simultaneously this week to persuade Moscow of their point of view about the North's artillery attack on Yeonpyeong Island and its uranium program. South Korea's chief nuclear negotiator Wi Sung-lac is to meet Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Alexei Borodavkin on Wednesday, while North Korean Foreign Minister Pak Ui-chun holds held talks with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov on Monday. Russian officials did not directly blame the North for the torpedo attack on the South Korean Navy corvette Cheonan in March, but Lavrov himself strongly denounced the North for the shelling of Yeonpyeong. However, Russia, a participating nation of the six-party nuclear talks, believes China's proposal for a meeting of chief negotiators in the talks should be discussed, whereas South Korea, the U.S. and Japan have rejected the idea. A South Korean Foreign Ministry official said, "Russia too is concerned about the North's recent disclosure of a uranium enrichment facility, so we'll explain to Russian officials that Seoul, Washington and Tokyo demand the North stop uranium enrichment and ask Russia to join us." Russia, like China, is a permanent UN Security Council member. The North's Pak reportedly asked Lavrov for Russia's support and relayed the regime's claim that the shelling of Yeonpyeong was a response to a "preemptive strike" by the South. Lavrov visited Pyongyang in April last year. Wi has no plan to meet Pak in Moscow, a Foreign Ministry official said.
• WorldRussia concerned over North Korean nukes
  Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov expressed concern on Monday over North Korea's recent nuclear revelations. In late November, Pyongyang disclosed to visiting U.S. experts an operational uranium enrichment facility at Yongbyon, prompting fears that the isolated country has begun developing nuclear weapons. Lavrov held talks with North Korean Foreign Minister Pak Ui-Chun in Moscow earlier on Monday. "Lavrov has expressed deep concern over the information that facilities to enrich uranium are being built at Yongbyon and called on North Korea to abide by UN Security Council resolutions 1718 and 1874," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. The statement also condemned Pyongyang's shelling of the South's Yeonpyeong Island in the Yellow Sea on November 23, which killed four people and led both sides to threaten war. North Korea has been subjected to several rounds of UN Security Council sanctions since it declared itself a nuclear power in 2005. The state broke off talks with South Korea, China, the United States, Japan and Russia over its nuclear program last April. [LWR] [UNUS] [Double standards]
• Moscow dismisses Tokyo’s claims of disrupting US-Japanese naval drills
  08 December, 2010, 12:28 Edited: 08 December, 2010, 19:35 Il -38 (RIA Novosti / Vitaly Ankov) Japan claims two Russian military planes violated its airspace in the middle of the largest ever US-Japanese military exercises. On Wednesday, a Japanese official said a pair of Russian military planes illegally flew over Japanese waters during US-Japanese military exercises in the Sea of Japan. The incident apparently took place on Monday, and caused the drills to be temporarily suspended. Russia denies the allegations. Interfax news agency quoted Roman Martov, a spokesperson for Russia's Pacific Fleet, as saying: “The planes were carrying out planned flights in the area of everyday activity for the fleet. Russia did not commit any breaches of international rules on the use of air space or of flight rules.” The military exercises, named “Keen Sword”, kicked off on December 3, and will last for another two days. They are the largest joint war games to be held in the region, with around 44,000 military personnel taking part. South Korea is an observer in the exercises. The drills follow similar US-South Korean maneuvers in the Yellow Sea, which began after the shelling of a South Korean island by the North two weeks ago, that killed at least four South Koreans. Meanwhile, Dmitry Streltsov, head of Asian and African studies at Moscow State University of International Relations, told RT that border violations have happened numerous times in the past, both on the Russian and Japanese side. He noted that such incidents do not usually spark any sort of conflict. Streltsov added that the incident probably has nothing to do with Russia’s Kuril Islands in the Far East, which Japan claims as its own. The two countries have still not signed a peace treaty after the end of World War II, leaving the Kurils a disputed territory. Last month President Dmitry Medvedev visited the islands, sparking a diplomatic row with Tokyo. [Joint US military]
• North Korea no longer takes the U.S. security guarantees seriously
  South Korea's troops near Korean Demilitarized Zone 16:09 08/12/2010© REUTERS/ Kim Jae-HwanBy Alexei Fenenko Valdai Club's interview with Alexei Fenenko, Leading Research Fellow, Institute of International Security Studies of RAS, Russian Academy of Sciences What, in your opinion, the most likely scenario for the situation on the Korean Peninsula? The situation on the Korean peninsula has been tense for the past 20 years. During this period, Korea has already experienced three nuclear scares – in 1994, 2003 and 2009 – when both the regional war scenario and that of pre-emptive U.S. strikes on North Korean nuclear facilities were seriously considered. From my point of view, the greatest danger in the Korean crisis lays in the fact that continued tension benefits all key regional players. First of all, it is favorable for North Korea itself, which uses it as a tool to exert leverage on other countries, mainly the United States, while demanding economic aid and security guarantees from the international community. Secondly, it is beneficial for the United States, which on the one hand, is seeking to establish a forced disarmament plan for the “illegal nuclear state”, and on the other, to implement a major commercial project: the 1994 Agreed Framework, under which the Americans sought to replace North Korea’s heavy water reactors with light water ones. Japan also benefits from this strained state of affairs. It is exploiting the tension to push for the re-signing of the United States-Japan 1960 Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security. And it is certainly beneficial for China, as it can use the North Korean crisis to demonstrate that without China, there will be little chance of resolving the region’s major problems. [Bizarre]
• Allies ratchet up pressure on China, Russia
  By Kang Hyun-kyung South Korea’s chief nuclear negotiator Wi Sung-lac will head for Russia next week to discuss with his counterpart there ways to handle North Korea, which recently unveiled a uranium enrichment program and launched a deadly attack on Yeonpyeong Island. His trip to Russia coincides with the U.S. government’s increasing pressure on China, a decades-long benefactor of the North, to exert its influence to stop the Stalinist state’s belligerent acts.
• NKorea sends top diplomat to Russia amid tensions
  By KIM KWANG-TAE The Associated Press Saturday, December 11, 2010; 8:35 AM SEOUL, South Korea -- North Korea warned Saturday that it is ready for an all-out war even as it dispatched its top diplomat to Russia amid a flurry of regional diplomatic efforts to defuse tensions over the North's deadly artillery attack on South Korea. North Korean Foreign Minister Pak Ui Chun left for Russia, the North's official Korean Central News Agency said in a one-sentence report. No details were given, but Pak accused South Korea and the United States on Friday of pursuing a policy of hostility and confrontation and reiterated that North Korea needs its nuclear program to fend them off. "We once again feel convinced that we have made the right choice in strengthening our defenses with the nuclear deterrent," the Russian news agency Interfax quoted him as saying in an interview. The North's National Peace Committee also claimed that the U.S. and South Korea are pushing the situation on the Korean peninsula close to all-out war.
• N.Korean Attack (sic) 'Acute and Disturbing,' Says Putin
  Vladimir Putin Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has suggested that China certainly has leverage to rein in North Korea. Putin was speaking on the Larry King Live talk show on CNN on Thursday. Asked if China should be more active in resolving the North Korean issues, Putin said, "Everyone should do everything possible so that the situation could enter into a normal channel. The People's Republic of China has levers of influence, first of all in the economic sense, but it's more important to remember that when relating to the interests of the Korean people, this has to be done with respect, both to the North and South Koreans." Putin said that he finds the situation (sic) in the Korean Peninsula "very acute and disturbing" after a series of recent incidents -- North Korea’s shelling of Yeonpyeong Island and disclosure of an uranium enrichment facility -- as they are happening right near Russian borders. But he was evasive about whether he supports China’s proposal of continuing six-party talks. "The president manages the country's foreign policies and that question needs to be addressed to him first of all, but I believe on the whole that Russia is interested in the continuation of dialogue," he said. Putin added, "You have to have patience and choose the correct tone in dialogue and develop a unified position of all six states, which are all taking part in this quite complex agreement process. A unity of approaches is very important for overall success." If the U.S. does not ratify the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) signed with Russia, it will inevitably result in competition of expanding military budget. "That's not our choice. We don't want that to happen. But this is not a threat on our part," Putin said. "We've been simply saying that this is what all of us expects to happen if we don't agree on a joint effort there." U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev signed the new START in April, which would require both countries to limit the number of strategic nuclear warheads from current 2,200 to 1,550 each. [Media] [Clash]
• Russia sees N. Korea's uranium enrichment program as violation of U.N. resolutions
  SEOUL, Dec. 2 (Yonhap) -- A senior Russian diplomat told South Korean officials Thursday that North Korea's alleged uranium enrichment program constitutes a violation of U.N. resolutions and its own commitment to give up nuclear programs, an official said. Moscow's deputy nuclear envoy, Grigory Logvinov, made the remark at a meeting in Seoul with South Korea's chief nuclear negotiator Wi Sung-lac and his deputy Cho Hyun-dong, a foreign ministry official said on condition of anonymity. "Regarding the UEP (uranium enrichment program) issue, Russia takes a clear position that the North's uranium enrichment is a violation of U.S. Security Council resolutions and the Sept. 19 joint statement" under which Pyongyang pledged to give up nuclear programs, the ministry official said. [Double standards] [JS050919] [UNUS]
• The Korean Peninsula: a Territory of Recurring Crises
  29.11.2010
  Alexander Vorontsov Head Korea DepartmentInstitute for Oriental studies of the Russian Academy of Science Oleg Revenko Political analyst A new escalation took place on the Korean Peninsula. The crisis began to unravel when a US envoy who visited N. Korea stated that up to 2,000 centrifuges were installed at the Yongbyon uranium enrichment facilities. The number, albeit too low to worry that the production of weapons-grade plutonium was on track, resonated with the West's traditionally alarmist perception of any news concerning N. Korea. To further complicate the situation, Pyongyang declared launching in the same region the construction of a light-water reactor which – according to the initial plan - was supposed to absorb the low-grade uranium from the Yongbyon facilities. The legality of N. Korea's nuclear program in the light of the international law continues to stir debates. No doubt, a sovereign country is entitled to civilian use of nuclear energy. The right was reaffirmed in the key September, 2005 joint statement adopted as a result of the six-party talks. On the other hand, Pyongyang should allow full IAEA oversight of its nuclear activities, which automatically implies N. Korea's reverting to the non-proliferation regime in the role of a non-nuclear state. UN Security Council Resolutions 1718 and 1874 require that N. Korea fully suspend its nuclear program until the international cooperation in the framework of the nonproliferation regime is re-established. In fact, the whole story looks mysterious. First, it is unclear how N. Korea managed to secretly build extensive enrichment facilities despite the extremely intense and technically advanced US surveillance. Experts deemed it a realistic assumption that N. Korea could be operating a dozen or two dozens of centrifuges formerly imported from Pakistan as experimental equipment, but the figure that surfaced recently sounds striking, especially considering that Pyongyang could have more facilities than it chose to demonstrate. The realism of the plan to build a light-water reactor in a poor country lacking the corresponding industrial base and technologies is questionable. For N. Korea, making the entire range of necessary equipment domestically is out of question while importing them should be impossible due to the current sanctions regime. The recent escalation between the Koreas did overshadow N. Korea's nuclear problem. On November 23 Pyongyang subjected the Yeonpyeong Island located 12-15 km away from the inter-Korean border to massive shelling, killing 4 people, injuring 20, and causing considerable devastations. N. Korea justified the shelling with a reference to S. Korea's aggressive conduct as the latter was carrying out military exercises on the island including missile launches. Missiles were of course fired not at N. Korea but towards the marine zone which remains contested since the end of the Korean War. S. Korea did not submit an advance notification concerning the launches and ignored Pyongyang's request that no military exercises be conducted in the proximity (sic) of the N. Korean territory.

• Russia to back UNSC statement on N. Korea
  By Kang Hyun-kyung South Korea’s push to take North Korea’s latest deadly attack on an island in the West Sea to the U.N. Security Council (UNSC) gained momentum after Russia, a permanent council member, gave its explicit support. In a news briefing Thursday (local time), Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov expressed the hope that UNSC members will produce a statement to condemn the North’s bombardment of Yeonpyeong Island. The deadly attack claimed the lives of two marines and two civilians — 15 marines and three civilians were wounded.
• North Koreans leave Russia's Far East to protect homeland – paper
  14:48 26/11/2010 North Korean citizens working in Russia's Far East rushed home after the recent military skirmish between North and South Korea, Russian popular daily Moskovsky Komsomolets said on Friday. North Korea opened artillery fire on the South's Yeonpyeong Island in the Yellow Sea Tuesday, killing at least two South Korean marines and two civilians. Sixteen others were injured, along with three civilians. The South retaliated and warned of further strikes. The North later accused South Korea of attacking first. "As soon as the message about rising tensions between both countries appeared, North Koreans took it as an unspoken call to stand up and protect their dictator Kim Jong-il," Moskovsky Komsomolets cited Russian news agency VladNews as saying. North Koreans, suffering from severe food shortages at home, often put their lives at risk to cross the short Russian-North Korean border in order to earn some money in outdoor markets and construction sites and buy food for malnourished relatives. Their disappearance has already affected the Russian Far East labor market, since the North Koreans are the lowest paid employees there, Moskovsky Komsomolets said. In the 1990s, North Korea suffered from one of the gravest famines in the 20th century. At least one million people died of hunger. "Hordes of malnourished children wander across the country. If policemen detain them, they are sent to overcrowded asylums where they die," the daily quoted a spokesman for the Open Doors human rights organization as saying. Until recently, North Korea was almost totally dependent on humanitarian aid from South Korea, China and the World Food Program, the main food aid supplier to North Korea. Recently, donors have been reluctant to render aid to North Korea because of restrictions on aid workers and the international condemnation of its nuclear program. MOSCOW, November 26 (RIA Novosti)  [Media]

• North, South Korea exchange artillery fire
  (Update 2) Topic: North Korea attacks South Korean island North Korea launched artillery fire at a South Korean island on Tuesday 10:12 23/11/2010© flickr.com/ diongillardRelated News North Korea attacks South Korean island (Update 1) North Korea launched artillery fire at a South Korean island on Tuesday, injuring four soldiers and provoking a retaliatory attack from the South, Seoul's YTN television reported. An eyewitness told the TV station that some 60 to 70 houses were ablaze on the Yeonpyeong island in the Yellow Sea. The island, which is off the countries' west coast, is populated by some 1,200 people.(suic) A spokesman for South Korea's joint chief of staff, Lee Bung-woo told the Xinhua news agency that "South Korea fired some 30 artillery shells back in response."
  The attack is the second by North Korea this year against its neighbor in the tense Yellow Sea border area. In March, a North Korean submarine was alleged to have torpedoed a South Korean naval ship, the Cheonan.(sic) [Media] [Clash] [Omission]
• Russia makes its debut at ASEM
  13:27 07/10/2010© RIA Novosti. Eduard PesovRIA Novosti political commentator Dmitry Kosyrev Related News Russia switching vector of interest to Asia - analyst Russia might handle 10-15% of cargo turnover between Asia and Europe Is Russia's bid for Europe "without borders" just wishful thinking? Russia's European security initiative should get fair hearing - Merkel A bridge connecting Europe and Asia Dmitry Medvedev attends European and Asian media forum Russia's debut at the Asia-Europe Meeting's (ASEM) latest session in Brussels was understated but elegant. President of the European Council Herman van Rompuy welcomed the three newcomers - Russia, Australia and New Zealand - and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov gave a short speech. With this latest addition, ASEM now has 48 members. ASEM is essentially a conference where participants can exchange views as equals. We live in an age of conferences and forums, which have become more frequent and numerous since the global financial crisis struck in September 2008.
• The Korean Peninsula: Challenges and Opportunities for Russia
  Special Report, October 7th, 2010 Russian National Committee
  Vyacheslav A. Nikonov (lead), Georgy D. Toloraya (editor), Alexander V. Vorotsov, Alexander Z. Zhebin, Ivan S. Zakharchenko, Grigory S. Logvinov, V.E. Novikov ,Alexander A. Pikaev, I.I. Sagitov.
  The Russian National Committee writes, “From the conceptual point of view, for Russia the most desired outcome is national reconciliation and the peaceful coexistence of the two Korean states on the path to an eventual unification of Korea over a long period of time. The appearance in the long-perspective of a unified Korea that seeks to maintain friendly, neighborly and cooperative relations with Russia does not contradict Russia’s core interests (in particular in comparison to other neighboring countries). At the same time, the prospects for a united Korea in the foreseeable future are quite low. However, it would be prudent to hedge our risks, as we cannot completely rule out the possibility of a sudden crisis that could lead to a rushed unification. The uncontrollable escalation of the Korean conflict remains a possibility, and the task of Russian policy is to not allow the “explosive” scenario to unfold and to explain that the most advantageous scenario is gradual convergence, which at the appropriate time would put voluntary rapprochement of state mechanisms on the agenda.”
  The escalation of tensions caused by the sinking of the Cheonan has largely been a result of a number of intentional actions taken by the South Korean government with support from the United States. Seoul has unleashed a campaign of unprecedented international pressure on North Korea, trying to achieve further isolation of Pyongyang, weakening of the regime and, subsequently, its capitulation. The path for achieving this is the strangling of North Korea through international pressure, bilateral sanctions and an economic blockade of the country, and a psychological war against Pyongyang aimed at breaking apart North Korean society from within. The success of such a policy, as they probably believe in Seoul, would allow its authors to inscribe their names in gold print in history as the “unifiers” of Korea. The stakes are high – if the Democratic opposition party comes to power in 2012 (and this party won in regional elections in early June 2010), investigations of corruption charges against might be restarted against Lee Myung-Bak and he may be accused of breaking economic cooperation agreements with North Korea [Takeover [Lee Myung-bak] [Russia] [Cheonan] [China confrontation]

• Russia won’t hand over Cheonan report to S Korea
  Russia will not hand over its findings on the Cheonan incident to South Korea, Yonhap News Agency reported Wednesday, citing a ranking Russian government official. “The report by Russian investigators on the sinking of the warship was prepared as a secret document for the Russian leadership. The government will not hand it over to South Korea or North Korea,” said Yonhap quoted Russia’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Alexei Borodavkin as saying at a Tuesday forum in Moscow. “Right now is not a time to determine the cause of the incident, but it is a time to find a way to lessen the tension in the East Asian region,” he said. “For that to be possible, it’s imperative for the six-party talks to resume.” In June, Russia dispatched four investigators to South Korea, who stayed in Seoul for a week, looking into what caused the warship to sink broken into two parts [Cheonan] [Coverup] [Russia]
• Russians need our support Only corruption and force hold Putin's pyramid of power together.
  Protests could bring about change Susan Richards The Guardian, Monday 30 August 2010 Russia is entering a potentially volatile period. Though Vladimir Putin remains a popular leader – and the economy, thanks to rising oil prices, looks set to grow by an enviable 4% this year – the pressure for political change is building. People's daily experience is of a yawning gap between their own poverty and the wealth of those with power; of a pyramid of power held together by greed and networks of corruption. This has been dramatically demonstrated by the inability of officialdom to bring this summer's forest fires under control. Around 75% of full-time forest rangers' jobs have gone; and in 2007 responsibility for firefighting was transferred from the state to the local authorities, where corruption is rampant. [Media] [Bizarre]
• Russian TV Blames N.Korea for Cheonan Sinking
  Russia's state-run television network reported that the South Korean warship Cheonan was sunk by a North Korean torpedo, citing international findings. The network 1-TV reported Friday that a North Korean torpedo was responsible for the sinking, which broke the vessel into two, killing 46 sailors on board in late March. Seoul's Defense Ministry said the announcement is confirmation that Moscow has accepted the evidence and that North Korea is at fault in the deadly incident. In May, a multinational team of investigators concluded that a North Korean torpedo sank the Cheonan. However, after the probe result was announced, a Russian investigation team of submarine and torpedo experts made an independent assessment which concluded that the multinational team's verdict was unconvincing as there was not enough evidence that a torpedo sank the warship. [Cheonan] [Coverup] [Media] [Russia]
• Gifts from Russia and the New Zealand Associations
  Pyongyang, September 13 (KCNA) -- General Secretary Kim Jong Il was presented with gifts by the Russkiy Mir Foundation of Russia, Far Eastern National University of Russia and the New Zealand-DPRK Society. The gifts were separately handed over to an official concerned by Georgii Toloraya, head of the delegation of the Russkiy Mir Foundation of Russia, Vladimir Verkholyak, member of the delegation of Far Eastern National University of Russia, and Richard Lawrence, delegate of Waikato Institute of Technology of New Zealand, who are participating in the 7th Pyongyang International Scientific and Technological Book Exhibition.
• A Weakened Russia Looks to Europe
   By STEPHEN FIDLER  The severe blow dealt to Russia by the West's financial crisis is prompting a recalibration of Russia's foreign policy. Among the ideas now surfacing in Moscow: a much closer relationship between Russia and the European Union. After years of rapid economic growth, Russia was hit hard by the crisis. Last year, its economy shrank by 7.9%. That put its economic performance in 206th place out of 213 countries, according to the Central Intelligence Agency. "What became clear from the financial crisis is that Russia is not a sustainable BRIC," said Mark Leonard, director of the European Council on Foreign Relations, using the initials for Brazil, Russia, India and China coined in 2001 to identify fast-growing, emerging economic powers. "While the other BRICs kept on growing, Russia's economy contracted. This emphasized the limits of Russian power." The enthusiastic "Russia is Back" slogans being bandied about two or three years ago have been replaced by growing fears of further decline. A draft report prepared by Russian members of the Valdai International Discussion Club, a group of academics and journalists who met over the past week in Russia, spelled out that fear. Unless Russia and the EU join forces and develop a strategy for co-development, the report said, "their international political influence will most likely be doomed to degradation." Without that alliance, the report said, Europe would turn into a "monument to its old grandeur," while Russia would risk becoming a raw-materials backyard for a rising Asia.   [Realignment] [Rising China]
• Russian Investigators' Report on Cheonan Sinking 'Inconclusive'
  Russian investigators submitted their final report on the sinking of the South Korean Navy corvette Cheonan to the National Security Council, an agency under presidential supervision, the RIA Novosti news agency reported Saturday. The news agency did not say what their conclusion was. The Komsomolskaya Pravda and the Rossiyskaya Gazeta said the investigators failed to come up with a definitive conclusion. They said the only thing that is certain is that an external shock sank the ship in March, killing 46 sailors. Russia's Foreign Ministry will deliver the report to South Korea. Since major issues in Russia are open to the tightly controlled media a few days after decisions are made, it appears that Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has already received the report on the Cheonan sinking. The Rossiyskaya Gazeta pointed out that President Lee Myung-bak is to visit Russia to attend the Yaroslavl Global Policy Forum on Thursday through Saturday, and the two leaders will likely discuss the sinking of the Cheonan at a summit on Friday. [Cheonan] [Coverup] [Russia]
• Russia's Cheonan 'Investigation' Is a Political Minefield
  Yu Yong-won Three Russian investigators visited South Korea from May 31 to June 7 to look into the sinking of the Navy corvette Cheonan. They checked the hull of the Cheonan at the Second Naval Fleet Command in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, and held three meetings with South Korean investigators. They also looked at the propulsion shaft of the torpedo believed to have sunk the corvette, the decisive evidence of the attack which was collected from the site of the wreck, and compared it to a North Korean experimental torpedo collected off the southeastern coast in 2003. They kept out of the way of the press and quietly returned home on June 7. A few days later, some local media outlets reported that the Russian team concluded that an underwater mine exploded after having been dragged by nets -- a suggestion whose plausibility was near zero. Then former American ambassador to Seoul Donald Gregg, a fan of the Sunshine Policy, recently quoted one of his Russian friends as saying the South Korean government denied the Russian team access to evidence, and that the outcome of the Russian investigation, if made public, could deal a major political blow to President Lee Myung-bak. [Cheonan] [Coverup] [Russia]
• Lee, Putin agree to cooperate in handling NK nuke issue
  By Na Jeong-ju President Lee Myung-bak and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin agreed Thursday to work closely together to move the international talks on denuclearizing North Korea forward, Cheong Wa Dae said.
  Presidential aides said the ship sinking wasn’t a topic at Lee’s meeting with Putin and won’t be discussed either at today’s summit with Medvedev. However, many observers say Russia could share details of its own investigation into the sinking. Russia reportedly refuted Seoul’s claims that a North Korean submarine torpedoed the ship and concluded that it was more likely a mine rather than a torpedo that caused the ship to sink. [Cheonan] [Coverup] [Russia] [Spin]
• Russia in Asia and the Pacific
  August 26th, 2010
  Author: Georgy Toloraya, CSCAP, Russia The Asia Pacific is a global region of primary significance. It is imperative that Russia grasps this fact, and lays out a comprehensive vision for its role in the region. If Russia can do this, it can greatly advance the cause of developing effective arrangements in the region. What are the key elements of the economic, political and security situation in the Asia-Pacific region?
  And in dealing with Korean Peninsula, Russia should be measured. It is more realistic to strive toward the freezing of North’s Korea’s nuclear missile potential than towards its immediate denuclearisation. Fundamentally, the key to strengthening Russia’s position on the Korean Peninsula is the maintenance of a continuous dialogue with the North Korean leadership with a view to positive evolution of the regime.
• Lee to Head to Russia for Summit Next Week
  President Lee Myung-bak is slated to travel to Russia next week to hold a summit with his counterpart President Dmitry Medvedev and attend an international conference. Lee will kick off his three-day visit next Thursday and take part in the second World Political Forum in Yaroslavl some 250 km northeast of Moscow. There he is expected to deliver a keynote speech and promote Korea's hosting of the November G20 summit. During Lee's meeting with Medvedev scheduled for Friday, which will be the fourth of its kind, the two leaders are likely to discuss ways to boost the strategic partnership between Korea and Russia in time for the 20th anniversary of their diplomatic relations.
• Russia opens China pipeline for Siberian oil
  By Isabel Gorst in Moscow Published: August 29 2010 18:00 | Last updated: August 29 2010 18:00 Vladimir Putin, the Russian prime minister, on Sunday opened a new pipeline to export east Siberian oil to China that will help Russia reorientate its oil trade towards the east. The pipeline, running 67km from Skovorodino in east Siberia to China’s north-eastern frontier, is an offshoot of a new oil export route Russia is building to the Pacific Ocean, providing a strategic window on the fast-growing energy markets of Asia. “This is a vital project for us as we begin to diversify our sales of strategic raw materials,” Mr Putin said. “So far we have delivered most oil to Europe ... The Asia-Pacific region has received insubstantial volumes. [Energy] [Oil] [Realignment] [China rising]

• Nuclear threat from North Korea
  RIA Novosti (277 sec./20.42Mb Views: 639) What kind of measures should be taken to resolve the conflict on the Korean Peninsula? Is it possible to reunite the two Koreas after a 50-year-long standoff? And is there any real threat of a nuclear catastrophe? Vagif Guseinov, President of the Institute of Strategic Studies and Analysis, shares his opinions in an interview with Samir Shakhbaz. [Media]
• Government protests Russia’s Conflicting Cheonan findings
  Russia shared their investigation findings with China and the U.S., but did not notify the S.Korean government
  By Lee Yeong-in It came to light Friday that the South Korean government summoned the Russian Ambassador to South Korea and expressed strenuous objections over the Russian government’s failure to provide notification of the findings of its independent team that investigated the Cheonan sinking. The team was dispatched to South Korea around one month ago and concluded that it was unable to view the “No. 1 torpedo” as being the cause of the sinking. According to military and foreign affairs sources connected to Russia, the Russian government provided notification of its independent investigation results only to the Chinese and U.S. governments last week, and South Korea only found out about the content indirectly through those two countries. [Cheonan] [Coverup] [Russia]
• Russian specialists have questions on S. Korean corvette's sinking – navy commander
  MOSCOW. July 24 (Interfax-AVN) - Russian specialists have so far not received answers to some of their questions concerning the sinking of the South Korean corvette Cheonan, Russian Navy Commander Adm. Vladimir Vysotsky said. "We have fulfilled the president's instruction and sent a group of experts there. We were provided with favorable working conditions, but we still have some questions regarding the results of this work to which we have not received clear answers," Vysotsky said on Echo Moskvy radio on Saturday. [Cheonan] [Coverup] [Russia]
• Russian experts unable to give answers on Cheonan sinking - Navy commander
  Topic: Consequences of the South Korean Cheonan corvette sinking 14:25 24/07/2010© RIA Novosti. Ivan Zakharchenko Related News Russian Defense Ministry to report on Cheonan sinking in July Russian experts to probe Cheonan issue at home Russian experts to report Cheonan sinking conclusions to Defense Ministry soon N. Korea, U.S. hold consultations on Cheonan sinking Russian experts, who assessed an international probe into the sinking of a South Korean warship in June, are still unable to give any decisive answers, Russian Navy Commander Admiral Vladimir Vysotsky said on Saturday. The 1,200-ton Cheonan warship sank near the disputed Northern Limit Line in the Yellow Sea on March 26, causing the loss of 46 lives. In early June, a group of Russian Navy experts went to Seoul to assess an international probe into the incident, which revealed that North Korea fired a torpedo at the vessel from a submarine, although Pyongyang denies the allegations. "We still have questions about the results of the probe," Vysotsky told the Ekho Moskvy radio station. Whether the answers will come or not, "doesn't depend on us," he said. MOSCOW, July 24 (RIA Novosti) [Cheonan] [Evidence] [Russia]
• Russian experts unable to give answers on Cheonan sinking - Navy commander
  14:25 24/07/2010© RIA Novosti. Ivan Zakharchenko Russian experts, who assessed an international probe into the sinking of a South Korean warship in June, are still unable to give any decisive answers, Russian Navy Commander Admiral Vladimir Vysotsky said on Saturday. The 1,200-ton Cheonan warship sank near the disputed Northern Limit Line in the Yellow Sea on March 26, causing the loss of 46 lives. In early June, a group of Russian Navy experts went to Seoul to assess an international(sic) probe into the incident, which revealed (sic) that North Korea fired a torpedo at the vessel from a submarine, although Pyongyang denies the allegations. "We still have questions about the results of the probe," Vysotsky told the Ekho Moskvy radio station. Whether the answers will come or not, "doesn't depend on us," he said. [Cheonan] [evidence]
• Russia’s Cheonan investigation suspects that the sinking Cheonan ship was caused by a mine in water
  Russia’s Cheonan investigation findings contrast with S.Korea’s report S.Korea’s joint civilian-military investigation team concluded the sinking was caused by a torpedo attack by N.Korea
  » A report by the Russian investigation team concludes that the combat patrol corvette (PCC) Cheonan likely sunk due to an external explosion caused by a mine.
  A document shows that the Russian investigation team that came to Korea from May 31 to June 7 to conduct its own investigation into the sinking of the Cheonan concluded that the sinking resulted from an "indirect outside underwater explosion," but that the blast was more likely from a mine than a torpedo. In particular, the Russian team raised doubts about the time of the explosion reported by South Korea's joint civilian-military investigation team, which announced that the blast to the Cheonan came from a North Korean torpedo attack at 9:21:58 p.m. on March 26. The Russian team's conclusion was based on factors such as the last time indicated on the Cheonan's closed circuit television footage, which was 9:17:03 p.m. on the night in question. On Monday, the Hankyoreh acquired a document titled "Data from the Russian Naval Expert Group's Investigation into the Cause of the South Korean Naval Vessel Cheonan's Sinking," in which the Russian team stated, "The explosion time officially stated by South Korea [9:21:58 p.m.] does not coincide with the time of the last video footage taken on the day in question when the power current was cut off within the vessel [9:17:03 p.m.]." This statement hints that an uncontrollable situation may have arisen at least four to five minutes before the time announced by the South Korean team. The Russian team also said that a sailor on board the Cheonan made a cell phone call at 9:12:03 p.m. notifying a Naval signalman that crew members were injured. "The record of this first communication does not accord with what was official stated by South Korea," the team said. This coincides with a July 8 Hankyoreh report stating that the Russian team had "detected the transmission of a distress signal at a time earlier than the time of the Cheonan explosion." In response, the Ministry of National Defense explained that the CCTV time was some three minutes and 47 to 50 seconds off the actual time, but that it did not disclose this fact at the time because it might "give rise to unnecessary misunderstandings." The ministry also said, "Beyond what was already disclosed, there is no record at all of anything like a Cheonan crew member providing notification about injuries by cell phone."
  The Russian team also raised questions about the so-called "No. 1 torpedo" fragment presented by the South Korean team as "conclusive evidence" of North Korean responsibility for the sinking. "While the torpedo fragment may have been made in North Korea, the characters written in ink do not conform to general standards" in terms of location and lettering, the Russian team said. The Russian team went to say, "Based on a naked-eye analysis of the torpedo fragment presented, one could believe that the fragment had been underwater for six months or more." Previously, the South Korean team announced that a naked-eye analysis of the degree of corrosion indicated that the torpedo debris had been underwater for around one to two months.
  Regarding damage to the Cheonan's propeller screws, the Russian team wrote, "Since before the time of the disaster in question, all five of the right-side screw wings and two of the screw wings on the left had been damaged due to contact with the ocean floor." In short, the Russian team held that the screws became broken or bent due to contact with the ocean floor, which varies considerably from the official announcement by the South Korean team. On its conclusions regarding the cause of the sinking, the Russian team wrote, "The claims that it was a non-contact external underwater explosion were borne out." At the same time, it conjectured that the accident occurred when "the vessel's propeller happened to get caught in a net as it was sailing through shallow waters near the coast, and as the vessel was trying to extricate itself to deep waters, its lower part struck a [mine] antenna and set off the triggering device." [Cheonan] [Coverup] [Russia]
• “Complex combination of factors” responsible for Cheonan sinking, Russian investigation concludes
  The Russian investigation team has proposed that the primary problem was damage to the ship’s propeller prior to the explosion
  The Russian team that investigated the cause of the Cheonan's sinking concluded that a “complex combination of factors” were responsible. The report on its investigation findings essentially states that the primary problem arose while the Cheonan was sailing through deep waters, and that the underwater explosion was a secondary factor resulting from a mine. The Russian team agreed with the South Korean joint civilian-military investigation team’s conclusion that the sinking resulting from a non-contact underwater explosion. However, in light of the state of damage to propeller screws on the Cheonan, the Russian team surmised that they had likely come into contact with the ocean floor before the explosion took place. [Cheonan] [Coverup] [Russia]
• Russia Clams Up Over Cheonan Sinking
  Russia will not announce an official position on the sinking of the South Korean Navy corvette Cheonan, it emerged Tuesday. Moscow sent three torpedo and explosion experts to South Korea and analyzed findings of an international probe from May 31 to June 7 and was expected to announce its official position early this month. A Foreign Ministry official said the Russian experts will eventually finish drawing up a report and submit it to the Russian government, but it seems Moscow "has no plan to make any announcement about it." There is speculation that Russia decided to delay the announcement while the U.S. and China are at odds over the sinking at the UN Security Council. [Cheonan] [Coverup]

• S-400s will protect Russia against missile threats – official
  Jul 13, 2010 18:19 Moscow Time S-400. Photo: RIA Novosti The deployment of up-to-date S-400 Triumph surface-to-air missiles in the Russian Far East will help avert potential missile threats from North Korea, a Russian defense official has told Interfax. He acknowledged that North Korean missile programs posed a certain danger to neighboring Russian regions, for example, in case of failed launches or stray rockets. North Korea’s missile test field is not far from the Russian border, the official said in an interview following an earlier statement by Air Force Commander Colonel General Alexander Zelin that two S-400 missiles systems would be put on combat duty in far-eastern Russia.
• Russia Clams Up Over Cheonan Sinking
  Russia will not announce an official position on the sinking of the South Korean Navy corvette Cheonan, it emerged Tuesday. Moscow sent three torpedo and explosion experts to South Korea and analyzed findings of an international probe from May 31 to June 7 and was expected to announce its official position early this month. A Foreign Ministry official said the Russian experts will eventually finish drawing up a report and submit it to the Russian government, but it seems Moscow "has no plan to make any announcement about it." There is speculation that Russia decided to delay the announcement while the U.S. and China are at odds over the sinking at the UN Security Council. The UNSC has been unable to reach any conclusion because China is declining to point the finger of blame at North Korea. If Russia endorses the findings of the international probe that the Cheonan sank due to a torpedo attack from the North, Russia would have to join the U.S., the U.K., and Japan, which support South Korea's position, against the North, a long-term ally. If it remains noncommittal, Russia could face criticism that it is standing up for a rogue state, as China already does. Its best course of action may be to postpone any announcement until the UNSC takes action against the North. Russia, a UNSC permanent member, is not as openly supportive of the North as China, but it is not criticizing the North for attacking the Cheonan either. Russia joined the other G8 countries in a joint communique on June 26 condemning the sinking, but it opposed the idea of pointing directly at the North as the culprit. [Cheonan] [Evidence] Russia]
• Russia, S.Korea to hold joint military drills in Sea of Japan
  Russian and South Korean coast guards will hold joint anti-piracy and antiterrorism drills on Wednesday in the Sea of Japan, a Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) border guard spokesman said. Russia's FSB patrol ship Herluf Bidstrup with a Ka-27 helicopter on board and Boug Coast Guard ship arrived at the port of Mukho for the tactical exercises on Tuesday.
• Russia's Lavrov calls for calm over S.Korea ship sinking to resume six-party talks
  16:07 14/07/2010MOSCOW, July 14 (RIA Novosti) - Negotiators from the six party talks on North Korea's nuclear disarmament should avoid the escalation of emotions in the wake of South Korea's Cheonan warship sinking, the Russian foreign minister said on Wednesday. The 1,200-ton South Korean warship sank near the disputed Northern Limit Line in the Yellow Sea on March 26, causing the loss of 46 lives. South Korea says it has proof that North Korea fired a torpedo at the vessel from a submarine, although Pyongyang denies the attack. "I believe that the most important at the present time is to ease the situation, avoid agitation, escalation of emotions and start preparing conditions for the resumption of the six-party talks," Sergei Lavrov told journalists concerning the situation with the Cheonan. [Cheonan] [Six Party Talks]
• Government protests Russia’s Conflicting Cheonan findings
  Russia shared their investigation findings with China and the U.S., but did not notify the S.Korean government
  Lee Yeong-in It came to light Friday that the South Korean government summoned the Russian Ambassador to South Korea and expressed strenuous objections over the Russian government’s failure to provide notification of the findings of its independent team that investigated the Cheonan sinking. The team was dispatched to South Korea around one month ago and concluded that it was unable to view the “No. 1 torpedo” as being the cause of the sinking. According to military and foreign affairs sources connected to Russia, the Russian government provided notification of its independent investigation results only to the Chinese and U.S. governments last week, and South Korea only found out about the content indirectly through those two countries. Following this, 1st Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Shin Kak-soo summoned Russian Ambassador to South Korea Konstantin Vnukov to the Foreign Ministry on July 4 to express “astonishment” at Russia’s investigation findings because the findings were a complete contradiction to the South Korean government’s announcement. They also expressed severe dismay about the fact that Russian notified only the U.S. and China about the findings, while leaving South Korea out of the communication loop. Foreign affairs sources reported that Shin used forceful and diplomatically irregular language to denounce Russia’s behavior, calling it “unfriendly conduct that violates trust,” “bewildering,” and “disappointing.” It was also reported to Shin proposed additional discussions with Russia during the meeting, and that the South Korean government subsequently provided additional information to the Russian government.? “Was it not the South Korean government that provided assistance to the Russian investigation, saying that they would be objective?” asked a former senior official in foreign affairs and national security, adding that the Russian investigation results “raise fundamental doubts about the [South Korean] government’s announcement of its Cheonan investigation findings.” It was reported that while the Russian investigation team did conclude that the Cheonan was not sunk by a North Korean bubble jet torpedo, it did not present any definitive conclusions about the direct cause, suggesting several possible scenarios such as a secondary mine explosion following a problem with the Cheonan during its maneuvers. Analysts are interpreting this as being due to the fact that the Russian team, made up of submersible and torpedo experts, focused its examination on the question of whether the sinking resulted from a strike by the “No. 1 torpedo.” “The Russian investigation team’s primary interest was in whether North Korea, which had been unable to produce its own torpedoes until 1995, suddenly was able to attack the Cheonan with a state-of-the-art bubble jet torpedo,” said a South Korean diplomatic source. Indeed, the technology for bubble jet torpedoes, which are capable of splitting a vessel in two through the expansion and contraction of a bubble resulting from a powerful explosion, is possessed only by the U.S. and a small number of other countries, and has only been successful to date in experiments on stationary ships rather than actual fighting. The joint civilian-military investigation team also acknowledged in its June 29 briefing to media groups that North Korea was the first to have succeeded in using a bubble jet torpedo in the field. [Cheonan] [Evidence] [Russia]
• Russian Probe Sees No N Korea Hand In Cheonan Sinking
  6/9/2010 2:13 AM ET TOP MARKET NEWS (RTTNews) - In what could be a morale-booster for North Korea in its stand-off with South Korea--and, by extension, the U.S.,-- Russian naval experts who inquired into the sinking of a South Korean warship March 26, found unconvincing the arguments put forward by a four-nation team of investigators, blaming Pyongyang for the tragedy, an Interfax-AVN news wire report, quoting an anonymous Russian Navy source, said Tuesday. The revelation followed the return Monday of a team of four Russian Navy submarine and torpedo experts to Moscow after making an independent assessment of the March 26 sinking of the 1,200-ton South Korean Navy corvette "Cheonan" near the disputed Yellow Sea border, in which 46 sailors drowned. The report said the experts had not found convincing evidence that a heavy torpedo fired by a North Korean submarine sank the South Korean vessel. "After examining the available evidence and the ship wreckage, Russian experts came to the conclusion that a number of arguments adduced by the international investigation team in favor of the DPRK's (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) involvement in the corvette-sinking were not weighty enough," the Russian Navy source said. [Cheonan] [Coverup] [Russia]
• Russia's Cheonan Report Nearing Completion
  By Park Sung Kook [2010-07-02 16:23 ] The report of Russian experts investigating the cause of the Cheonan sinking, is nearly finished, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Moscow. Andrey Nesterenko, a spokesperson for the Ministry said, "The Russian experts who were given access (to information about the Cheonan) are finishing up their final report. The report shall be submitted to the national leadership, and then Russia will be able to take whatever measures it needs to take." Russia has thus far kept neutral on the Cheonan incident, claiming that it can decide what to do only after their experts have reached a conclusion. Now the Russian experts are finishing up their report, Russia's position on UN Security Council sanctions is gaining import. [Cheonan] [Evidence] [Russia]

• Putin boasts new jet fighter better than U.S. plane
  Thu, Jun 17 2010 MOSCOW (Reuters) - Prime Minister Vladimir Putin climbed into the cockpit of Russia's newest fighter jet on Thursday and said it would trump a U.S.-built rival, the F-22 Raptor. Putin watched a test flight of a "fifth-generation" stealth fighter, dubbed the T-50 and billed as Russia's first all-new warplane since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. "This machine will be superior to our main competitor, the F-22, in terms of maneuverability, weaponry and range," Putin told the pilot after the flight, according to an account on the government website. Putin said the plane would cost up to three times less than similar aircraft in the West and could remain in service for 30 to 35 years with upgrades, according to the report. Successful development of the fighter, built by Sukhoi, is crucial to showing Russia can challenge U.S. technology and modernize its military after a period of post-Soviet decay.
  Russia also plans to manufacture T-50s jointly with India.
  The F-22 raptor stealth fighter first flew in 1997 and is the only fifth-generation fighter in service. Fifth-generation aircraft have advanced flight and weapons control systems and can cruise at supersonic speeds. According to the government website, the test pilot told Putin the controls of the T-50 allowed the pilot to operate most of the plane's systems without taking his hands off the joystick, which he said would be very useful under high forces of gravity. "I know, I've flown," Putin replied. Sukhoi has said the plane should be ready for use in 2015. [Arms sales] [Military Balance] [Russia India]
• Russia refusing to blame N. Korea for deadly ship sinking at G-8+
  Jun 21 07:41 AM US/Eastern Comments (0) Email to a friend Share on Facebook Tweet this Bookmark and Share TOKYO, June 21 (AP) - (Kyodo)—Russia is demanding that other member countries of the upcoming Group of Eight summit remove the words blaming North Korea for the deadly sinking of a South Korean warship from a draft of the meeting's statement, delaying its preparations, a Japanese government source said Monday. Russia is basing its request on its own investigation into the March 26 sinking of the Cheonan in the Yellow Sea in which 46 sailors died, saying it has yet to reach an official conclusion, according to the source [Cheonan] [Evidence] [Russia]
• Russia Hedges Bets Over Cheonan Sinking
  Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Friday called for a "thorough investigation" of the sinking of the South Korean Navy corvette Cheonan before taking any action against North Korea. Speaking to the Wall Street Journal, Medvedev said, "Although only one version has been broadly circulated, we should not take it immediately for granted. A thorough investigation is needed." The sinking, which claimed the lives of 46 South Korean sailors, was "tragic," he said, adding that the "hypothesis" that it was torpedoed by "a neighboring country" -- i.e. North Korea -- is one of the possible scenarios. "As soon as the results are obvious and become public knowledge, we can talk about punishing the guilty... I mean a certain state or some other forces," he said. A team of Russian experts has already reviewed the investigation in South Korea and is currently preparing a report, he added. Medvedev said he spoke to President Lee Myung-bak by telephone on May 25, when he expressed sympathy over the sinking and stressed the need for a thorough investigation. Commenting on North Korea, he recounted his visit in 2000 as a member of a Russian delegation to what he called a "peculiar nation." [Cheonan] [Evidence]
• Moscow Seeks Room to Maneuver as Crisis on the Korean Peninsula Intensifies
  Publication: Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 7 Issue: 118June 18, 2010 03:22 PM By: Jacob W. Kipp ROKS Cheonan The sinking of the Republic of Korea’s (ROK) Corvette, Cheonan, on March 26, has proven to be a slow-building crisis, but one fraught with grave risks of conflict on the Korean peninsula. Moscow’s response has revealed much about the limits affecting Russian policy in the Far East. [Cheonan] [Evidence]
• Russia ‘not an ally’ of Pyongyang
  June 17, 2010 Russia’s ambassador to South Korea denied that his country’s historic ties with North Korea will make it side with its former ally on the Cheonan issue now being debated by the UN Security Council. But he said it would take two or three more weeks for Russia to decide its position. In a speech yesterday to members of the Korean Council on Foreign Relations, Konstantin V. Vnukov emphasized Russia is no longer North Korea’s ally. “We can see ... journalists mention ‘even China and Russia, as closet allies of North Korea,’ but we are not an ally of North Korea,” Vnukov said. During the Cold War, Russia and North Korea had a special treaty requiring either country to offer assistance if the other was faced with an “external invasion.” Russia officially ended the mutual assistance treaty in 1995 and replaced it with “friendship” treaty that excludes that guarantee. “We don’t have such obligations, so our relationship with North Korea is very practical.”
• '2-3 weeks needed before Russia concludes on Cheonan'
  By Kang Hyun-kyung Staff reporter Russian Ambassador to Korea Konstantin V. Vnukov hinted Wednesday that Russia is not what it used to be during the Cold War era when it comes to foreign policy.
  Regarding the Cheonan case, Vnukov said it will take two to three weeks more for Russian specialists to conclude the cause of the ship sinking. Earlier, the Russian government said it will decide its position on the maritime incident that killed 46 sailors after the Russian delegation reaches a conclusion over the cause of the tragedy. "After returning to Moscow last Monday, the Russian experts are carefully examining the materials of the outcomes of the multinational investigation team which were provided by South Korea," he said. The ambassador called the three Russian specialists who visited Seoul for a week "highly qualified," adding they will come up with "objective and scientific" results in two or three weeks time. During their stay, they had good cooperation from their South Korean counterparts as the latter provided the former with additional materials, he said. "Their main task now is to use our all facilities and expertise of the Russian Navy for further investigation. And we consider this job very serious and important," Vnukov said. [Cheonan] [Evidence]
• Russian Experts 'Unconvinced by Cheonan Evidence'
  Russian Navy experts who assessed the South Korean investigation of the sinking of the Navy corvette Cheonan, concluded North Korea cannot with absolute certainty be held responsible for the shipwreck, according to the Yomiuri Shimbun. Citing Russia's Interfax news agency, the Japanese daily said although the Russians examined the hull of Cheonan and other evidence, they concluded it was insufficient to implicate North Korea. This makes it likely that Russia, one of the North's few allies, will offer little support in the UN Security Council to action against Pyongyang. The four Russian submarine and torpedo experts arrived in Korea on May 31. They stayed away from the media and left on Monday. [Cheonan] [Evidence] [Coverup]
• Russians doubt about ship sinking by NK attack
  Russian inspectors have refused to blame North Korea for the sinking of a South Korean warship, an Indian online paper reported. A team of four submarine and torpedo experts from the Russian Navy returned to Moscow on Monday after making an independent assessment of the March 26 sinking of the South Korean corvette, the Hindu reported Tuesday, quoting Russian military sources. The paper said the experts had not found "convincing evidence of North Korea's involvement." "After examining the available evidence and the ship wreckage, Russian experts came to the conclusion that a number of arguments produced by the international investigation in favor of the DPRK's [Democratic People's Republic of Korea] involvement in the corvette sinking were not weighty enough," a Russian Navy source was quoted as telling the Interfax-AVN news wire on Tuesday. Russia's Armed Forces Chief of Staff Nikolai Makarov said only that the Russian Foreign Ministry would make an official statement on the issue after the experts prepared their report. "It is too early to make a definitive conclusion on the causes of the tragedy," he was quoted as saying. A leading Russian expert on Korea suggested that the ship had been probably hit by friendly fire. "I think it was a tragic accident during war games that cynical politicians are trying to exploit to maximum advantage," said Dr. Konstantin Asmolov of the Korea Center at the Institute of the Far East. [Cheonan] [Coverup]
• Russian Defense Ministry to report on Cheonan sinking in July
  Topic: Consequences of the South Korean Cheonan corvette sinking 15:37 09/06/2010© RIA Novosti. Ivan Zakharchenko Related News The Russian Defense Ministry will release a report on the sinking of a South Korean vessel in July, a senior defense official said on Wednesday. The head of the Federation Council's committee on defense and security, Viktor Ozerov, made the statement after a meeting with Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov. "We discussed North Korea. The minister said that our experts had already returned from South Korea with samples from the sunken ship as well as parts of the explosive device," Ozerov said. "He also said that it would take about a month to examine them and come to a conclusion," he added. A group of Russian Navy experts left Seoul on Monday after assessing an international investigation that found North Korea responsible for the sinking of the South Korean warship in late March. The 1,200-ton Cheonan warship sank near the disputed Northern Limit Line in the Yellow Sea on March 26, causing the loss of 46 lives. Although initial comments from South Korean naval and intelligence chiefs ruled out foul play, after an investigation involving U.S. and South Korean experts Seoul accused North Korea of firing a torpedo from a submarine at the vessel. Pyongyang has denied the allegations and claims the incident was "orchestrated" by the United States in order to "hype the threat from North Korea" ahead of "Congress mid-term elections slated for the coming November." [Cheonan] [Evidence]
• Russian experts to probe Cheonan issue at home
  Topic: Consequences of the South Korean Cheonan corvette sinking 1/3 Russian experts to probe Cheonan issue at home 19:52 08/06/2010© RIA Novosti. Ivan Zakharchenko Related News The South Korean Defense Ministry has given materials on the sinking of the Cheonan warship to Russian experts for further investigations, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Tuesday. A group of Russian Navy experts left Seoul on Monday after assessing an international investigation that found North Korea responsible for the sinking of the warship in March. The Russian experts did not draw their own conclusions on the issue. "The South Korean Defense Ministry gave Russian Naval Experts an array of documents and materials for physical-chemical analysis," the source said, adding that the move would open the investigation to a wider rage of Russian experts. The 1,200-ton Cheonan warship sank near the disputed Northern Limit Line in the Yellow Sea on March 26, causing the loss of 46 lives. An international investigation, carried out by U.S. and Australian experts (sic), revealed that North Korea fired a torpedo at the vessel from a submarine, although Pyongyang has denied the allegations. [Cheonan] [Evidence]
• 'Russia unlikely to back Cheonan findings'
  By Kim Young Jin Staff reporter As Seoul lobbies the international community to censure North Korea for its sinking of the warship Cheonan, attention now swings to whether Russia, a veto-wielding member of the U.N. Security Council (UNSC) with ties to Pyongyang, will back the effort. Speculation is high as a team of Russian experts, sent to South Korea to review the findings of the multinational investigation into the incident, returned home Monday to report to Moscow, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. But regardless of what its experts determine, a prominent North Korea expert here expects Russia to avoid taking a firm stance on the findings, as it has too much to lose by supporting either side. [Cheonan] [Evidence]
• Russian experts to report Cheonan sinking conclusions to Defense Ministry soon
  01:09 08/06/2010© REUTERS/ Lee Jae-Won Related News The conclusions of Russian experts on the sinking of South Korea's Cheonan corvette will be reported to the Defense Ministry in two to three days, a top ministry official said. [Cheonan] [Evidence]
• Russia urges Seoul, Pyongyang to show restraint over ship sinking
  "We urge all parties concerned to exercise restraint and caution so that tensions on the Korean Peninsula, which increased recently, do not escalate into a conflict," the Russian Foreign Ministry's official spokesman said. Andrei Nesterenko added that Moscow was paying close attention to how the results of the investigation were being reported in Seoul, as well as to the statement made by the North Korean National Defense Committee, which strongly denied that the North Korean side is connected to the incident. "Russian experts are scrupulously studying all the data they have on the issue," Nesterenko said. "Once again I would like to express condolences to the people of the Republic of Korea over the tragic loss of a warship, and numerous human casualties," he said. The conclusions of the investigation may lead to further deterioration of the already sour relations between the two Koreas and jeopardize international efforts to stop Pyongyang's controversial nuclear weapons and ballistic missile development programs. North Korea has already called the results of the investigation "a fabrication" and warned Seoul of a harsh response if the South retaliates with new sanctions against Pyongyang over the alleged attack on its warship. The two countries remain technically at war as their 1950-1953 conflict ended only in an armistice. Naval clashes between the two states over the disputed sea border took place in 1999, 2002 and last year. MOSCOW, May 20 (RIA Novosti) [Cheonan]
• Russian team wraps up probe
  Experts confirm that the Cheonan was sunk by an external explosion June 08, 2010 The team conducting Russia’s probe of the Cheonan disaster have concluded that the ship was sunk by an external explosion, according to officials from the South Korean joint investigation team. The three Russian experts returned home yesterday after an eight-day probe into the incident, which South Korea has concluded was caused by a North Korean torpedo attack. “The Russian team admitted the Cheonan sank due to an external underwater blast at its left side,” said the official, who asked not to be named. “But while they admitted that there was no possibility that the external blast was caused by anything other than a torpedo, the Russians never said that a torpedo sunk the ship.” The official also said he believed the Russian submarine and explosion experts “had detailed knowledge about the incident” even before they arrived in Seoul. The Russian experts inspected the ship, watched computer simulations that showed how a torpedo destroyed it, and Seoul officials also offered them the computer file that detailed how the simulation was created. The South Korean team also offered the Russians detailed records of the 2000 suicide bombing of the U.S. Navy destroyer USS Cole in the waters off of Yemen. Al Qaeda claimed responsibility for that bombing. During their investigation, the Russians also asked to see the combat information center of a South Korean warship similar to the Cheonan. The military refused that request because of security protocols, but offered a tour of the captain’s cabin (sic). “The Russian team members were very seasoned experts,” the source said. “Russia may have its own stance on North Korea...but the officials at least understood the results of our investigation.” By Kim Min-seok [hawon@joongang.co.kr] [Cheonan] [Evidence]
• The Conundrum of the South Korean Corvette (I)
  25.05.2010 Alexander Vorontsov Head Korea Department Institute for Oriental studies of the Russian Academy of Science Oleg Revenko Political analyst Seoul has unveiled the results of the investigation into the sinking of the Cheonan corvette in the Yellow Sea on May 26. According to the report put together by a commission of South Korean military and unnamed experts from the US, Canada, Great Britain, and Sweden, “Cheonan was sunk as the result of an external underwater explosion caused by a torpedo made in North Korea. The evidence points overwhelmingly to the conclusion that the torpedo was fired by a North Korean submarine”. Responsibility for stating that evidence points to the conclusion “overwhelmingly” rests entirely with the authors of the document. The key peace of evidence cited is a fragment of a torpedo propeller – somehow recovered at the final phase of the investigation - with a marking which reads “No. 1” and matches a N. Korean torpedo found 7 years ago in the Yellow Sea. Considering that the blast was allegedly caused by a torpedo carrying a net explosive weight of 250 kg, investigators must have been remarkably lucky to find the right fragment with the marking implicating N. Korea. The marking, which is the sole indication of the country of origin of the torpedo, could of course look exactly the same on a South Korean torpedo. [Cheonan] [Coverup]
  [Lavrov] was diplomatically cautious. Lavrov said Moscow would carefully review the pertinent materials, both those from South Korea and “from other sources”. Thus he made it clear that Moscow had reservations about the S. Korean version of the incident and deemed further verification necessary.
  Unofficialy, China criticizes the evidence at South Korea`s disposal as unconvincing, patchy, and contradictory and says it is going to assess the situation independently.
  Pyongyang`s offer to delegate representatives to review South Korea`s “evidence” is a timely and rational initiative. This form of cooperation should keep the inter-Korean dialog afloat during the crisis and, if both sides approach the problem honestly, help defuse the conflict. A lot depends on how Seoul reacts to the proposal but, sadly, initial reports seem to indicate that the Korean leadership is under various pretexts trying to dodge the issue. South Korea`s stonewalling Pyongyang would further diminish the credibility of the evidence. [Cheonan] [Coverup]
• The Conundrum of the South Korean Corvette (II)
  4.06.2010 Alexander Vorontsov Head Korea DepartmentInstitute for Oriental studies of the Russian Academy of Science Oleg Revenko Political analyst The report on the sinking of S. Korea`s Cheonan corvette claiming that the tragedy had been caused by a torpedo fired by a N. Korean submarine caused further escalation on the Korean Peninsula. The current escalation on the Korean Peninsula is unprecedented. The post-war history of the relations between the two Koreas abounds with incidents which were hard to attribute undoubtedly to either side but, importantly, problems were invariably localized and never triggered broader escalations
  The widespread impression among the watchers is that Lee Myung-bak`s team which, its reconciliatory rhetoric notwithstanding, was eager from the outset to dump the positive legacy in the inter-Korean relations, now feels that the time has come.
  It appears that the idea is to make the already troubled country face further problems and thus to weaken or even dislodge its current regime
  At this point the question arises naturally what force could have been behind the Cheonan incident and in whose interests it was inflated to become a global problem. One must be naive to believe that S. Korea could independently – without its patron`s blessing and support - make such far-reaching decisions and, in a matter of days, float the broad international campaign. Whoever is actually responsible for the Cheonan tragedy, the very developments warrant the hypothesis that they are a result of careful a priori planning.
  Preoccupied with Iran and Afghanistan, the US can`t at the same time focus on the six-party talks. The present US negotiating team headed by Stephen Bosworth is clearly weak and even has no specific plan for breaking the stalemate should N. Korea revert to the negotiations. Accordingly, there could be an intention to freeze the negotiating situation under some pretext, for example blaming a provocation on Pyongyang, and, for the time being, rely on sanctions against N. Korea. Perhaps, the freeze of the six-party talks became the option of choice for Washington not only because the US cannot afford to stretch its resources thin, but also because – contrary to official claims – the White House and the Pentagon do not regard the threat posed by N. Korea`s nuclear program as truly serious due to the more than modest proportions of the country`s nuclear arsenal and missile capability.
  the US priority is to contain China`s ambitions on the Korean peninsula and in the entire region
  Japan is also active – it has put together a heftier 2011 military budget and is about to adopt a new national defense program for the coming 10-15 years. In the context, the N. Korean threat looks clearly inflated while containing China is an absolutely real objective.
  Actually, the situation still evokes serious questions, but in any case the lesson to be learned is that the chronic tensions on the Korean Peninsula pose a threat to Russia`s Far East. The tensions stem not so much from Pyongyang`s “unpredictability and aggressiveness” as from the risky and short-sighted politics of Seoul. Another pertinent factor is Washington`s tendency to freeze the military-political configuration sustaining tensions on the Korean Peninsula at the level making it possible for the US to contain both Russia and China in the world`s strategic region. [Cheonan] [Coverup] [China confrontation] [Six Party Talks] [US global strategy] [Threat] [Japanese remilitarisation] [takeover]
• Russian experts inspect results of Cheonan probe
  A team of Russian navy experts started its own inspection Monday of a multinational investigation that concluded North Korea torpedoed a South Korean warship in March, defense ministry officials in Seoul said. The four-member Russian team of experts in submarine and torpedoes arrived in Seoul earlier in the day. They will be briefed about the results of the international probe, officials said, and will also inspect the wreckage of the ship, the Cheonan, as well as the site of the sinking during their stay. "Starting tomorrow, they will be briefed about detailed evidence from the multinational investigation," said a ministry official. [Cheonan] [Evidence]
• Russian Experts Arrive to Check Cheonan Findings
  Experts sent by the Russian government arrived in South Korea on Monday to review findings of an international probe into the sinking of the Navy corvette Cheonan in March. But a diplomatic source said that China, another permanent member of the UN Security Council, rejected Seoul's offer to supply more data and a proposal that China also send specialists to check the findings. Visiting Russian experts enter the defense minister's office in Seoul on Monday. The Russian experts listened to a briefing by investigators at the Defense Ministry. They will be briefed in greater detail Tuesday. The four submarine and torpedo experts from Russia are expected to visit the Second Naval Fleet Command in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province and the scene of the wreck off Baeknyeong Island. They will stay until June 7. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexei Borodavkin said the team "will find out the truth by examining as much data as possible, including shipwreck debris and fragments," and the Russian government will closely review the experts' report. On Saturday, Russia said once it is established who sank the Cheonan, any measure the international community believes is necessary and appropriate should be taken. A South Korean Foreign Ministry official said, "If the Russian probe team verifies North Korea's involvement, Russia will take appropriate action at the UN." [Cheonan] [Evidence]
• Russians to study warship sinking probe
  By HYUNG-JIN KIM The Associated Press Monday, May 31, 2010; 3:40 AM SEOUL, South Korea -- Russian experts arrived in Seoul on Monday to review findings of an investigation that blamed North Korea for the deadly sinking of a South Korean warship, as the South sought to build support for U.N. punishment of the North.
  The Russian team - including torpedo and submarine experts - arrived Monday and were to stay in South Korea for several days as they review the investigation results and examine the ship's wreckage, said a Defense Ministry official who spoke on condition of anonymity citing department policy [Cheonan] [Evidence]

• Russia Declares Its Stand on Case of "Cheonan"
  Pyongyang, May 28 (KCNA) -- Igor Lyakin-Frolov, official deputy spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, declared on May 26 that Russia would not refer the case of the sinking of south Korea's warship "Cheonan" to the UN Security Council nor support such action until it possesses 100 percent correct evidence that the DPRK has anything to do with the case. Saying that Russian experts are now examining the "results of investigation," he stated: We should make the conclusions by ourselves, so everything will depend on the circumstances and definite evidence." [Cheonan] [Evidence]
• Russian Expert on "Cheonan" Sinking
  Pyongyang, May 28 (KCNA) -- Georgy Toloraya, director for research programs of the Center for the Study of Modern Korea under the Institute of World Economic and International Relations of the Russian Academy of Sciences, commented on the truth behind the case of the warship sinking of the south Korean puppet navy when interviewed by ITAR-TASS on May 26. Noting that what is characteristic of the present crisis on the Korean Peninsula is that it was deliberately created by the south Korean authorities, he added that they used the tragic warship sinking as a motive of dispute, in fact, and as a formal pretext for declaring a war in other words. The fact that the south Korean warship was sunken by a DPRK submarine attack has not been verified in actuality, he said, and went on: As far as the case of the warship sinking is concerned, where the south Korean warship and the imaginary submarine of the DPRK were at the moment the case occurred has not been clearly known. It is too early to draw any right conclusion as regards the above-said case. This being a hard reality, the south Korean authorities are conducting unprecedented propaganda campaign, far from waiting for it, and contemplating referring this issue to the UN Security Council. This is an action taken according to a script, and the United States, too, expressed support for it. Such action assuming clear political nature is aimed at slapping new sanctions against the DPRK to isolate and weaken it and at bringing it down. [Cheonan] [Evidence]
• Russia wants '100% proof' N.Korea sunk ship
  Thu May 27, 5:48 am ET MOSCOW (AFP) – Russia will not support efforts to punish North Korea for sinking a South Korean warship until it is fully convinced Pyongyang was behind the incident, a foreign ministry spokesman said Thursday. "We need to receive 100 percent proof of North Korea's role in the sinking of the corvette," the spokesman, Igor Lyakin-Frolov, was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency. "Our specialists are currently studying the materials of the investigation. We need to draw our own conclusions about what happened. Everything will depend on the situation and the body of evidence." The comments came a day after Russia announced that it was sending a team of experts to South Korea to assess the evidence about North Korea's involvement in the sinking of the warship, which left 46 sailors dead. In a separate report, a senior source in Russia's navy suggested that Moscow was unhappy about being excluded from the lengthy multinational investigation into the sinking of the Cheonan, a 1,200-tonne corvette. The investigation -- which included experts from South Korea, the United States, Australia, Britain and Sweden -- concluded last week that there was overwhelming evidence that the ship had been sunk by a North Korean torpedo. "With the participation of Russian specialists, the results of the investigation into the incident might have been more complete and objective," the Russian navy source told Interfax. [Cheonan] [Evidence] {Coverup]
• Russia, N. Korea to continue consultations to settle inter-Korean conflict
  Russia and North Korea will continue consultations aimed at preventing the escalation of the situation on the Korean Peninsula following the sinking of a south Korean warship, the Russian Foreign Ministry has said, RIA Novosti reported. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexei Borodavkin has discussed the inter-Korean conflict with North Korea's Ambassador to Russia Kim Yong Jae, a statement posted on the ministry's website on Friday said. "Both parties reaffirmed the need to prevent the further escalation of tensions in the region and expressed their readiness to continue consultations in order to look for ways to overcome the current inter-Korean crisis," the statement said. [Cheonan]
• Moscow to send team over ship sinking
  Russia will soon send a team of experts to South Korea to look into the cause of the sinking of a South Korean warship, a senior U.S. State Department official said Wednesday in Washington. "Russia is intending to send a team to South Korea," Yonhap News quoted an official as saying. "Obviously, Russia will have to satisfy itself as to the findings of the investigation." Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan said earlier in the day that Seoul has asked both Beijing and Moscow to dispatch their own teams for a transparent examination of the outcome of the probe of the Cheonan, which sank along the western sea border with North Korea, killing 46 sailors [Cheonan] [Evidence]
• Divergent briefings raise questions about Lee-Medvedev telephone conversation
  S.Korea’s briefing implied a pledge of Russian cooperation, while Russia’s briefing stressed restraint and opposition to heigntening tensions in the Korean peninsula Significantly different briefings issued by South Korea and Russia regarding President Lee Myung-bak’s phone conversation with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev regarding the sinking of the Cheonan emerged Tuesday. The Cheong Wa Dae (the presidential office in South Korea or Blue House) stated in a briefing after the phone call that President Medvedev pledged to work to send North Korea the proper signal while guaranteeing peace and security on the Korean Peninsula. The Cheong Wa Dae also said President Medvedev has a firm understanding of the North Korea measures explained to him by President Lee during the conversation, including the issue of referring the matter to the UN Security Council. In a briefing by the Presidential Executive Office of Russia, however, none of these expressions were used. Instead, it says the President Medvedev expressed hope that through the adoption of restrained attitudes that tensions on the Korean Peninsula would heighten no further. It also said the two leaders expressed regret that an inter-Korean trade and economy project planned several years ago in which Russia was also a slated participant had not materialized, and that the current situation had deteriorated into confrontation. There was a significant difference in tone. The South Korean government seemed to imply that Russia had agreed to cooperate in measures against North Korea, while Russia stressed opposition to raising tensions on the Korean Peninsula and restraint on the part of North Korea and South Korea. [Media] [Disinformation]
• Russia stays mum on North Korean torpedo attack
  May 20, 2010 19:47 Moscow Time Andrei Nesterenko. Photo: RIA Novosti Russia will refrain from speculating on North Korea’s attack on a South Korean Navy ship that killed 46 sailors in March pending a full-blown investigation, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Andrei Nesterenko said on Thursday. “We regret the mass loss of life but we need time to deal with the results of the probe into the incident”, Nesterenko told a news briefing in Moscow earlier in the day. [NLL] [Media] [Evidence]

• Russia marks 140th anniversary of Lenin's birth
  © RIA Novosti. Russia marks on Thursday the 140th anniversary of the birth of revolutionary leader Vladimir Lenin. Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov Lenin was born in the provincial city of Simbirsk (now Ulyanovsk) on the Volga River on April 22, 1870. His father was a secondary-school teacher. In 1887, soon after the death of his father, Lenin's older brother Alexander was arrested in St. Petersburg for plotting against the Tsar. He was convicted and hanged. The tragic event affected young Vladimir deeply, laying the foundation for his revolutionary ideas. After graduating from high school with a gold medal, Lenin began studying at the University of Kazan, but was soon expelled for holding radical views. In 1891, Lenin began studying at St. Petersburg University as an external student and was awarded a first class diploma in law in January 1892. During his time at university, Lenin started a Marxist underground movement. In 1895, he travelled to Switzerland, where he met Social Democrat Georgy Plekhanov. After returning to Russia in 1895, Lenin established the Union of Struggle for the Liberation of the Working Class. He was soon arrested and exiled to Siberia, where he spent three years. During his exile, he wrote a book called The Development of Capitalism in Russia, which was published in 1985. In 1900, Lenin left for Switzerland where founded a paper, entitled Iskra, in order to promote his ideas. Inspired by Lenin's views, his supporters began creating underground organizations across Russia. The 1905 St. Petersburg Massacre, when the tsar's troops fired at a peaceful demonstration led by priest Georgy Gapon, spurred Lenin to advocate violent action. During the 1905 revolution he returned to Russia, but was forced to go abroad again two years later. After the 1917 February Revolution and overthrew Tsar Nicholas II, Lenin returned to his homeland. He came to power in October 1917 after an almost bloodless coup. Lenin led the Soviet state until 1924. He died on January 21, 1924 after having a series of strokes. Lenin's embalmed body has been displayed in a glass case in a mausoleum in Red Square since his death. His continuing presence in the heart of Moscow has been an ongoing source of controversy since the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991. It has been suggested that Lenin's body should be buried in a new national military cemetery, which is to opened in 2011
• Russia and the North Korean Knot
  By Georgy Toloraya Reacting to the publication of the US Nuclear Posture Review, Pyongyang in mid-April 2010 officially confirmed its own position on nuclear weapons: “As long as the U.S. nuclear threat persists, the DPRK will increase and update various type nuclear weapons as its deterrent in such a manner as it deems necessary in the days ahead”.1 Along with other countries, Russia, has to seriously question the viability of the two decades-old efforts for denuclearization of the neighboring country, with special accent on the relevance to the existing diplomatic framework. What is the purpose of the Six-Party talks and what are Russian goals in this exercise? The need to determine real options on the Korean peninsula is obvious. I believe the Russian strategy, coordinated through the Six-Party talks, of making the early denuclearization of North Korea a priority goal should be analyzed from the point of view of broader Russian interests vis-à-vis both the Korean Peninsula and global interaction with major partners, including the US, China, Japan and South Korea. [Russia NK policy] [Six Party talks]
• Kyrgyzstan and the Russian Resurgence
  April 13, 2010 | 0854 GMT By Lauren Goodrich This past week saw another key success in Russia’s resurgence in former Soviet territory when pro-Russian forces took control of Kyrgyzstan. The Kyrgyz revolution was quick and intense. Within 24 hours, protests that had been simmering for months spun into countrywide riots as the president fled and a replacement government took control. The manner in which every piece necessary to exchange one government for another fell into place in such a short period discredits arguments that this was a spontaneous uprising of the people in response to unsatisfactory economic conditions. Instead, this revolution appears prearranged. [Resurgence]
• Russia needs independent policy on North Korea – experts
  19:3230/03/2010 North Korea is unlikely to give up its nuclear program and Russia has to take this fact into account to adjust its policy towards the reclusive Communist state, Russian experts said on Tuesday. Earlier on Tuesday, President Dmitry Medvedev signed a decree putting in force sanctions imposed by the U.N. Security Council against Pyongyang over its 2009 nuclear test. The international community is trying to force North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons and halt its nuclear arms program. "Unless the current rules of the game change, we cannot expect a voluntary denuclearization of North Korea," Georgy Toloraya, the director of Korean programs at the Institute of Economy told an expert conference in Moscow. He said that attempts to force North Korea to give up all its nuclear programs would "contradict the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty" and that Pyongyang had enough human and technological resources to renew nuclear research anytime in the future. [Russia NK policy] [Six Party Talks]

• Russia implements North Korea sanctions
  The Associated Press Tuesday, March 30, 2010; 7:11 AM MOSCOW -- Russia's president has signed an order formally implementing U.N. Security Council-approved sanctions against North Korea. The sanctions were passed in June by the Security Council, which includes Russia, after the country conducted a nuclear test. The sanctions are aimed at pushing North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons program. To conform with the sanctions, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Tuesday ordered that all sales or imports of North Korean weapons and materials connected to them are forbidden. It also bans weapons exports to the reclusive Communist country and bars transport of North Korean weapons through Russian territory, including its waters and airspace. [Sanctions] [UNUS]
• Thousands in Russia protest government in ‘Day of Wrath'  
    By Philip P. Pan Sunday, March 21, 2010 KALININGRAD, RUSSIA -- Thousands of people participated in anti-government rallies across Russia on Saturday, including nearly 3,000 residents of this Baltic exclave who defied police and staged a boisterous, rain-soaked protest calling on Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to step down. The coordinated demonstrations, which opposition leaders dubbed a "Day of Wrath," occurred in dozens of cities and towns across 11 time zones, including Moscow, St. Petersburg, Irkutsk and Vladivostok. Though turnout appeared limited (sic), the string of protests hinted at widespread frustration with Russia's most serious economic downturn in more than a decade [Media]  

• Russia opposes 'endless' sanctions against North Korea
  18:1719/02/2010 Russia argued on Friday against the "endless" continuation of sanctions against North Korea, saying they should be revoked once they have had their effect. The statement comes after talks between Russian officials and a UN-mandated independent expert group in the Foreign Ministry in Moscow earlier on Friday. "The UN Security Council's decisions are aimed primarily at easing concern over North Korea's nuclear program, and not at the economic isolation of the country," Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko said. The expert group on sanctions, headed by Eric Marzolf, met earlier on Friday with Russian ambassador-at-large Grigory Logvinov, who represents Moscow at the six-nation talks on ending Pyongyang's nuclear program. "We exchanged opinions [on the issue] and specified Russia's position, which is to restart the six-party talks and the denuclearization process," Logvinov said, adding that Russia was against taking a broad interpretation of the sanctions. Earlier in the day, Pyongyang said it would be conducting artillery drills near its sea borders with U.S. ally South Korea. The six-party talks involving the two Koreas, China, the United States, Russia and Japan came to a halt last April when North Korea walked out of negotiations in protest against the United Nations' condemnation of its missile tests. The North recently hinted that it was willing to return to the talks, but insisted it first negotiate directly with the United States to repair "hostile relations." The country is banned from conducting nuclear or ballistic tests under UN Resolution 1718, adopted after North Korea's first nuclear test on October 9, 2006. However, Pyongyang carried out a second nuclear test on May 25 last year, followed by a series of short-range missile launches, and has threatened to build up its nuclear arsenal to counter what it calls hostile U.S. policies. The move led to the UN imposing new sanctions on North Korea banning the import and export of nuclear material and all weapons except small arms. MOSCOW, February 19 (RIA Novosti) [Sanctions]
• Speech by Sergei Ivanov at the 46th Munich Security Conference
  by Sergueï Ivanov * 6 February 2010 Mr. Chairman, Ladies and gentlemen, Excellencies, Speaking today at the 46th Munich Conference on Security Policy is for me a matter of emotional value at least for two reasons. First, this is the tenth time I have the honour to be invited to the Conference and address the audience. Second, although I have not yet decided in what form to claim Veteran benefits, I have already been rewarded by the possibility to cast a retrospective glance at how the political climate change has been reflected in Munich Conference findings. Dear colleagues, I must admit that recent years have proved specifically productive for Munich Conference activity because it has coincided with the end of inter-bloc confrontation and creation of the atmosphere of confidence and partnership. This refers also to the prospects of comprehensive and complete elimination of nuclear weapons.
  Security and stability in the context of nuclear disarmament require establishment of relationship between strategic offensive and strategic defensive arms. One cannot seriously talk about reduction in nuclear capabilities if a nuclear state consistently develops and deploys Systems aimed at providing its invulnerability to means of deterrence possessed by other states. lt is like a theory about a sword and a shield. Both are developing and one has to keep in mind the advantages of each of them [Disarmament] [Missile defense]

• Russia and the Koreas: Past Policies and Future Possibilities
  by Richard Weitz Geography alone would give Russia a prominent role in the Korean peninsula. The Russian Federation currently shares a recently demarcated 17-kilometer common border along the Tumen River with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).1 The proximity is suffi cient to ensure that Russian leaders closely follow events in the Koreas and try to infl uence developments. In addition, the histories of the Russian and Korean nations have intertwined for centuries. The Soviet Union created North Korea and imparted the new state with its horrifi c Stalinist political-economic model. Although Russian-DPRK relations have atrophied since the USSR’s demise, ties between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Korea (ROK) have improved considerably in recent years.
• Seoul Seeks to Get Moscow’s Arms Technology
  By Jung Sung-ki Staff Reporter South Korea and Russia are engaged in negotiations over the transfer of key arms technologies, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) said Tuesday. The negotiations are part of the so-called third "Brown Bear" arms-for-debt swap project. [Military balance] [Arms sales]
• Russia Willing to Build Railways If N.Korea Gives Up Nukes
  Russia is willing to construct gas pipes, electrical power networks and railways that could bridge the two Koreas and Russia if North Korea gives up its nuclear weapons. This is according to Russian Ambassador to South Korea Konstantin Vnukov, who told Yonhap News that the proposal could be included in the idea of the "grand bargain," which was proposed by President Lee Myung-bak as a comprehensive rewards package for North Korea if it abandons its nuclear program. The South Korean government responded positively to Russia's overture, saying the deal can be reviewed when the six-party talks resume.

2009

• Sakhalin Koreans Foiled in Campaign to Come Home
  By Andrei Lankov Korea Times Columnist SAKHALIN ? For decades, Sakhalin Koreans had a dream. They wanted to go home, to South Korea. Back in the 1930s and early 1940s, most of them did not want to go to Sakhalin in the first place, and even those who did assumed that their stay would be short. However, in 1945 they were locked on the island. By the early 1970s, this desire for repatriation was cooling down. Most were reconciled with their fate, and some positively enjoyed it. However, in 1974 a sudden change in the situation led to a revival of hope ? with tragic consequences, however. The Soviet authorities for a brief while came close to allowing the repatriation and then changed their mind.
• Russian History Textbook Includes Criticism of N.Korea
  A negative image of North Korea appears to have been included in a Russian history textbook approved by Moscow's education ministry this year. According to the Yonhap News Agency an 11th grade history text to be introduced in this year's new semester was compiled by three professors at Moscow State University and contains details of the Kim Il-sung regime during the 1960s and 70s as well as Kim Jong-il's nuclear weapons programs.
  In contrast to its negative portrait of the North, the book presents South Korea's economic and industrial development as admirable.
• Russia welcomes intention of N Korea, US to hold dialogue
  06.10.2009, 14.42 MOSCOW, October 6 (Itar-Tass) - Russia has welcomed as positive the intention of North Korea and the United States to hold a bilateral dialogue as well as Pyongyang’s readiness to resume the six-party talks on nuclear dossier, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexei Borodavkin told Itar-Tass on Tuesday. [Bilateral] [Six Party Talks]
• N. Korean Mirage Collapses in Sakhalin
  This is the second in a series of articles highlighting the life of Koreans in Sakhalin. By Andrei Lankov Korea Times Columnist Nowadays, it's difficult to believe that North Korea, a brutal but impoverished dictatorship, once enjoyed great popularity among Asian countries and also in Korean communities overseas. Indeed, in the mid-1950s most ethnic Koreans of Japan chose North Korean citizenship, even though they largely originated from the southern part of the peninsula.
• N.Korean Workers Earn Dollars for Construction Work in Russia
  Some of the North Koreans building this luxury house in Vladivostok, Russia were doctors and soldiers back home. Some of the North Koreans building this luxury house in Vladivostok, Russia were doctors and soldiers back home. With the international community tightening economic sanctions on North Korean entities for their alleged involvement in nuclear and weapons activities, Pyongyang is ever more eager to earn hard currency. One of the few options for the regime to get foreign dollars is to rely on its own labor exports. VOA's Korean Service reporter Young Ran-jeon recently visited Vladivostok, Russia and filed this report voiced by Kate Woodsome. Pseudonyms were used to protect the workers interviewed for this story.
• Russia Sought to Send Koreans to NK in 1947
  By Kwon Mee-yoo Staff Reporter The government of the former Soviet Union had planned to forcibly relocate some 22,000 Koreans living in Sakhalin to North Korea in the late 1940s, according to documents released by the National Archives of Korea (NAK), Friday. The document was among the 1,256 pages making up 214 confidential documents compiled by the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). The NAK received the documents from the Russian national archive after requesting their declassification several times since 2005. "The document officially verifies the plan to relocate Koreans in Sakhalin to North Korea, information which had been unconfirmed before this," an NAK official said. "However, it did not identify whether they were actually sent to the North or how many of them were sent." [Japanese colonialism]
• S.Korea, Russia to discuss laying gas pipeline across N.Korea
  Alexey Nikolskiy 18:4430/07/2009 MOSCOW, July 30 (RIA Novosti) - South Korea's economics minister along with oil and gas executives will visit Russia in August to discuss the possibility of laying a gas pipeline across North Korea, the Maeil business daily said on Thursday. During his visit, Lee Youn-Ho will meet with Russian Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko. The talks will involve the heads of the Korea Gas Corporation and Korea National Oil Corporation. The countries hope to be able to pump natural gas from Yakutia in the Russian Far East to South Korea directly via the North. However, all economic projects between the two Koreas are currently frozen. According to information from the South Korean government, Russia is set to supply 750 metric tons of natural gas annually to South Korea for 30 years, to meet about 20% of the country's gas demand. The talks in Moscow are also expected to focus on an action plan for the joint development of oil and gas deposits, and also the development of offshore deposits to the west of Kamchatka in the Russian Far East, the paper said.
• Future of Russian Strategic Nuclear Forces
  In the Wake of Obama's Moscow Visit
  By General Leonid Ivashov
  Global Research, July 19, 2009 Now that US President Obama's visit to Moscow is over, what do we have at the bottom line? First, the summit produced a framework document defining the number of strategic carriers quite broadly (500-1,100) and the number of nuclear warheads – in a narrower corridor (1,500-1,675). The limits are set by the US and Russian Presidents for their negotiating teams and can easily be adjusted in case the sides reach another consensus on the issue. Secondly, Presidents Obama and Medvedev discussed the future of the US missile defense, but this part of the talks led to no definite agreements. All that was said was that the existing viewpoints would have to be taken into account. Moreover, by default the examination of missile defense was limited to just two – and not even the most important – of the hundreds of elements it actually comprises. There were indefinite suggestions to go on discussing the possibility to cooperate in building the missile shield, jointly analyzing the XXI century missile challenges, and monitoring missile programs across the world. As a clear reference to North Korea and Iran, the two Presidents warned all the countries having missile potentials against missile technology proliferation. Thirdly, Russia allowed the US Air Forces to use its airspace, leaving the general public oblivious to details of the deal.
  The above are the practical results of the Moscow summit. Can the Russian side be satisfied with the parameters of the agreement on carriers and warheads? Yes and no at the same time. Given the current situation in the nuclear arms sphere (the condition of Russia's strategic nuclear forces, the level of development of the US missile defense and precision weapons, the magnitude of the return potential concealed by the START-1 Treaty) Russia should regard 1,700 warheads as the critical minimum. Why? Estimates show that with this number of warheads and the corresponding number of carriers the Russian nuclear forces can retain functionality after an attack by US high-precision weapons, launch on warning before nuclear warheads carried by US ballistic missiles reach Russia, penetrate the US missile defense (with some 800-1,000 warheads) and inflict unacceptable damage on the US. This is the essence of the nuclear deterrence. [Nuclear weapons]
• Moscow hopes N. Korea stops nuclear tests, starts talks – Lavrov
  19:0423/06/2009 VIENNA, June 23 (RIA Novosti) - Moscow hopes international talks on Korea's nuclear problem will be resumed shortly and is waiting for Pyongyang to confirm that it will stop all nuclear tests, the Russian foreign minister said on Tuesday. "We are concerned by the deadlock that has evolved, primarily due to North Korea's unacceptable actions," Sergei Lavrov said. He said the UN Security Council had tightened sanctions on North Korea not to punish it but to encourage the impoverished communist state to return to the negotiating table and fulfill its obligations. He added, however, that the talks could only be resumed "after North Korea confirmed that it will conduct no more nuclear tests." [Test]
• Russia: News Conference following Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit
  President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev: Colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, As president of the nation that just turned over its chairmanship of the SCO, I would like to tell you about some of the outcomes of our work within the meeting of the SCO Council of Heads of State. I would like to make a few general remarks before moving on to questions.
  We discussed other regional problems, including North Korea and some of the threatening statements it has recently made. We also noted that its behaviour is unacceptable in today’s situation and that the international community had to respond by adopting a corresponding [UN] Security Council resolution. [test] [Sanctions]
• Russia says new UN resolution should not impose isolation on DPRK
  www.chinaview.cn 2009-05-26 16:37:31 MOSCOW, May 26 (Xinhua) -- Russia believes that a new UN resolution on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) should not impose an international isolation or blockade on the country, the Itar-Tass news agency reported Tuesday, citing a source with the Russian Foreign Ministry. "In any case it is counterproductive to raise the question of the DPRK's international isolation. The path to dialogue should not be disrupted, and the problem can be solved only in political and diplomatic ways," an unidentified official was quoted as saying by Itar-Tass. "The reaction must be sufficiently serious because the authority of the Security Council is at stake," said the diplomat. On the one hand, the reaction should be clear enough, on the other, it should not envision an international isolation or blockade, he said. [test] [Sanctions]
• Russia-China Strategic Relations Warm in Wake of Mounting Russian Tensions with NATO/US
  M K Bhadrakumar
  Westernism is giving way to Orientalism in Moscow's outlook, if the past week's happenings are any guide. As Russia's ties with the West deteriorate, an upswing in its strategic partnership with China becomes almost inevitable. The resumption of Russia-NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) dialogue has gone awry. And the nascent hopes regarding a "reset of the button" of the Russian-American relationship are belied. With Moscow under multiple pressures from the West, two top Chinese officials have arrived in the Russian capital to offer support - Defense Minister Liang Guanglie and Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi. [SCO]
• Russia Offers Use of Territory for N.Korean Satellite Launches
  Russia is a member of the six-party talks aimed at persuading North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons program. It has often sided with China to prevent tough UN sanctions against Pyongyang.
  During his trip to the region last month, Sergei Lavrov made a little-noted statement. Speaking through an interpreter, he said Moscow is willing to help Pyongyang launch satellites into space from its territory. "Russia is cooperating with many countries in the peaceful exploration of space, including launching satellites by our boosters. We have such agreements with South Korea and we are ready to develop similar projects with North Korea, and hope our proposal will be examined," said Lavrov. [Satellite]
• No breakthrough yet
  April 25, 2009 South Korea’s Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan (right) meets Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov last night at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Seoul. Lavrov on Thursday met his North Korean counterpart Pak Ui-chun. North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported that Russia “took note” of the North’s intention to never again participate in the six-party nuclear disarmament talks. “We’re not expecting a breakthrough yet,” Lavrov told the Russian news agency RIA Novosti. KCNA also reported that Russia “recognized that a satellite launch is the sovereign right of each country,” referring to the North’s April 5 launch. [NEWSIS]
• Foreign Ministry Spokesman on Russian FM's Visit to DPRK
  Pyongyang, April 24 (KCNA) -- A spokesman for the DPRK Foreign Ministry gave the following answer to a question put by KCNA Friday as regards the Russian foreign minister's visit to the DPRK: The Russian foreign minister and his party visited the DPRK on April 23 and 24 as part of exchanges for significantly marking this year in which falls the 60th anniversary of the conclusion of agreement on economic and cultural cooperation between the DPRK and Russia under the agreement reached between the two ministries toward the end of last year. During his visit the Russian foreign minister paid a courtesy call on the president of the Presidium of the DPRK Supreme People's Assembly and had talks with the DPRK foreign minister. The talks and meetings dealt with the matters on boosting the traditional, friendly and cooperative relations between the two countries, and agreement was reached there. Also discussed at the talks was the prevailing situation after the release of the UN Security Council's "presidential statement" critical of the DPRK's satellite launch for peaceful purposes.
  Both sides recognized that satellite launch is a sovereign right of each country.
  The Russian side reconfirmed its stand on the UN sanctions against the DPRK and paid attention to the DPRK's stand that there is no need to hold the six-party talks any longer. [Sanctions] [Satellite]
• Russian Official Visits N.Korea in Attempt to Break Nuclear Deadlock
  Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (left) shakes hands with North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kung Sok Ung upon arrival in Pyongyang on April 23, 2009. Russia's top diplomat says he is paying a visit to North Korea, in hopes of easing the North's resistance to talking to its neighbors. The North has pulled out of nuclear weapons talks and continues to detain South Korean and American nationals on political charges. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned other countries not to expect any breakthroughs from his visit to the North Korean capital.
• Talks Held between DPRK and Russian FMs
  Pyongyang, April 23 (KCNA) -- Talks were held between Pak Ui Chun, foreign minister of the DPRK, and Sergei Viktorovich Lavrov, foreign minister of the Russian Federation, at the Mansudae Assembly Hall today. Present at the talks from the DPRK side were officials concerned and from the Russian side Lavrov's party and the Russian ambassador to the DPRK. At the talks both sides exchanged views on developing the relations between the two countries and a series of matters of mutual concern. [Media]
• Plan of Cultural and Scientific Exchange between DPRK and Russian Governments Signed
  Pyongyang, April 23 (KCNA) -- A 2009-2010 plan of cultural and scientific exchange between the governments of the DPRK and Russia was signed in Pyongyang on Thursday. Present at the signing ceremony from the DPRK side were Mun Jae Chol, acting chairman of the Korean Committee for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries, and officials concerned and from the Russian side Sergei Viktorovich Lavrov, foreign minister of the Russian Federation, and his party and Valery Sukhinin, Russian ambassador to the DPRK. It was inked by Mun Jae Chol and Sergei Viktorovich Lavrov
• Russian FM to Visit N.Korea This Month
  Russia is to send Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to North Korea to persuade the renegade country to return to talks on its nuclear program. Russian government officials on Thursday said Lavrov will fly to Pyongyang around April 24 for a two-day stay and will tell his North Korean counterpart Pak Ui-chun of the Russian government's position that it is essential for the North to return to the six-party talks.
• First Red Koreans
  By Andrei Lankov [The Dawn of Modern Korea] (513) In the early 1920s, everybody in the maritime province of Russia knew one fact very well: the local Koreans were for the Reds. The country was still in the middle of a civil war, and the communist guerrillas knew that their chances of finding food and shelter in a Korean village were high ? actually, much higher than in a Russian village. Koreans were very likely to be Communist sympathizers, but why? To start with, prior to 1917, the vast majority of the large Russian-Korean community did not care much about Russian politics. Most of the Koreans were farmers who had fled their home country because of rampant corruption, high taxes, and a shortage of arable land. In Russia they were doing well, and were quite content with that. The Korean intellectuals in Russia usually remained immersed in Korean political and social life. Most of them were political refugees who moved to the Russian maritime province after 1905, fleeing the Japanese colonial regime. They were frequently involved in politics, but it was the politics of the Korean independence movement. Until the 1930s it was quite possible for a Korean to spend years in Russia without coming into much contact with Russian society. Koreans lived in their villages, attended Korean-language schools, read Korean books and newspapers, and shopped in Korean stores. This situation is dramatically different from the circumstances of most Korean communities today. In a sense, one had to make a special effort, not to maintain one's ethnic identity, but rather to assimilate oneself into Russian culture. Nonetheless, the potential political sympathies of the Russian Koreans became absolutely clear with the advent of the Communist Revolution in 1917. The revolution was followed by the Civil War which lasted to 1922, and during this conflict few ethnic groups supported the Communist Red Army with the same devotion and enthusiasm as the Koreans. Some 8,000 Koreans joined the Red forces. This might not appear to be a large number, but the ethnic Korean community was roughly 100,000 strong in 1917, so it means that roughly one out of four able-bodied males joined the Communist army.
• A Sturdier Russia Beckons Its Children Home
  By CLIFFORD J. LEVY Published: March 21, 2009 VLADIVOSTOK, Russia — Vasily Reutov had never set foot in Russia until a few months ago, but the moment he did, he knew he had finally made it home. His ancestors, members of an ascetic offshoot of Russian Orthodoxy known as Old Believers, fled this region in the 1920s after the Communist Party violently suppressed religion. They settled in cloistered villages in South America that they turned into Little Russias, as if by preserving the ways of the past, they would somehow, someday, be able to return. Now, with Russia itself beckoning and sturdier than before, that time has come. The government is trying to head off the country’s severe population decline by luring back Russians who live abroad as well as their descendants. [Migration]
• FM Meets Delegation of Russian Foreign Ministry
  Pyongyang, January 29 (KCNA) -- Minister of Foreign Affairs Pak Ui Chun met and had a talk with the delegation of the Foreign Ministry of the Russian Federation headed by its Vice-Minister Aleksei Borodavkin when it paid a courtesy call on him at the Mansudae Assembly Hall Thursday.
• North Korea's Military Action Is Intolerable, Russian Amb. Says
  Russia will not tolerate any kind of military threat from North Korea, the Russian ambassador said Wednesday, warning its long-time ally, which proclaimed an ``all-out war posture'' against South Korea last week. Speaking at the World Korean Forum at the Lotte Hotel in Seoul, Ambassador Gleb A. Ivashentsov, said, ``We oppose a missile test or nuclear activity by North Korea near our border. When it carried out a nuclear test in October 2006, the site was only 177 kilometers away from Russian territory.'' The forum was hosted by the Korean Global Foundation and supported by www.hankooki.com.

2008

• Condolences Expressed over Death of Russian Patriarch
  Pyongyang, December 8 (KCNA) -- Jang Jae On, chairman of the Korean Council of Religionists, and Ho Il Jin, chairman of the Korean Orthodox Church Committee, on Monday sent messages of condolences to Chairman of the Office of Foreign Relations of the Russian Orthodox Church Kirill who is patriarch of Smolensk and Kaliningrad Regions over the death of Patriarch Alexy II of the Russian Orthodox Church. His death is a great loss for the Russian Orthodox Church and people, the messages said, praying for the immortality of the deceased.
• (Presidential) Address to the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation
  President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev: Citizens of Russia
  November 5, 2008, Grand Kremlin Palace, Moscow
• S. Korea and Russia agree to pursue natural gas pipeline
  Pipeline could run through North Korea, bringing the country US$100 million in income, and would reduce gas prices in the South South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev met at the Kremlin September 29 and agreed to jointly pursue a project that would bring Russian natural gas to Korea beginning in 2015. The two sides agreed to elevate bilateral relations to the level of a strategic cooperative partnership and issued a ten-point statement.
• DPRK FM and His Party Leave for Russia
  Pyongyang, October 14 (KCNA) -- DPRK Foreign Minister Pak Ui Chun and his party left here today to visit Russia. They were seen off at the airport by Kung Sok Ung, vice-minister of Foreign Affairs, and Valery Sukhinin, Russian ambassador to the DPRK.
• The Russians are coming — loaded with cash
  By Sergei Guriev and Aleh Tsyvinski Saturday, Oct. 18, 2008 MOSCOW — Russia's government is sitting on a giant pile of cash that it plans to invest in foreign assets. The glimpse of its economic muscle was revealed when the prime minister of Iceland announced that Russia may come with about $5 billion to save its troubled economy. Who could have thought that, given the chaotic Russia of the 1990s, only 10 years later it would be in the position to bail out a developed country? Even more surprising is the fact that the helping hand for Iceland comes at a time when the domestic stock market is in a free fall and trading on the Moscow stock exchange is routinely halted. The Kremlin thinks that now is the time to buy assets cheaply, using the current financial crisis to emerge as a powerful global economic player. As Prime Minister Vladimir Putin remarked at a recent meeting with the CEO of state-owned bank VTB, "Perhaps we should buy something (abroad)? Something that is up for grabs?" According to Arkady Dvorkovich, an economic aide to President Dmitry Medvedev, the government will support — both diplomatically and financially — the expansion of Russian companies abroad.
  The key benefit of Russian foreign investment is not economic, but that it helps Russia become a global citizen. Consider Russia's elites, who buy houses in London, ski in the Alps, and educate their children in Switzerland. They have too much to lose from a worsening political climate between Russia and the West. It is time to make Russia's big business — and its government — stakeholders in the world economy. [Decline] [resurgence] [Globalisation]
• Improved relations with Russia
  [Editorial]   President Lee Myung-bak and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev met yesterday and decided to elevate relations to the level of strategic cooperative partnership from that of a constructive partnership. The two countries will increase the level of their discussions and cooperation in all areas, including economics, diplomacy, security, and politics. One feels as if Russia is again coming closer, having grown considerably distant from the Korean Peninsula since the fall of the Soviet Union.
  The Russo-Korean summit signals the completion of President Lee’s tour of the "big four powers" (the United States, China, Japan and Russia). Compared to relations with the United States, Japan, and China, countries with which there remain many uncertainties, relations with Russia seem to be smooth sailing. The fact the two countries have almost no directly conflicting security interests contributes positively to the relationship. This is a time when we should cooperate in a substantial way that corresponds to the strategic partnership.
• Russia to Talk to N. Korea About Pipeline to S. Korea
  By Shinhye Kang Bloomberg SEOUL — South Korea plans to import $90 billion of natural gas from Russia via North Korea, with which it shares one of the world’s most heavily fortified borders, to reduce its reliance on more expensive cargoes arriving by sea. State-run Korea Gas signed a preliminary agreement with Gazprom, Russia’s largest energy company, to import 10 billion cubic meters of natural gas over 30 years starting in 2015, the Ministry of Knowledge Economy said in a statement. The accord was signed in Moscow during President Lee Myung Bak’s three-day visit that began Sunday. Gazprom Chief Executive Officer Alexei Miller said after talks Monday between Lee and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev that the exact delivery route hasn’t been determined and that shipments could begin as early as 2015. [Resurgence] [Realignment]
• Russia to offer exclusive Korean port, factory site
  October 01, 2008 MOSCOW - Expressing satisfaction after talks with Russia’s Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Monday, President Lee Myung-bak said yesterday that Seoul and Moscow have agreed to build a port at Vladivostok exclusively for Korea. [Resurgence] [Realignment]
• Korea, Russia Agree to Forge Closer Energy Ties
    President Lee Myung-bak and his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev met at the Kremlin on Monday afternoon to discuss released expanding cooperation in political, diplomacy, defense and the economy.
• Korea Backs Russia’s WTO Membership
  By Na Jeong-ju Staff Reporter South Korea and Russia agreed Monday to upgrade their relations to a strategic partnership to accelerate two-way cooperation on North Korea's nuclear program and the development of natural resources and aerospace technologies. President Lee Myung-bak, who is on a three-day visit to Russia, and President Dmitry Medvedev adopted a joint statement calling for closer diplomatic and economic ties between the two countries following their summit in Moscow. [Realignment]
• N. Korea, Russia to Redraw Border Along Tumen River
  By Kim Sue-young Staff Reporter North Korea and Russia will redraw their border along the Tumen River as the terrain has changed over time, a report said Thursday. The two countries first discussed the matter in Pyongyang in 2000.
• SuperJet-100: A Hopeful Test Flight
  MOSCOW (RIA Novosti) - The first flight of the SuperJet-100, Sukhoi's new medium-haul passenger airliner, offers hope that Russia's program to resurrect its civil aviation industry may yet succeed. Completion of the 40-minute test flight allowed the Sukhoi Aviation Holding to strike deals for delivery of another 27 planes, bringing its order portfolio to 100 airliners. The bulk of these aircraft will be sold abroad, but more important for Russians is the fact that the rest will be purchased by domestic carriers, augmenting Russia's significantly deteriorated air fleet. The SuperJet-100 is the first civilian airplane to be launched into mass production since the disintegration of the USSR. Two decades ago the civilian air fleet was the pride of the country, with the Soviet Union producing a quarter of the world's civil airliners, and new aircraft developed by the Tupolev, Ilyushin, Antonov and Yakovlev design bureaus fascinating visitors at international air shows. Now it's all gone. Since the late 80's the industry has steadily sunk into crisis, with plants falling idle, equipment aging, and thousands of engineers and workers forced to look for a different occupation. This resulted in production output decreasing to single planes, air fleet numbers falling due to natural wear and tear, and the airline system shrinking dramatically. In 1990 Russian airlines carried 103 million passengers, in the past year only 45 million. Currently there are 5,700 aircraft registered in Russia, less than half of which actually fly. The bulk of the operable planes became obsolete long ago - only one tenth of them can be regarded as modern. The average age of long-distance airliners is over 17, and that of medium-haul aircraft over 30.
• Russia’s ‘Power Politics’ and North Korea
  By Leonid Petrov
  August 7th, 2008 Leonid Petrov, Research Associate at the Australian National University, writes, “In this light, Russian-Korean relations can be seen as based on a solid footing and replete with opportunities that can benefit each of them. The new administrations in the Kremlin and Seoul’s “Blue House”, together with the new generation of leaders in Pyongyang, can radically change the political climate in the region. A simple strengthening of economic relationships between the three countries will contribute to the peaceful solution of the “Korean nuclear problem” and prepare the basis for durable peace and prosperity in Northeast Asia.”
• Wrong on Russia
  By Stephen F. Cohen Published: July 1, 2008 Neither of the two major American presidential candidates has seriously addressed, or even seems fully aware of, what should be our greatest foreign policy concern - Russia's singular capacity to endanger or enhance our national security. Despite its diminished status following the Soviet breakup in 1991, Russia alone possesses weapons that can destroy the United States, a military-industrial complex nearly America's equal in exporting arms, vast quantities of questionably secured nuclear materials sought by terrorists, and the planet's largest oil and natural gas reserves. It also remains the world's largest territorial country, pivotally situated in the West and the East, at the crossroads of colliding civilizations, with strategic capabilities from Europe, Iran and other Middle East nations to North Korea, China, India, Afghanistan and even Latin America. All things considered, our national security may depend more on Russia than Russia's does on us. And yet U.S.-Russian relations are worse today than they have been in 20 years
  During the last eight years, Putin's foreign policies have been largely a reaction to Washington's winner-take-all approach to Moscow since the early 1990s, which resulted from a revised U.S. view of how the cold war ended. In that new triumphalist narrative, America "won" the 40-year conflict and post-Soviet Russia was a defeated nation analogous to post-World War II Germany and Japan - a nation without full sovereignty at home or autonomous national interests abroad. The policy implication of that bipartisan triumphalism, which persists today,
• S. Korea pushes for Russian helicopter purchase
  The South Korean military is pushing for its plan to buy 32 Kamov (KA-32) helicopters from Russia at a date earlier than anticipated to support landing and infiltration operations for marines ahead of the planned takeover of wartime operational control from the United States. [Military balance] [Sovereignty]
• Misreading Medvedev’s China Mission
  by Yu Bin
  YU Bin is (byu@wittenberg.edu) Senior Fellow for the Shanghai Institute of American Studies and regular contributor to the Pacific Forum’s Comparative Connections (www.csis.org/pacfor/ccejournal.html). No matter how presidential Dymitry Medvedev may act, his late May summit in Beijing has been discounted in the West as routine, unsubstantial, and overshadowed by the meetings of his predecessor, Vladimir Putin. The “growing” conflict of interests between Russia and China over various issues – trade, energy, military sales, to mention a few – has also been the focus of media coverage. In keeping with this image, (now) Prime Minister Putin’s visit to Paris a week after was described as more “presidential” than Medvedev’s east-bound mission. These assessments miss important aspects of the evolving and broadening relations between the two largest nations on the Eurasian continent. [China-Russia relations]
• From Russia, A Cinematic Double Take On WWII Era
  Director Nikita Mikhalkov's original, 1994 movie, "Burnt by the Sun," won the Oscar for Best Foreign Film. The sequel is surprisingly different. (By Peter Finn -- The Washington Post) By Peter Finn Washington Post Foreign Service Saturday, May 31, 2008; Page A01 VOISKOVITSY, Russia -- In the 1994 Russian film "Burnt by the Sun," the idyllic life of a family at their country home outside Moscow is smashed on a single day by Stalinism. Fans of the movie, which won the Oscar for Best Foreign Film, are likely to be startled by a coming sequel. And not only because director Nikita Mikhalkov has reanimated characters who appeared to die in the original. The first film, an intimate drama that shimmered with dread, played out almost entirely on a small set. The new movie, part of which is being filmed at this rural railway junction about 30 miles south of St. Petersburg, is a panoramic blockbuster with battle scenes straight out of Hollywood. With a budget of $55 million, it is the most expensive movie in Russian history. In the sequel, the four main characters from the first movie, three of whom were thought to be dead, hurtle unawares toward each other in the furnace of World War II. And Joseph Stalin, hovering unseen like a malign spirit in the first film, steps onto this stage as a speaking character. And what a stage. Mikhalkov, 62, is not making one movie but two full-length films, "Burnt by the Sun 2," Parts 1 and 2, plus a 12-part television series that will track and expand on the material in the two movies. Mikhalkov plans to release the first part of the film version May 9, 2010, the 65th anniversary of victory in World War II. The movie's second part is to be released several months later, with the television version following in 2011 or 2012. "It's an epic in the tradition of war films," said Kirill Razlogov, a leading film scholar and critic in Moscow. "And if the film is a success, I don't think people will care that it's completely different in scope than the original." The memorialization of World War II, which Russians call the Great Patriotic War, has become an almost state-sanctified event increasingly coated in a neo-Soviet historical orthodoxy. [Reassertion]
• Congratulations to Russian PM
  Pyongyang, May 9 (KCNA) -- Kim Yong Il, premier of the DPRK Cabinet, sent a congratulatory message to Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin on his appointment as Prime Minister of the government of the Russian Federation. Expressing the belief that the DPRK-Russia relations would grow stronger in the interests of the two peoples in the future, too, the message wished him great success in his responsible work for the country's development and prosperity.
• S. Korea, Russia to press ahead with projects involving N. Korea
  SEOUL, April 7 KYODO South Korea's new President Lee Myung Bak and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin agreed Monday to push ahead with efforts to link the trans-Korean railway with the trans-Siberian railway and other tripartite economic cooperation projects involving North Korea, according to local media. Lee and Putin exchanged views on the matter in a telephone conservation in which Lee also sought greater Russian efforts to persuade North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program, Yonhap News Agency quoted presidential spokesman Lee Dong Kwan as saying. [Railways]
• Rodong Sinmun on DPRK-Russia Relations
  Pyongyang, March 17 (KCNA) -- The conclusion of the agreement on economic and cultural cooperation between the DPRK and the Soviet Union put the DPRK-Russia friendly and cooperative relations on a new stage of development. Rodong Sinmun Monday stresses this in a by-lined article dedicated to the 59th anniversary of the signing of the agreement. The article notes that the historic visits to the Russian Federation and its Far Eastern Region by General Secretary Kim Jong Il in the new century and the visit to the DPRK by Russian President V. V. Putin in 2000 served as a new milestone and the motive force for the overall development of the DPRK-Russia friendly relations including economic and cultural cooperation.
• Russia, India Sign Billion Dollar Deal to Upgrade Indian Fighter Jets
    A fighter jet type Mikojan MIG-29M OVT of the Russian Aircraft Corporation overflies the area of the International Aerospace Exhibition Show in Berlin-Schoenefeld, 13 May 2006      Russian news reports say Moscow has signed a $1 billion deal with India to upgrade more than 60 MIG-29 jet fighters it had previously sold to New Delhi. The reports Tuesday quote sources in Russia's defense manufacturing sector as saying a five-year contract calls for Russia to install new radars, weapons control systems and improved engines. The reports say the upgrade will extend the operational service of the planes by 15 years. Russia has aggressively sought to expand arms sales on the world market, and is currently refurbishing a Soviet-era aircraft carrier set for sale to India in 2011.  
• Congratulations to Russian President-elect
  Pyongyang, March 4 (KCNA) -- Kim Yong Nam, president of the Presidium of the DPRK Supreme People's Assembly, on Monday sent a congratulatory message to Dmitri Anatoliyevich Medvedev upon his election as President of the Russian Federation. Expressing the belief that the DPRK-Russia relations will steadily develop in the interests of the two peoples and in the spirit of the joint documents signed between both sides in the future, too, Kim in the message wished the Russian President great success in his responsible work for stability and prosperity of the country.
• North Korea-Russia Relations: A Strained Friendship
  By the International Crisis Group February 7th, 2008
  The International Crisis Group, an independent, non-profit, multinational organization, working through field-based analysis and high-level advocacy to prevent and resolve deadly conflict, writes, “Pyongyang wants Russia to balance China’s growing influence but appears to recognise that Moscow will never provide the level of support it once did. The North has been keen to discuss economic cooperation but has lacked the political will to reform its economy sufficiently for foreign investment, even from a country as inured to corruption and government interference as Russia… there is unlikely to be much growth in bilateral cooperation unless the nuclear crisis is resolved peacefully, and the North opens its economy.”
• Presidential Elections and Russia-Korea Relations
  [Analysis] Prof. Leonid Petrov looks at the future of bilateral ties
  Published 2008-02-22 14:00 (KST) At the end of this month the inauguration of the recently elected President of the Republic of Korea will take place in Seoul. Russia is poised for its own presidential elections in early March. In North Korea (formally known as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, or DPRK), it has been reported, the grooming of a new leader is already under way. Nevertheless, the dynamics of relations between Russia and the two Koreas will depend not so much on personalities but on the joint efforts of the sides.
• Korea’s Russia Trade Booming, Chinese Market Cools
  Korea’s exports to Russia are robust but Korean products have lost their competitive edge in China. The Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) on Wednesday said trade between Korea and Russia grew 54 percent last year to US$15.06 billion. Trade with Russia has surged between 34 and 65 percent over the last five years. [China competition]

• Korea's 1st Astronaut to Lift Off Next April
  The time and date have been set for Korea's first astronaut to travel into space. Ko San will depart Earth aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft at the Baikonur Space Center on April 8, 2008 at 8:00 p.m. Korean time. Ko made the announcement to Korean reporters at a press conference in a hotel in Moscow, Russia, along with Yi So-yeon, his backup.
• What Does Putin Want?
  Immanuel Wallerstein
  Commentary No. 221, Nov. 15, 2007
  Is the question, what does Putin want, the same question as what does Russia want? I think the answer is that the answers to the two questions are fairly close. In any case, Putin has not been at all shy about telling us what he wants on behalf of Russia. He used two high-level European conferences recently to spell out exactly what his concerns are. The first was his speech at the 43rd Munich Conference on Security Policy on October 2, 2007, in the presence of Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany. And the second was at a press conference following the Summit of the European Union in Lisbon on October 26.
  Putin wants, as Russians have wanted for centuries, to be accepted as a principal player in the world-system. He obviously feels that the United States, and even western Europe, used the Yeltsin interlude to ignore Russia. He seems confident that the tide has turned, primarily because of changes in the world-economy. And, confident of the future, Putin lays down his conditions. He appears to be appealing to Europe for active cooperation and to the United States for a de facto military truce. We shall see in the next decade how successful such policies will be.
• DPRK and Russia Cooperate in Commerce and Economy
  Pyongyang, November 14 (KCNA) -- A protocol of the second meeting of the joint working group on cooperation in commerce and economy between the Committee for the Promotion of International Trade of the DPRK and the Sakhalin Regional Administration of Russia was signed here Wednesday. Present at the signing ceremony from the DPRK side were members of the committee and from the Russian side were members of the delegation of the administration and a councilor of the Russian embassy here.
• Plan for Exchange Signed between Foreign Ministries of DPRK and Russia
  Pyongyang, October 21 (KCNA) -- A 2007-2008 plan for exchange between the foreign ministries of the DPRK and Russia was signed in Moscow on October 19. Present at the signing ceremony from the DPRK side were members of the delegation of the DPRK Foreign Ministry headed by Vice-Minister Kung Sok Ung and from the Russian side officials of the Russian Foreign Ministry including Vice-Minister Alexandr Losyukov.
• Stark Differences on Arms Threaten U.S.-Russia Talks
  By THOM SHANKER and STEVEN LEE MYERS
  Published: October 10, 2007 WASHINGTON, Oct. 9 — Growing disagreements over how to carry forward arms control treaties threaten to bog down meetings in Moscow this week between top-level Americans and their Russian counterparts that are intended to seek a compromise on missile defense. The talks, in Moscow, are becoming both the latest indication of the troubled state of relations between the White House and the Kremlin and one of the last opportunities for President Bush and President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia to overcome the deepening distrust that has strained the relationship.
• Roh says inter-Korean summit accord to accelerate Korea-Siberia rail link
  October 10, 2007 South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun said Tuesday (Oct.9) that the latest inter-Korean summit agreement would provide momentum for the connection of the trans-Korean railway, or TKR, with the trans-Siberian railway, known as TSR. Roh made the remarks during his telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to Roh's spokesman, Cheon Ho-seon. "Roh called Putin at 5 p.m. and briefed the Russian leader for 20 minutes on the result of the inter-Korean summit talks in Pyongyang last week," said Cheon. [Railways] [KR_summit07]
• Putin Sees No Proof of Iran Arms Plans
  By SOPHIA KISHKOVSKY Published: October 11, 2007 MOSCOW, Oct. 10 — The first bilateral meeting of President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and President Nicolas Sarkozy of France quickly brought to the surface their split views on Iran, with Mr. Putin expressing doubts that Iran was trying to build nuclear weapons [Evidence]
• Russian View on Inter Korean Summit
  By Georgy Bulychev
  Georgy Bulychev, Director for Korean Research Programs, Institute of World Economy and International Relations (IMEMO), Moscow, writes, "if the DPRK gains short-term profits (like fostering her stance vis-à-vis the U.S. and receiving economic aid), the South and other interested countries will gain over the long-term. For the South, it is an important step forward on the way towards normalizing relations with the North and strengthening the common potential of the Korean states. Looking from the angle of regional geopolitics, it would provide for stronger stability and growing interaction and coincide with Russia's priorities." [KR_Summit07]
• Seoul Mulls Russian Helicopters Instead of Debt Deal: US Weekly
  South Korea's Navy is considering obtaining some 30 Russian Kamov Ka-32 utility helicopters as the two countries negotiate Moscow's debt repayment with arms, the U.S. military weekly Defense News reported Monday. Adm. Song Young-moo, chief of naval operations, discussed the plan with Russian officials during his Moscow visit last month, according to the weekly. Song hoped that the Russian aircraft would fly from the 14,000-ton, large-deck landing ship Dokdo for transport missions until South Korea deploys its own copters in 2012 through the Korea Helicopter Program (KHP), it said. [Military balance] [Arms sales]
• Politicus: America's misplaced hopes on Russia
  By John Vinocur Published: September 10, 2007
  WASHINGTON: Suppose the Russians, as Iran's monopoly supplier of nuclear wherewithal, decided they could live with a few atomic weapons in the hands of the mullahs. Suppose the Russians, flush with money and superpower fantasies, believed that weakening and humiliating the United States was well worth the instability that might come with Moscow's refusal to help block Iran's drive toward nuclear arms. Where's the downside? From Vladimir Putin's point of view, it's win-win. With Russia's obstructive tactics encouraging Iran to plunge ahead, he may figure the Americans will eventually strike Iranian nuclear installations. The Yanks would harvest opprobrium in much of the world. Still, if their strike does eradicate the Iranian nuclear program, that's fine, too. Russia's oil and gas prices are sure to shoot up. Russia becomes Iran's key reconstruction contractor, and sets out a rare claim to international righteousness. What's irrational about the above scenario? Or its counterpart, which is that Russian now calculates the United States in the end will sit on its hands concerning Iran? Nothing. Multiple versions of them get discussed within the Bush Administration, all stamped, Non Whacko. It's exemplary of the misery of the American situation. [Imperialism] [In denial]
• Putin Supports Korean Summit
  President Roh Moo-hyun, left, talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin at a summit meeting in Sydney, Australia, Sunday. / Korea Times By Kim Yon-se Korea Times Correspondent SYDNEY _ Russian President Vladimir Putin said he would bolster support for the inter-Korean summit, slated for Oct. 2-4 in Pyongyang. In his summit with President Roh Moo-hyun on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum here, Sunday, Putin said he strongly backs Roh's planned meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. Putin agreed with Roh's remarks that ``the inter-Korean summit will make a contribution to resolving North Korea's nuclear issue, promoting peace in the Northeast Asia and economic cooperation between Russia and two Koreas.'' Roh expressed gratitude to Russia which played a crucial role for the successful six-party talks and breaking the impasse over a long-running banking dispute blocking North Korea's nuclear disarmament. [BDA] [KR_summit07]
• Russia arms old and new friends in Asia
  By Donald Greenlees Published: September 5, 2007 HONG KONG: On the way to the annual summit meeting of Asia-Pacific leaders in Australia, President Vladimir Putin of Russia has scheduled a brief stop-off in Jakarta on Thursday. High on Putin's agenda: the signing of a $1 billion arms deal that includes supplying Indonesia with two Kilo-class submarines, the first of a small fleet of the vessels. It comes on the heels of other deals to sell advanced Su-27 and Su-30 combat fighters to Indonesia, Malaysia and other countries in the region, helping to entrench Russia's place as the leading arms supplier to Asia. The signs that the Russian bear wants to return to its old stamping grounds in East Asia and the Pacific have become increasingly apparent in recent times, analysts say.
  The consumption of Russian military hardware has been led by two traditional customers, China and India, as both spend billions of dollars to rapidly expand their military capabilities by buying Russian combat aircraft, warships, submarines and missiles. Russia has been deepening both of those relationships by establishing joint-development programs of some weapons and agreeing to license the manufacture of others.
  "The Russians are not indiscriminately selling arms," Muraviev said. "Russia has pursued a policy driven by strategic design. If it creates a strong client base, that can later be transformed into a larger relationship." [Arms sales] [Russia confrontation]
• Russia rains on Bretton Woods parade
  By Zorawar Daulet Singh Russia's unexpected decision late last month to pick a non-consensus candidate, Joseph Tosovsky, from the Czech Republic, to head the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has once again brought to the fore the apparent illegitimacy of the international economic architecture, which has remained frozen since 1944. The Russian Finance Ministry stated, "We believe that Mr Tosovsky would be the right person at the right place at the right time." Former Russian prime minister Yegor Gaidar wrote, "The countries of eastern Europe should consider ways of increasing their influence in key decisions within the EU on questions of world financial politics." There are perhaps two overlapping motives for Moscow. First, the move reflects Russia's quest to broaden the scope of economic globalization and advance the agenda for the equitable management of the international political economy. Second, at the geopolitical level, the move is another sign of Moscow's nuanced foreign policies that are seeking to restore its influence in the post-Soviet space without provoking a cold war. [Russia confrontation]
• Russia Resumes Its Long-Range Air Patrols
  Putin Announces Regular Tours
  By Anton Troianovski Special to The Washington Post Saturday, August 18, 2007; A07
  MOSCOW, Aug. 17 -- In Russia's latest assertion of a broader global military presence, President Vladimir Putin announced Friday that the country had resumed the regular long-range air patrols that ended after the Soviet Union collapsed. The flights are necessary to protect Russia because "other states," an allusion to the United States and its allies, continue patrols of their own, he said. Speaking after completion of the first Russian-Chinese joint military exercise held on Russian soil, Putin said the flights began at midnight Friday morning and involved 20 aircraft that would stay in the air for about 20 hours. "Starting today, such tours of duty will be conducted regularly," Putin told reporters at a military range near Kazakhstan, according to a transcript released by the Kremlin. "We proceed from the assumption that our partners will view the resumption of flights of Russia's strategic aviation with understanding." [Missile defense] [SCO] [Russia confrontation]
• Kim Jong Il Greets Putin
  Pyongyang, August 15 (KCNA) -- General Secretary Kim Jong Il sent a message of greetings to Russian President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin today on the occasion of the 62nd anniversary of the liberation of Korea. The message says: I send greetings to you and, through you, to the Russian people on the occasion of the 62nd anniversary of Korea's liberation. Expressing the belief that the cooperative relations between the DPRK and Russia would develop in the interests of the two peoples, I wish you success in your work.
• Greetings to Kim Jong Il from Putin
  Pyongyang, August 15 (KCNA) -- General Secretary Kim Jong Il received a message of greetings from Russian President V. Putin Wednesday on the occasion of the day of Korea's liberation. In the message the president said that Korea achieved freedom and independence through an arduous and protracted struggle against the colonial rule, stressing that Russia highly appreciates the fact that the DPRK deems it important to remember the Russians who alongside the Korean patriots laid down their lives for the liberation of the Korean Peninsula and victory in the Second World War. He expressed the belief that the good-neighborly relations between the DPRK and Russia would develop for the well-being of the two peoples in the future, too, and they would make a distinct contribution to peace, stability and security in the Korean Peninsula and all other regions. He wished the friendly DPRK fresh success in its socio-economic development.
• S. Korea welcomes cooperation with Russia, N. Korea – ambassador
  20:36 | 14/ 08/ 2007 MOSCOW, August 14 (RIA Novosti) - Seoul backs Russia's proposal to set up tripartite intergovernmental commissions with North Korea to discuss major joint economic projects, South Korea's ambassador to Russia said Tuesday. Russia has proposed setting up commissions in various areas of cooperation with North and South Korea, including a possible link-up of the Trans-Korean Railroad with the Trans-Siberian Railroad. [Railways]
• North Korea to settle debts with Russia
        RBC, 06.08.2007, Moscow 18:03:51.Russia is currently planning negotiations with North Korea on the Korean debt settlement for the fall 2007, Deputy Finance Minister Sergei Storchak told RBC today. If North Korea does not sign an agreement with the International Monetary Fund and does not join the Paris Club, settling debts with Pyongyang will be tough, the Deputy Minister noted. The negotiations are of great importance, as all Paris Club members, including Russia, are obliged to settle non-members' debts, he said.       North Korea's debt to the former USSR is estimated at $8bn, but the debt's exact evaluation poses certain difficulties, as it is denominated in various currencies and, most importantly, Korea has not yet acknowledged Russia as a moneylender, Storchak added.
• The Putin Charisma
  Immanuel Wallerstein
  Commentary No. 213, July 15, 2007 Vladimir Putin has not been getting good press in the United States or even Western Europe in the last year or so. He has been charged with being authoritarian, with attempting to recreate Russia's imperial control over its neighbors, and with reviving Cold War obstructionism in the United Nations.
  So one must ask, is this the only place where Putin has been exercising his charisma? And the answer has to be no. There is first of all his internal political strength in Russia. Yes, he has upset a good portion of the intelligentsia, but there is every indication that he is quite popular with most Russians, unlike some other presidents of major states today.
  Even more important however are Putin's political accomplishments on the world scene. He has resisted, so far successfully, any and all attempts by the United States to obtain United Nations authorization of real punitive action against Iran, North Korea, and Sudan. He has held up any moving forward to independence for Kosovo. To be sure, Russia's positions have been China's positions on these questions, so Russia is not alone. But in the 1990s, such strong and so far effective Russian political stands were not thinkable.
• Floral Tribute Paid to Fallen Fighters of Soviet Army
  Pyongyang, June 12 (KCNA) -- Officials of the Russian embassy here laid a wreath before the Liberation Tower Tuesday on the occasion of Russia's national day. Present at the wreath-laying ceremony were Russian Ambassador to the DPRK Valery Sukhinin and embassy officials. Amid the playing of the wreath-laying music a wreath in the name of the Russian embassy and bouquets were placed before the tower. The participants paid a silent tribute to the fallen fighters of the Soviet army before looking round the tower. Then they laid a wreath and bouquets at the cemetery of fallen fighters of the Soviet army in Sadong District, Pyongyang.
• Russia Belatedly Joins in Sanctions against N.Korea
  According to Russia's Itar Tass news agency on Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree imposing sanctions on North Korea in compliance with a UN Security Council resolution in the wake of Pyongyang's nuclear test last October. The presidential decree applies a full weapons embargo against North Korea in pursuance of UN Security Council Resolution 1718. All Russian government agencies and enterprises will be banned from exporting to North Korea tanks, fighter jets, warships, heavy artillery pieces, missiles, and missile launchers, as well as materials that can be used for nuclear weapons development. In addition, North Korean officials involved in development programs for weapons of mass destruction including nuclear weapons are banned from entering Russia. Shipments of luxury goods to North Korea are also banned. The measure will likely have no tangible effects, however, given that the current annual trade volume between Russia and North Korea is only about $200 million. [Sanctions]
• The Iron Archives
  By RACHEL DONADIO Published: April 22, 2007 Since the end of the cold war, historians have mined the Russian archives for insights into the nature of the Soviet empire and its global reach. New documents have shed light on such matters as the Alger Hiss and Rosenberg spy cases and also illuminated the relationships between Moscow and revolutionary movements in other countries - sometimes fueling old debates more than settling them. But after a golden age in the early 1990s, archival access eroded. Today, conversations with nearly two dozen historians point to a worrisome tightening that has kept key archives closed and subjected others to unpredictable "re-secretization
  Similarly, James Person, an associate at the Cold War International History Project, which publishes material from former Communist countries, said that five years ago he consulted documents from 1956 concerning the Soviet relationship with North Korea; when he returned in March 2006, they had been reclassified.
• Russia Pushing for Inter-Korean Summit - Ex-NIS Official
  A former senior official with the National Intelligence Service said Tuesday he has information that if an inter-Korean summit is held in a third country, it will be on Vladivostok's Russkiy Island in Russia. The former official, Prof. Song Jong-hwan of Myongji University, made the remarks at a conference held by the National Crisis Council. "Russian President Vladimir Putin's wish to win the Nobel Peace Prize fits with the timeline for inter-Korean events," Song said. According to Song, Putin wants the summit to be announced around Aug. 31 Independence Day, and before nominations close for the Nobel Peace Prize. Putin could then be announced as the prize winner on Oct. 22 and awarded the prize on Dec. 5, Song said. He claimed that fits with the Korean government's planned schedule for a summit and the presidential elections.
• Thousands of S.Korean POWs 'Disappeared in Russia'
  North Korea sent thousands of South Korean prisoners of war to the former Soviet Union during the Korean War, the U.S. edition of the Hankook Ilbo reported citing a newly declassified U.S. document on Wednesday. The South Korean POWs have never been repatriated. Entitled "The Transfer of U.S. Korean War POWs to the Soviet Union," the report was written in August 1993 based on testimony obtained by the U.S.-Russia Joint Commission Support Branch of the Research and Analysis Division under the Defense POW/MIA Office (DPMO) after the Cold War ended.   South Korean prisoners of war step out of an ambulance in Munsan, South Korea after they were released following an April 26, 1953 agreement to exchange war prisoner during the Korean War.   According to the report, the former North Korean officer Kan San Kho stated in November 1992 that he assisted in the transfer of thousands of South Korean POWs into 300 to 400 camps in the Soviet Union, most in the taiga but some in Central Asia as well. Already in May 1953, Zygmunt Nagorski, a reporter with the magazine Esquire, covered the transfer of South Korean POWs and their life in the Soviet Union in an in-depth report based on testimony from two agents of the Russian Interior Ministry and an employee of the Trans-Siberian Railroad. The witnesses testified the transit point was through the North Korean-Soviet border at Pos'yet between November 1951 and April 1952 when ice closed the Pacific coast and the Tatar Straits. "These POWs were taken from Pos'yet through Chita by rail to Molotov" now Perm. According to the 1993 report, "The exploitation of POWs as Soviet state policy was blatantly contained in the minutes of a Sept. 19, 1952 meeting between Stalin and Chinese Foreign Minister Chou en-lai in which he recommended that the Communists keep back 20 percent of United Nations POWs as hostages." The POWs sent to the Chukotsk Peninsula, apparently at least 12,000 of them, "were used to build roads, electric power plants, and airfields. There was a high mortality rate among all these prisoners." [Korean War events]
• The Myth of Russian Resurgence
  By Rajan Menon, New America Foundation   with Alexander J. Motyl, professor of political science and deputy director of the Division of Global Affairs, Rutgers University-Newark The American Interest | March/April 2007  
  According to much recent commentary, Russia is back as a major power. The cover of the July 15, 2006 Economist, a magazine noted for its measured tone and sober assessments featured a phtograph of President Vladimir Putin, with a confident air and stern visage, next to the words "Living with a Strong Russia." New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman quipped that "Russia has gone from the sick man of Europe to the boos man." And in the Holidays (November/December) 2006 issue of The American Interest, Paul Dibb made the case for taking Russia's return seriously. Russia's resurgence, we are told, is indisputable; the only question is how to deal with it. As with almost any broad generalization, this one is not entirely false. Indeed, it cannot be. Russia sprawls across Eurasia, contains 148 million people, possesses more than 3,000 strategic nuclear warheads, is the world's second-largest exporter of oil and armaments, is the foremost exporter of natural gas and is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. Any country with these attributes will have strategic heft. But a scrutiny of its power reveals that Russia is far weaker than the reigning consensus suggests. Russia is not "back." If anything, the next few years may show Russia with its back to the wall....
• DPRK Government Economic Delegation Leaves for Russia
  Pyongyang, March 20 (KCNA) -- A DPRK government economic delegation led by Minister of Foreign Trade Rim Kyong Man left here Tuesday to attend the fourth meeting of the Inter-Governmental Committee for Cooperation in Trade, Economy and Science and Technology between the DPRK and Russia to be held in Russia.
• Russia-N Korea Trade Down To USD 209 Mln In 2006 - Official
  MOSCOW, March 5 (Itar-Tass) - Russian-North Korean trade reduced to 209 million U.S. dollars in 2006, the deputy co-chair of the two countries' intergovernmental commission on trade, economic, scientific and technical cooperation, Vitaly Gudin, said on Monday. "Russia's export to North Korea amounted to 190 million U.S. dollars," the Economic Development and Trade Ministry official said. He pointed out that "the two countries' bilateral trade is unbalanced - Russia exports mainly raw materials, while North Korea's export to Russia has not exceeded 15 million U.S. dollars for several years." Gudin believes that the development of investment cooperation remains most promising, but several unresolved problems, including North Korea's unsettled debt hamper the process. He said North Korea's debt to Russia "makes up 8.8 billion U.S. dollars, no debt payments are made." The debt settlement talks of Russian and North Korean finance ministries that had been disrupted by North Korea in 2002 "resumed only late last year," Gudin said. The two country's trade made up 240 million U.S. dollars in 2005. The reduction in last year's trade "is caused by decrease in Russian oil exports, while North Korea's import increased by 6 million U.S. dollars," he said.
• Korea-Russia Trade Hit Record High Last Year
  Updated Feb.26,2007 08:36 KST             Trade between Korea and Russia hit a record high of US$9.7 billion last year. The Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency says Korean exports to Russia amounted to more than $5 billion last year, up 34 percent from 2005. Imports increased 16 percent to $4.5 billion over the same period. Bilateral trade has expanded more than 50 times since 1992 when two-way volume reached $190 million. And for the first time in eight years, Korea recorded a trade surplus with Russia of about $600 million.
• N. Korea's debt to Russia could be dramatically cut - Lavrov
  20:28 | 14/ 02/ 2007 ABU DHABI, February 14 (RIA Novosti) - The resolution of North Korea's $8-billion debt to Russia will mean its substantial reduction, Russia's foreign minister said Wednesday.
  Media reports said Tuesday that the six-party talks in Beijing had discussed Russia's plan to write off North Korea's debt to the former Soviet Union as a way of aiding the impoverished nation. "We are discussing the resolution of the debt issue. There can be various terms, but it will definitely be a dramatic reduction of the debt," Sergei Lavrov said onboard a plane from New Delhi to Abu Dhabi. The latest round of six-party talks in Beijing on Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program ended up in an agreement that Russia, the United States, South Korea and China will provide humanitarian aid to North Korea in return for its nuclear disarmament, a joint statement at the talks said Tuesday. "We are completing negotiations on Pyongyang's debt to Russia and we think this will help ease North Korea's economic and financial problems," the Russian minister said. Russia's envoy to the six-nation talks, Alexander Losyukov, denied reports Tuesday that Russia might write off the debt completely. He said the two countries would hold a meeting of an intergovernmental commission on the issue in March.
• Russian Policy Toward Northeast Asia: In Search of a New Approach
  Yuri Tsyganov
  The Contemporary Europe Research Centre , University of Melbourne, 2003
• Moscow ready to sell Delhi modern fighter aircraft
  Reuters Published: 24/01/2007 12:00 AM (UAE) Bangalore: Russia will pitch its MiG-35 combat jet for an Indian tender for 126 fighter aircraft, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov said yesterday, adding that Moscow was willing to boost nuclear cooperation. "The Russian Federation is going to actively participate in the tender for supply of 126 light fighters," Ivanov told reporters in Bangalore. Ivanov, on a three-day visit to India ahead of a trip by Russian President Vladimir Putin later this week, said Moscow would be sending its cutting-edge MiG-35 fighter to an international air show in Bangalore next month. He also confirmed reports Moscow was ready to construct four new nuclear reactors in India, in addition to two already agreed. [India-Russia relations]
• Report: Russia completes delivery of missile defense systems to Iran
  www.chinaview.cn 2007-01-23 15:56:48 Special report: Iran Nuclear Crisis MOSCOW, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- Russia has completed the delivery of Tor-M1 missile systems to Iran, Itar-Tass news agency reported on Tuesday, citing the head of the state-run arms exporter Rosoboronexport. Russia has fulfilled its contract and "fully completed deliveries of Tor-M1 air defense systems to Iran at the end of December 2006," Rosoboronexport chief Sergei Chemezov was quoted as saying. Moscow cut a 1-billion-U.S.-dollar deal with Tehran in November 2005 to supply it with the short-range Tor-M1 missiles. Russian officials described the missiles as air defense systems that are used only to bring down aircraft and guided missiles at low altitudes but cannot strike ground targets
• Russian President on Developing Russia-DPRK Relations of Friendship
  Moscow, January 19 (KCNA) -- The Russian Federation is interested in boosting the good-neighborly contacts with the DPRK and the relations between the two countries are developing on a high level, said President of the Russian Federation V. V. Putin, on Jan. 18, when receiving credentials from the DPRK ambassador to Russia. The President noted that he is very proud of maintaining the good friendship with Kim Jong Il. He hoped that the Korean people would achieve good successes in all domains, in the future, too under the wise leadership of Kim Jong Il.
• Russia to Forgive Most of N.Korea's Debt
  Russia has reportedly decided to write off some 80 percent of the US$8 billion it is owed by North Korea, it emerged on Thursday. Russia’s Deputy Finance Minister Sergei Strochak and his North Korean counterpart Kim Young-gil reached the agreement in negotiations from Dec. 17 to 22 last year, diplomatic sources in Moscow said Thursday. The North wants most its debt to Russia forgiven, and the two countries agreed to discuss in detail via diplomatic channels how much of it will be written off and how to settle the rest of the debt and conclude negotiations before March, when an intergovernmental commission on trade and economic cooperation between the two countries meets.
  North Korea borrowed 3.8 billion rubles from the Soviet Union since the 1960s to build power plants. Russia's Vneshtorgbank and the Foreign Trade Bank of North Korea agreed to estimate Pyongyang's debt to Russia at US$8 billion on the assumption that 1 ruble equals some US$2 considering interest and changes in the exchange rate. "Russia earlier said it won’t continue economic cooperation unless the North pays its debt. But it changed its mind as it wants to relieve the financial burden on Pyongyang so it can persuade the North to take part in trilateral economic cooperation with South Korea and Russia and any six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear program in the future,” a diplomat said.

2006

• The New Cold War and US-Russian Relations
  By Stephen F. Cohen Contrary to established opinion, the gravest threats to America's national security are still in Russia. They derive from an unprecedented development that most US policy-makers have recklessly disregarded, as evidenced by the undeclared cold war Washington has waged, under both parties, against post-Communist Russia during the past fifteen years.
• North Korea offers Russia rights to uranium deposits, newspaper says Russian support expected in return
  The Associated Press Published: December 3, 2006
  TOKYO: North Korea has offered Russia exclusive rights to its natural uranium deposits in exchange for support at the stalled talks on Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions, a Japanese newspaper reported Sunday. Separately, Japan's Kyodo news agency reported that the United States and five other countries had proposed that North Korea abandon its nuclear program by the end of 2008 in return for security guarantees and economic aid. Pyongyang and Moscow have been in talks since 2002 on a deal for Russia to import uranium, which it wants to enrich and sell as nuclear fuel to China and Vietnam, according to a report in the Tokyo Shimbun, citing unnamed Russian officials. North Korea recently offered Russia exclusive rights to the uranium in exchange for open support at the six- party talks on the North's nuclear program, which have stalled since last year, the report stated.
• Report: N.Korea Offers Uranium to Russia
  The Associated Press Sunday, December 3, 2006; 5:46 AM TOKYO -- North Korea has offered Russia exclusive rights to its natural uranium deposits in exchange for support at the stalled talks on Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions, a newspaper reported Sunday. The two countries have been in talks since 2002 on a deal for Russia to import uranium, which it wants to enrich and sell as nuclear fuel to China and Vietnam, according to a report in the regional daily, Tokyo Shimbun, citing unnamed Russian officials.
  North Korea recently offered Russia exclusive rights to the uranium in exchange for open support at the six-party talks on the North's nuclear program, which have stalled since last year, the report stated. Russia, which already exports natural gas and oil, hopes to become a major exporter of nuclear fuel, according to the report. Negotiations between Russia and North Korea were set to continue, the report added.
• Russia to write off large part of North Korea's $8bln debt
  17:56 | 29/ 11/ 2006 MOSCOW, November 29, (RIA Novosti) - Russia's Finance Ministry said Wednesday it plans to launch talks in a few weeks on writing off a major portion of North Korea's debt. Deputy Finance Minister Sergei Storchak said the country's debt to Russia was estimated at $8 billion. "I believe it will be a large write-off," Storchak said, responding to a question on whether Russia will forgive 80-90% of North Korea's debt.
• ‘Seoul-Moscow Ties Essential for Peace Regime on Peninsula’
  By Park Song-wu Staff Reporter Park Jae-kyu Park Jae-kyu, president of Kyungnam University, said on Wednesday that close cooperation between South Korea and Russia is essential for the construction of a peace regime on the Korean Peninsula as well as for the vibrant growth and prosperity of both countries. A day after hosting the 21st Century Korea-Russia Community Forum in Seoul, he said it is important to promote exchanges and mutual understanding in social, cultural, academic and other fields to facilitate Korea-Russia cooperation.
• Russia-China Security Cooperation
  Dr. Marcel de Haas
  27 November 2006
  Russia and China have joined together in a strategic partnership aimed at countering the U.S. and Western "monopoly in world affairs," as was made clear in a joint statement released by the Chinese and Russian presidents in July 2005. The long standing border disputes between the two countries were settled in agreements in 2005, and joint military exercises were carried out in the same year. Furthermore, Russia, in addition to its arms exports, has been increasing its oil and gas commitments to China. Clearly, the recent comprehensive improvement of bilateral relations between China and Russia is a remarkable development. What is the meaning of this military and security related cooperation, and is the Sino-Russian military liaison likely to expand? Should this rapprochement be considered as a structural shift of power with the goal of repelling Western influence from Central Asia and the adjacent areas?
  If China indeed achieves such a superpower position, the West and Russia may find common ground to seek closer cooperation. [Russia-China relations] [Realignment]
• The Emerging Russian Giant: The US, Eurasia and Global Geopolitics
  By F William Engdahl
  Ironically, the aggressive Washington foreign policy of the era of Vice President Dick Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld since 2001 has done more to nurture the one strategic combination in Eurasia most dreaded by Washington political realists such as Henry Kissinger or Zbigniew Brzezinski, namely a strategic military and economic cooperation on a deep, long-term basis between two former Cold War foes, China and President Vladimir Putin's Russia. [Sino-Russian relations] [US policy] [Energy] [Realignment]
• Russian Energy Maneuvers Challenge Japan: The Sakhalin Ploy
  By Hisane Masaki
  TOKYO - The imbroglio over the huge Sakhalin-2 oil-and-gas project in Russia's Far East involving two Japanese firms has cast a cloud over resource-poor Japan's new national energy strategy. It has also served as a fresh reminder that Japan's economic power seems to have lost much of its luster, at least in the eyes of the Russians. In September, the Russian Natural Resources Ministry froze a key environmental permit for the project off the Coast of Sakhalin Island, citing problems with conservation. The decision drew immediate protests from Japan and the European Union. Prime Minister Abe Shinzo, then still chief cabinet secretary of the Koizumi cabinet, said a major delay to Sakhalin-2 could hurt diplomatic relations. [Russo-Japan relations] [Energy security] [Environment]
• The Geopolitics of Energy: Russia sets the pace in energy race
  By M K Bhadrakumar
  Speaking at a conference under the rubric "Summit on Energy Security" at West Lafayette, Indiana, this month, the powerful chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Richard Lugar, characterized Venezuela, Iran and Russia as "adversarial regimes" that were using energy supplies as "leverage" in foreign policy.
  Lugar said: "We are used to thinking in terms of conventional warfare between nations, but energy is becoming a weapon of choice for those who possess it."
  Senior Russian figures were quick to dismiss Lugar's admonition as "groundless Russophobia", but the US administration is already opening new battle fronts against Russia in the energy war.
  Next week's meeting in Beijing on energy security involving the United States, China, Japan, India and South Korea is a dramatic manifestation of the new battle plans and war doctrines that Washington is conceptualizing. The conclave in Beijing, significantly, leaves out Western Europe. [Energy security]
• LG opens new factory in Russia
    September 07, 2006 ? LG Electronics has opened a large complex to make digital appliances and televisions in Russia, the company said yesterday. The plant began production Tuesday. Located in the Ruza region, about 70 kilometers (43.5 miles) west of Moscow, the plant will produce plasma display panel and liquid crystal display TVs, washing machines, refrigerators and audio equipment. LG spent $150 million over a period of 16 months to complete the facilities. Along with LG, seven smaller parts manufacturers that provide accessories for LG products went to Russia and set up their production facilities within the LG complex. The supplier companies provided $50 million toward the cost of the facility. "We chose Russia as the location for this plant to better serve customers in the region. We can pass on savings on distribution costs and tariffs directly to our customers, while taking advantage of the region's highly skilled workforce," said Young Rha, an LG spokesman
• Jongbaek Church Completed
  Pyongyang, August 13 (KCNA) -- A ceremony for the completion of the Jongbaek Church standing on the bank of the River Taedong was held on the spot Sunday. Present there were Kwak Pom Gi, vice-premier of the Cabinet, officials concerned and members of various religious organizations. Also present there were members of the delegation of the Russian Orthodox Church led by its Chairman of the Office for Foreign Relations Kirill, patriarch of Smolensk and Kaliningrad Regions, Andrei Karlov, Russian ambassador to the DPRK, and staff members of the embassy, diplomatic envoys of various other countries and representatives of international organizations here. Ho Il Jin, chairman of the Korean Orthodox Church Committee, made a speech at the ceremony to be followed by congratulatory speeches by Patriarch Kirill, Jang Jae On, chairman of the Korean Religionists' Association, and Viktor Gorchyakov, deputy governor of the Maritime Provincial Administration of the Russian Federation. Ho Il Jin in his speech said the inauguration of the Jongbaek Church on the occasion of the fifth anniversary of Kim Jong Il's historic visit to the Russian Federation marked an occasion in boosting the relations between the DPRK and Russia. The speaker recalled that Kim Jong Il, during his visit to the Far Eastern region of Russia, highly praised the Orthodox Church for having played the role of a pacemaker in developing the history and culture of Russia in the past and preserving the national tradition and gave an instruction on building a church in Pyongyang so that Orthodox Church goers might lead a pious life during their visit to Korea. [Religion]
• Russia reignites feud with Japan by investing £350m in disputed islands
  · Snub from Moscow stirs 500-year-old conflict · Dispute prevented signing of second world war treaty
  Tom Parfitt in Moscow Saturday August 5, 2006 The Guardian
  Russia is to pour hundreds of millions of pounds into developing a group of small islands seized from Japan at the end of the second world war, in a calculated snub to Tokyo. The decision will aggravate a dispute that has kept the countries technically at war for more than 60 years. Moscow denies the huge funding boost for the Kuril Islands is political, but it is sure to antagonise the Japanese who want to regain control of them. [Northern territories]
• Anniversary of DPRK-Russia Moscow Declaration Observed
  Pyongyang, August 4 (KCNA) -- Today marks the 5th anniversary of the DPRK-Russia Moscow Declaration adopted during the historic Russia visit paid by General Secretary Kim Jong Il. Papers carry articles on this occasion.
• Visits: Russia and Japan
  Pyongyang, July 29 (KCNA) -- A delegation of the Korea-Russia Friendship Association led by Hong Son Ok, vice-chairperson of the Korean Committee for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries who is chairperson of the association, left here Saturday to visit Russia. It was seen off at Pyongyang Railway Station by officials concerned and the Russian charge d'affaires ad interim here. A delegation of Japan-Korea Friendship led by Hiroyuki Kasai, dietman of the Saitama Prefectural Council for Japan-Korea Friendship and Solidarity, arrived here by air on Saturday.
• Russia talks with North about deal for energy
  July 04, 2006 ? KHABAROVSK, Russia ? Russia has been in discussions with North Korea to supply it with surplus electricity, Russian officials at a state-owned electric power company recently told the JoongAng Ilbo. In return, North Korea would provide Russia with natural resources. "We have been discussing exporting surplus electricity from the far eastern district of the country to North Korea," Victor Minakov, president of Vostokenergo, the far eastern branch of the United Energy System of Russia, said in an interview last week in Khabarovsk. "The fastest and most efficient way to resolve North Korea's electricity problem is to supply electricity from Russia," Mr. Minakov said. According to Mr. Minakov, negotiations have been delayed because Russia initially asked North Korea to pay cash for the electricity, and then asked it to cover the expenses for building power transmission lines, neither of which the North could afford. However, the negotiations resumed after Pyongyang offered to pay for the electricity with natural mineral resources.
• Russian Dance Company Presents Sacred Picture to Jongbaek Orthodox Church
  Pyongyang, June 18 (KCNA) -- The visiting State Academic Moiseyev Folk Dance Company of Russia led by Director Elena Scherbakova presented a sacred picture to the Jongbaek Orthodox Church. Jesus is depicted on the sacred picture. A presentation ceremony took place on the spot on June 17. Present at the ceremony were members of the dance company, Russian Ambassador to the DPRK Andrei Karlov and officials of the embassy, diplomatic envoys of various countries and representatives of international organizations here. Also on hand were Hong Son Ok, vice-chairperson of the Korean Committee for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries who is chairwoman of the DPRK-Russia Friendship Association, Ho Il Jin, chairman of the Korean Orthodox Church Committee, and officials concerned. The participants were briefed on how the Jongbaek Orthodox Church was established. Then the head of the dance company conveyed the sacred picture sanctified by Alexy II, patriarch of Moscow and all Russia, to the chairman of the Korean Orthodox Church Committee. Speeches were made at the ceremony. They looked round the church at the end of the ceremony. [Religion]
• Reassessing Soviet motives for invading Afghanistan: A declassified history
  David N. Gibbs A1 A1 history and political science, University of Arizona
  Abstract: This article reassesses Soviet motives for invading Afghanistan in 1979, based on newly available archival materials, especially from the former USSR. The article argues that these Soviet documents show that the 1979 invasion reflected defensive rather than offensive objectives. Specifically, the USSR sought to restrain extremist elements of the Afghan communist party, who were undermining stability on the southern Soviet frontier. The findings of this article are at odds with with long-standing views that the invasion of Afghanistan was part of a larger Soviet strategy aimed at threatening the Persian Gulf and other western interests [Imperialism] [Soviet Union] [Spin]
• World Korean Forum Seeks Increasing Ties With Russia
  By Lee Jin-woo Staff Reporter Jan Jung, chairwoman of the Korean Global Foundation ``Russia has a crucial role as a balancer in Far Eastern Asia, but we, South Koreans, both at home and abroad, still lack enough cooperation with the emerging economic power,'' said Jan Jung, chairwoman of the Korean Global Foundation (KGF). Jung, 55, who has led the Los Angeles-based non-profit organization for ethnic Koreans since last year, has been preparing for the 7th World Korean Forum scheduled to be held in two Russian cities from June 15 to 20 this year.
• Russians Sense the Heat of Cold War
  Intensifying U.S. Criticism of Government and Its Role in Region Provokes Resentment By Peter Finn Washington Post Foreign Service Monday, April 3, 2006; Page A14
  MOSCOW -- In this city, it's beginning to feel like a new Cold War, driven by what many people here see as an old American impulse: to encircle, weaken or even destroy Russia, just as the country is emerging from post-Soviet ruins as a cohesive, self-confident and global power. The specter of a U.S. nuclear first strike even resurfaced this month. An article in Foreign Affairs magazine, published by the Council on Foreign Relations, suggested that the United States could hit Russia and China without serious risk of retaliation. That sent heads spinning here with visions of Dr. Strangelove.
  "The publication of these ideas in a respectable American journal has had an explosive effect," former Russian prime minister Yegor Gaidar wrote in an article in London's Financial Times newspaper. "Even those Russian journalists and analysts who are not prone to hysteria or anti-Americanism took it as an outline of the official position of the U.S. Administration." [Imperialism]
• Russian Military Band Performs in Pyongyang
  The central military band of Russian Defense Ministry parading with the DPRK's military band in a street in Pyongyang on February 14. The central military band of Russian Defense Ministry paid its official visit to the DPRK from February 9 to 17. It was headed by Valerii Khalilov, chief of the Military Orchestral Service and its chief conductor of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. The band gave its premiere at the Ponghwa Art Theatre on February 9. The band has come to the DPRK for the first time.
• Russia Opposes Sanctions Against North Korea
  By Park Song-wu Staff Reporter
  Russia opposes any kind of sanctions against what the United States calls rogue states such as Iran and North Korea, Glev Ivashentsov, Moscow's top diplomat to Seoul, said on Tuesday. His remarks came as U.S. and North Korean officials were to hold a meeting in New York hours later amid Washington's financial sanctions against Pyongyang for the communist state's alleged counterfeiting of U.S. dollars. ``In principle, we are against any economic sanctions because they do not work,'' Ivashentsov told The Korea Times after a forum hosted by the Korea News Editors' Association in Seoul. ``There should be dialogue, there should be consultation, but sanctions do not work neither against North Korea, nor against Iran, nor against any other country,'' he said. In New York, North Korean officials were to receive a briefing by U.S. Treasury Department officials on the ``financial restrictions'' Washington imposed in September against a bank in Macau for its alleged money-laundering service to Pyongyang for over 20 years.
  As for a claim that Moscow was one of the venues North Koreans used to circulate the bogus U.S. dollars, Ivashentsov said that his government is not aware of any substantial evidence to prove it. ``Our law-enforcement agencies have not seen substantial evidence, regarding such claims,'' he said through an interpreter during the forum. ``What we've heard of till now is at the level of rumor.'' Quoting unnamed U.S. officials, the Washington Times reported last year that North Korean diplomats and Sean Garland, head of Ireland's communist Workers Party and part of a ring that allegedly trafficked in the North Korean counterfeit notes, met at the North Korean Embassy in Moscow. Ivashentsov said that the United States should present concrete evidence that can entangle Pyongyang in financial illegalities. ``The party that raises such suspicions should present the corresponding evidence,'' he said. [Evidence] [Sanctions]

• Pak Pong Ju Meets Mayor of Sankt-Petersburg of Russia
  Pyongyang, December 5 (KCNA) -- Pak Pong Ju, premier of the DPRK Cabinet, met and had a friendly conversation with Valentina Matvienko, mayor of Sankt-Petersburg of the Russian Federation, and her party who paid a courtesy call on him at the Mansudae Assembly Hall Monday. On hand were Rim Kyong Man, minister of Foreign Trade, Kung Sok Ung, vice-minister of Foreign Affairs, officials concerned and Russian Ambassador to the DPRK Andrei Gennadiyevich Karlov.
• Putin's Diplomatic Victory in Tokyo: Regional perspective on Russia-Japan Relations
  By Masaki Hisane Known as a black-belt judoist, Russian President Vladimir Putin has scored wazaari, if not ippon, in his diplomatic bout with Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi Junichiro. Putin ended a three-day official visit to Japan on Tuesday (Nov.22), his first in more than five years, after meeting with Koizumi and signing a dozen documents on expanding business cooperation and technological issues. But as widely expected, the two leaders failed to achieve a breakthrough on the long-standing territorial dispute. Even worse, the gulf between the two sides over the islands row had grown so wide that no joint political statement on the dispute was issued, dealing a significant setback to Tokyo. It is quite unusual that no political statement is issued when top leaders of Japan and Russia make official visits to each other's capitals [Northern Territories]
• 2005-2007 Plan for Cultural and Scientific Exchange between Governments of DPRK and Russia Signed
  Pyongyang, November 16 (KCNA) -- 2005-2007 plan for cultural and scientific exchange between the governments of the DPRK and Russia was signed at the Mansudae Assembly Hall today. Present at the signing ceremony from the DPRK side were officials concerned including Jon Hyon Chan, vice-chairman of the Korean Committee for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries, and from the opposite side Russian Ambassador to the DPRK Andrei Karlov and embassy officials. The plan was signed by Vice-Chairman Jon Hyon Chan and Ambassador Andrei Karlov.
• Paek Nam Sun Meets Russian Delegation
  Pyongyang, November 7 (KCNA) -- Foreign Minister Paek Nam Sun Sunday met and conversed with a delegation of the Russian Foreign Ministry led by Vice-Minister Aleksandr Alekseyev who paid a courtesy call on him. On hand were officials of the DPRK Foreign Ministry, the Russian ambassador to the DPRK and embassy officials.
• Roh, Putin to discuss North's nuclear issue
  November 05, 2005 ? Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit Korea for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders summit on Nov. 18 and 19 in Busan, Blue House spokesman Kim Man- soo said yesterday. On Nov. 19, the Russian leader will have one-on- one talks with President Roh Moo-hyun on matters of mutual interest, including the six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear disarmament and other issues concerning the Korean Peninsula, building a lasting peace in the Northeast Asian region and cooperation within international bodies, including the United Nations.
• Roh, Putin to Discuss North Korean Nukes
  By Park Song-wu Staff Reporter Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold a summit with President Roh Moo-hyun on Nov. 19, a day after his arrival in South Korea, Chong Wa Dae said on Friday. The meeting will take place on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, which will be held for two days in Pusan (Busan) beginning Nov. 18. The summit could provide the two countries with an opportunity to magnify the ``substantial'' and ``reciprocal'' relationship, which was agreed on in September 2004 when Roh visited Moscow, presidential spokesman Kim Man-soo said
• Protocol Signed between DPRK and Russia
  Pyongyang, November 4 (KCNA) -- A protocol of the 8th meeting of the Forestry Sub-committee of the Committee for the Cooperation of Trade, Economy and Science and Technology between the governments of the DPRK and Russia was signed in Amur, Russia on October 26. Present at the signing ceremony from the DPRK side were members of a delegation of the Ministry of Forestry led by Vice-minister Ri Jin Son and from the Russian side were Vice-Minister of Industry and Energy Ivan Matsorov, and officials concerned.
• Russian Presidential Envoy Winds up Its Korea Visit
  Pyongyang, October 11 (KCNA) -- Konstantin Borisovich Pulikovski, presidential envoy to the Far East region of the Russian Federation, and his party Tuesday flew back home after winding up their Korea visit to participate in the celebrations of the 60th anniversary of the Workers' Party of Korea. They were seen off at the airport by Vice-Premier of the DPRK Cabinet Ro Tu Chol, Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs Kung Sok Ung and officials concerned, Russian Ambassador to the DPRK Andrei Gennadiyevich Karlov and staff members of the Russian embassy.
• Roh, Putin Discuss NK Nuke
  By Ryu Jin Staff Reporter President Roh Moo-hyun yesterday spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin over the phone about the latest achievements in the six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear program, Chong Wa Dae said. Roh expressed gratitude for Russia's cooperation in the latest round of six-party talks in Beijing, which ended with a joint statement that includes principles to resolve the nuclear standoff, presidential spokesman Kim Man-soo said.
• Kim Jong Il Meets Russian Presidential Envoy
  Photo shows Chairman Kim Jong Il with Russian presidential envoy on Aug.15. Kim Jong Il, the General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea met with Konstantin Borisovich Pulikovski, presidential envoy to the Far East Federal District of Russia and his party on Aug 15. Present there were Kim Yang Gon, councilor of the DPRK National Defence Commission, and Andrei Karlov, Russian Ambassador to the DPRK. The presidential envoy conveyed a personal letter and a gift to Kim Jong Il from Russian President V. V. Putin and his own gift to Kim Jong Il on the occasion.
• Further Development of DPRK-Russia Relations
  Rodong Sinmun The DPRK-Russia Moscow Declaration signed by leader Kim Jong Il and President Vladimir Vladimirivich Putin was issued on Aug 4, 2001. It was an epochal event of weighty significance for steadily developing the DPRK-Russia friendship. The DPRK's national newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, carried an article on Aug 4 to mark the 4th anniversary of the dealaration. The paper says: The meeting and talks between Kim Jong Il and Putin marked a historic event to boost the bilateral ties of friendship.
• Newspapers on Further Development of DPRK-Russia Relations
  Pyongyang, August 4 (KCNA) -- The publication of the DPRK-Russia Moscow Declaration signed by leader Kim Jong Il and President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin four years ago was an epochal event of weighty significance in steadily developing the DPRK-Russia friendship on a new high stage in the new century, say newspapers Thursday. Recalling that Kim Jong Il stayed in Russia from July 26, 2001 and paid an official visit to it between Aug. 4 and 5 at the invitation of Putin, Rodong Sinmun says: Meetings and talks between Kim Jong Il and Putin marked a historic occasion in boosting the bilateral ties of friendship.
• Anniversary of DPRK-Russia Joint Declaration Marked
  Pyongyang, July 19 (KCNA) -- Russian President V.V. Putin visited the DPRK from July 19 to 20, 2000 at the invitation of leader Kim Jong Il. Putin was the first head of state of Russia to visit the DPRK. The DPRK-Russia Joint Declaration was adopted during the visit. Pyongyang-based newspapers today dedicate articles to this anniversary. The articles say that the adoption of the joint declaration was an important event as it provided a solid basis for developing in depth the DPRK-Russia relations of friendship and cooperation on a new track as required by the new century. Over the last five years these relations have steadily developed on a new stage under the special care of the top leaders of the two countries, they added.
• DPRK-Russia Joint Declaration, New Chapter of Friendship
  Pyongyang, July 18 (KCNA) -- July 19 is the fifth anniversary of the historic DPRK-Russia Joint Declaration. It was adopted during Russian President V.V. Putin's visit to the DPRK from July 19 to 20 Juche 89 (2000) at the invitation of Kim Jong Il, chairman of the National Defence Commission of the DPRK. It has been conducive to the development of the friendly and cooperative relations between the two countries on new terms, peace and security in Asia and the rest of the world and to the sound progress of international relations.
• China and Russia agree on closer ties
  July 05, 2005 ? In a joint statement released during Chinese President Hu Jintao's recently ended four-day visit to Russia, both sides agreed to deepen their military, economic and cultural ties, while reiterating that they supported the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. Both countries also said they supported normalization of ties between the United States and North Korea, and between North Korea and Japan. [China-Russia relations]
• China, Russia issue joint statement on new world order
  China and Russia here Friday issued a joint statement on a new world order in the 21st century, setting forth their common stand on major international issues, such as UN reforms, globalization, North-South cooperation, and world economy and trade.
  The statement was signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin and visiting Chinese President Hu Jintao after their talks. During their talks, the two leaders discussed ways to further enhance the strategic and cooperative partnership between China and Russia, and exchanged views on major regional and international issues. The joint statement said the two countries are determined to strengthen their strategic coordination in international affairs and promote peace, stability and prosperity of the world. [China-Russia relations]
• Russian Dietmen Support Pyongyang's Stand on Nuke Issue
• DPRK Celebrates 60th Anniversary of Russia's "Great Patriotic War"
  Russian ambassador to the DPRK Andrei Karlov awards a medal of commemorating the 60th anniversary of the victory of Russia's Great Patriotic War to anti-Japanese revolutionary fighters of Korea.
• Kim Jong Il Sends Greetings to Putin on 60th Anniversary of War Victory
  Kim Jong Il, chairman of the DPRK National Defense Commission, on May 9 sent a message of greetings to Russian President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin on the 60th anniversary of the victory of the Russian people in the Great Patriotic War.
• Floral Tribute Paid to Fallen Servicepersons of Soviet Army
  Pyongyang, May 9 (KCNA) -- Wreaths were laid before the Liberation Tower today on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of Russia's victory in the Great Patriotic War. Guards of honor of the Korean People's Army lined up there.
• Russian Ambassador to DPRK Interviewed
  Pyongyang, May 8 (KCNA) -- The May 8 issue of Minju Joson, the organ of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly and the Cabinet of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, runs answers given by Russian Ambassador to the DPRK Andrei Karlov to the questions put by the newspaper. Answering the question as to his view on the historic significance of the defeat of fascism and the 60th anniversary of the victory of Russia in the war, the ambassador said that the servicepersons of the Soviet Army saved Europe and the world from the fascist subjugation.
  Precisely for this reason heads of state and government of at least 50 countries as well as leaders of major international organizations are expected to come to Moscow to participate in the celebrations. I am pleased that Russia will see the delegates of the DPRK among them.
  The 2000 north-south joint declaration and the DPRK-proposed initiative for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula enjoyed strong support from the Russian Federation. I am convinced that all the regional issues including the nuclear issue should be peacefully settled in view of the security of your side and in the interests of its economic development. In this sense Russia holds that the Beijing six- way talks should be resumed as they are regarded as a modality most suitable for the discussion on the afore-said issues
• Roh, Putin Agree to Keep Six-Party Talks Afloat
  By Shim Jae-yun Korea Times Correspondent MOSCOW _ President Roh Moo-hyun and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed on Monday to keep the six-party talks afloat.
• Kim Jong-il Sends Congratulatory Message to Putin
  By Reuben Staines Staff Reporter North Korean leader Kim Jong-il sent a congratulatory message to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the Allies' victory in World War II, the North's Korean Central News Agency reported.
• Envoy Wants to Resume Korea Nuke Talks
  By SOO-JEONG LEEThe Associated Press Sunday, May 8, 2005; 1:29 PM SEOUL, South Korea -- A Russian diplomat called for resuming six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear program in remarks published Sunday in a North Korean newspaper, a message certain to be viewed favorably by President Bush who met Russian President Vladimir Putin near Moscow. The remarks by Russian Ambassador to North Korea Andrei Karlov came at a time of growing concern in the United States that Pyongyang was preparing to test an atomic weapon.
  _ "I am convinced that all the regional issues including the nuclear issue should be peacefully settled in view of the security of your side and in the interests of its economic development," Karlov told North Korea's Minju Joson newspaper. "In this sense, Russia holds that the Beijing six-way talks should be resumed," he was quoted as saying.
• Events Held to Mark Russia's Day of War Victory
  Pyongyang, May 6 (KCNA) -- The Korean Committee for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries and the DPRK-Russia Friendship Association arranged a photo exhibition and a film show at the Chollima House of Culture Thursday to mark the 60th anniversary of the victory of Russia in the Great Patriotic War. Present on invitation were Russian Ambassador to the DPRK Andrei Karlov and embassy officials. On hand were Mun Jae Chol, acting chairman of the Korean Committee for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries, Hong Son Ok, vice-chairperson of the committee and chairperson of the association, officials concerned and working people in the city.
• Korean Student Places First at International Concours
  Pyongyang, May 6 (KCNA) -- Korean student Yun Jin Bok studying at Moscow State Conservatory Named after Tchaikovsky in Russia placed first at the "Art of the 21st Century" International Concours (piano). More than 90 pianists of the DPRK, Russia, China, Japan and other countries participated in the concours held in Kiev from April 24 to 30. Yun Jin Bok was highly appreciated by the jury for successfully representing piano tunes through his excellent and refined rendition. The first prize was awarded to Yun Jin Bok at the prize-awarding ceremony.
• Roh Focusing on Peace in Northeast Asia
  By Shim Jae-yun Korea Times Correspondent MOSCOW - President Roh Moo-hyun is now focusing on promoting peace and security in Northeast Asia and the Korean Peninsula during his visit to Russia. The visit is significant as it is the first time South Korea has been invited to the World War II victory celebration. ``Roh's participation will help expand the nation's diplomatic scope as a responsible member of the international community,'' Chung Woo-sung, presidential secretary on foreign policy, told The Korea Times. Heads of state from about 50 countries around the world are taking part in the ceremony Monday. In the Asia-Pacific region, five nations were invited _ South and North Korea, China, Japan and India. President Roh Moo-hyun, third from left, walks with first lady Kwon Yang-suk, on his left, and other dignitaries upon arrival at an airport in Moscow, Sunday. Korea Times Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly instructed South Korea be included on the invitation list although the nation was originally excluded from it.
  North Korea was also invited but will not have official representation there. Presidential aide Chung declined to explain why North Korea would not send its representative, saying, ``It is not proper for me to elaborate on the reason.''
• Visit
  A delegation of the State Duma of the Russian Federation headed by Konstantin Kosachev arrived here by air Thursday. It was greeted at the airport by officials concerns and the Russian ambassador to the DPRK.
• Kim Jong Il Visits Russian Embassy
• Russia joins the anti-Japan axis of China and the Koreas
  Lee Wha Rang
  Russia is to supply China with oil and gas leaving energy-starved Japan out of the loop. The latest move by Russia is in retaliation of the emerging Japan's role as an instrument of Bush's foreign policies in the Far East. Japan has become a snarling lapdog of Uncle Sam. A Russian official told Japanese news reporters that "Russia can live without Japanese money." Victor Kristenko, Russian Minister of Commerce and Energy, held a press conference with Japanese reporters on April 19, 2005 and stated that Russia plans to complete a gas pipeline from Siberia to Daqing, China on a priority basis. He said that Russia plans to build a pipeline from the Irkusk gas field to the Amur region, from gas will be shipped to China on rail or a pipe line. Japan has been lobbying for a pipeline to Nakhodka, a port city facing the East Sea that would make shipping gas to Japan economical. This port city is only 50 km from Japan. On the coming summit of Putin and Koizumi, Kristemko poured a cold water on the Japan's hope for an agreement on the Japan-centric pipeline.
• Back to Geostrategics
  by Yu Bin Wittenberg University
  The Year of the Rooster ushered in a quite different mold of Chinese-Russian interaction. In sharp contrast to the "oil-politicking" of much of the previous year, strategic gaming topped the agenda of bilateral relations for the first quarter of 2005. Several high-profile visits occurred, including the first China-Russia inter-governmental consultation on security issues and three rounds of talks between top military officers to prepare for the first ever joint military exercise in the fall. All this occurred in the midst of a sudden burst of "orange revolutions" in Russia and China's western peripheries (Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan). To the East, Washington and Tokyo were hardening their alliance with the "2+2" meeting in Washington D.C. in February, in anticipation of China's anti-secession law that was adopted in March. [Russia-China relations]
• Seoul Wants Russian Weapons Technology
  By Jung Sung-ki Staff Reporter The Defense Ministry said Wednesday that it will ask Russia to transfer its advanced weapons technology, including an anti-aircraft guided missile system, to South Korea to repay its overdue debts to Seoul.
• Russian, Chinese forces reportedly to drill jointly
  March 25, 2005 ? Russian and Chinese military forces are planning large-scale, joint exercises in the Yellow Sea region, Chinese media have reported. A subsidiary of the Chinese People's Daily published a report Wednesday that said China and Russia will conduct major military drills this fall near China's Laodong Peninsula, across the Yellow Sea from Korea. The Hong Kong media reported details of the exercises were agreed upon in meetings between senior military officials from both countries in Beijing last week. Reportedly, units from all three branches of the Chinese and Russian forces, including marines and airborne troops, will participate. Russian marine special forces, long-range strategic bombers and submarines are expected to participate. Some Chinese media have characterized the exercises as significant because the training takes place near U.S. bases in South Korea and Japan, but analysts are divided on the issue.
• Security lies in Korea-U.S. ties
  It is significant that for the first time in history, China and Russia will hold a joint military exercise in the Yellow Sea in September. The two countries agreed to a strategic partnership in 1996 and have strengthened military and economic cooperation since then. Now, cooperation between them has developed into a military exercise involving navy and air force troops with state-of-the-art weaponry. The military drill is a response to the strengthening of the U.S.-Japan alliance. In February, Washington and Tokyo proclaimed a "New Japan-U.S. Joint Declaration on Security" which is aimed at China by defining Taiwan as their "joint security concern." The interests of China and Russia ? engaged in a territorial dispute with Japan over four northern islands ? coincide with each other.
• Russians Visit Jongbaek Church under Construction
  Pyongyang, March 19 (KCNA) -- Ambassador Andrei Karlov and staff members of the Russian embassy here visited Jongbaek Church under construction in Thongil Street, Pyongyang, on Friday to plant trees there. After being briefed on the progress of its construction, the visitors planted scores of white birches representing the DPRK-Russia friendship around the church, together with Chairman of the Korean Orthodox Church Committee Ho Il Jin and officials concerned
• Korea, Russia to Increase Military Exchanges
  By Jung Sung-ki Staff Reporter Top South Korean and Russian military officers agreed Monday to promote military exchanges, to reduce tensions on the Korean Peninsula, a military officer said. Kim Jong-hwan, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, made the agreement with his Russian counterpart Yuri Baluyevsky, during his three-day trip in Seoul, Won Tae-jae, an aide to Kim, said.
• Boosting of DPRK-Russia Ties Called for
  Pyongyang, March 17 (KCNA) -- Papers here today mark the 56th anniversary of the inter- governmental agreement on economic and cultural cooperation between the DPRK and the former Soviet Union (March 17, 1949). Rodong Sinmun in a signed article says that the two countries have boosted cooperation and exchange in various fields on the basis of the agreement. The DPRK-Russia friendly and cooperative relations have entered the phase of a new turning point in the new century, the article says, and goes on:
• Russian Embassy Rebuffs Remark on NK's Nuclear Capability
  By Park Song-wu Staff Reporter The Russian Embassy in Seoul Sunday repudiated a high-ranking Russian official's remarks that North Korea has no nuclear weapons. Sergei Antipov, deputy director of the Federal Nuclear Power Agency, said in an interview with Itar-Tass in Tokyo on Thursday that Pyongyang has ``no possibilities to produce arms-grade (nuclear) charges.'' It was the first time for a Russian official to publicly question Pyongyang's alleged possession of nuclear warheads since North Korea's Foreign Ministry declared last month that it has nuclear bombs. But the Russian Embassy spokesman called Antipov's remarks only a personal view. ``It's not an official position of the Russian government,'' he told The Korea Times. ``I think it was an expression of his personal opinion.'' Antipov said reprocessing nuclear fuel rods does not necessarily mean that Pyongyang has successfully developed nuclear warheads because ``the technology of their production is more difficult than the use of atom for peace.''
• Defense Ministry Rebuffs Using Russian Field Ground
  By Yoon Won-sup Staff Reporter The Ministry of National Defense Sunday played down speculation that the Army is considering renting training grounds in eastern Russia to conduct large-scale drills. ``The ministry is considering using Russian territory as reported by some news media,'' Shin Hyun-don, the ministry's spokesman told The Korea Times.
• Kim Jong Il Enjoys Performance of Russian Dancing Troupe
• Army looks to Russia for bigger training grounds
  March 05, 2005 ? Reporting on initial contacts with the Russian military, a Defense Ministry official in Seoul said yesterday that South Korea is considering paying to use training grounds in eastern Russia in order to practice large-scale troop maneuvers.
  If South Korea indeed decides to push ahead with the plan, the biggest obstacle would be the movement of South Korean troops to Russia. Some military officials point out that the only realistic option would be to move the troops by air, but such large-scale movement would be sensitive and likely to upset other nations in the region, such as China and North Korea.
• Congratulatory Message to Kim Jong Il from Putin
  Pyongyang, February 16 (KCNA) -- Leader Kim Jong Il received a personal congratulatory message from Russian President V. V. Putin on Wednesday, his birthday. The message says: Please accept my heartfelt congratulations on your birthday. Russia highly appreciates the exploits performed by you in developing the traditional Russia-DPRK relations of friendship and promoting the constructive dialogue between our two countries. I am convinced that multi-faceted relations between Russia and the DPRK will as ever expand for the wellbeing of our peoples and contribute to ensuring peace and security on the Korean Peninsula. I wish you success in your state activities and happiness and good health as well as the people of the DPRK wellbeing and prosperity.
• Protocol Signed between DPRK and Russia
  Pyongyang, November 19 (KCNA) -- A protocol of the 7th meeting of the forestry committee of the Inter-Governmental Trade, Economic, Scientific and Technological Committee was signed between the DPRK and the Russian Federation in Pyongyang on Friday. Present there from the DPRK side were officials concerned and from the Russian side members of the forestry delegation headed by the deputy governor of the Amur Regional Administration and a councilor of the Russian embassy here.
• Russian Envoy Stresses Dialogue for NK Issue
  By Yoon Won-sup Staff Reporter A high-profile Russian envoy, who arrived in South Korea Monday, on Wednesday met Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan to discuss ways to promote the mutual interests of South Korea and Russia. Konstantin Pulikovsky, 57, Russian presidential envoy to the Far Eastern Federal District, who is versed in the two Koreas' issue, stressed ``dialogue'' and ``international assistance'' toward North Korea will forge a breakthrough in the North's nuclear problem during his meeting with the premier, officials said.
• President to Seek Bigger Russian Role in N. Korean Nuclear Dispute
  [Yonhap,Sep.17th] President Roh Moo-hyun's four-day visit to Russia, starting on Monday, will cap South Korea's efforts to enhance peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula through summit diplomacy with the four major powers concerned. Roh's Russian visit will follow his summits in the United States, Japan and China over the past year. With all of the four powers members of the six-party talks on the dispute over North Korea's nuclear program, the president's summit diplomacy will further boost international cooperation against the North's nuclear weapons program.
• Russian Federation Council Chairman Visits DPRK
  Sergei Mikhailovich Mironov, chairman of the Federation Council of Russia visited the DPRK from September 12 to 14. Kim Jong Il, General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and Chairman of the DPRK National Defense Commission, met with Sergei Mikhailovich Mironov on September 13. Present there were Oleg Nikolayevich Kozhemyako, member of the Federation Council; Bato-Zhargal Zhyambalnimbuyev, vice-chairman of the Control Committee for the Activities of the council; Valery Pavlovich Parfyonov, director of the Secretariat for the Chairman of the council, and other dignitaries and Andrei Gennadievich Karlov, Russian ambassador to the DPRK. Kang Sok Ju, first vice-minister of the Foreign Affairs of the DPRK, was on hand.
• Russia's Efforts for Reconciliation and Peace in Korea (2)
  By Alexander Zhebin Director of the Center for Korean Studies Institute of Far Eastern Studies Russian Academy of Sciences A paper for the 2nd World Congress of Korean Studies Pyongyang, August 3-7, 2004
• Koreans in Russia: Historical Perspective
  By Ban Byung-yool Today about 500,000 ethnic Koreans live in the former Soviet Union (the CIS). About 70 percent of them live in Central Asian countries, while the remaining 30 percent live in Russia.
• Seoul, Moscow Hail Summit as Success
  By Shim Jae-yun Korea Times Correspondent MOSCOW - Observers in Seoul and Moscow gave a relatively positive assessment of the summit talks between President Roh Moo-hyun and Russian President Vladimir Putin. President Roh Moo-hyun, center left, and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, center right, talk about bilateral issues during their summit meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow, Tuesday. / Korea Times They cited the two leaders' agreements on the expansion of bilateral cooperation in energy, aeronautical science and transportation as significant developments in relations. But critics refrained from labeling the talks a success due to the lack of tangible progress in dealing with the standoff over North Korea's nuclear weapons programs
• Roh, Putin Seek Closer Ties Through Summit
  By Shim Jae-yun Korea Times Correspondent ASTANA, Kazakhstan _ Undoubtedly, the main summit talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sept. 21 will be the highlight of President Roh Moo-hyun's first official visit to Russia.
• Kim Jong Il Receives Mironov
  Pyongyang, September 13 (KCNA) -- Kim Jong Il, general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and chairman of the DPRK National Defence Commission, Monday received Sergei Mikhailovich Mironov, chairman of the Federation Council of Russia, on an official goodwill visit to the DPRK. Present there were Oleg Nikolayevich Kozhemyako, member of the Federation Council, Bato-Zhargal Zhyambalnimbuyev, vice-chairman of the Control Committee for t he Activities of the council, Valery Pavlovich Parfyonov, director of the Secretariat for the Chairman of the council, and other dignitaries and Andrei Gennadievich Karlov, Russian ambassador to the DPRK. Kang Sok Ju, first vice-minister of Foreign Affairs of the DPRK, was on hand.
• Gorbachev Calls for International Aid to NK
  By Shim Jae-yun Staff Reporter Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev called on the international community to expand support for North Korea in its bid toward openness and economic development. During an exclusive interview with The Korea Times on the occasion of President Roh Moo-hyun's visit to Russia starting Sept. 20, Gorbachev expressed hope North Korea will overcome its difficulties to begin the constructi on of a modern society.
• North Korean Students' Mission Visits Primorskii Krai, Russia.
  [Vladivostok/KOTRA] Vladivostok news reported on August 20 that North Korean students from Pyongyang University of Foreign Language have been visiting Primorskii Krai, Russia since August 13. The students stayed there for 12 days and had an official interview with vice-governor, Boris Galcher on August 18. According to the Primorskii Krai government, the mission has a deep understanding of Russian culture and is fluent in Russian. The mission will return to North Korea on August 24 after joining the Russian Children's Center Concert. *Source: The Vladivostok news on August 20 (Aug. 24, 2004, KOTRA-North Korea Team, Koo Kyung-hee, Tel: 82-2-3460-7423)
• Russia's Efforts for Reconciliation and Peace in Korea (1)
  By Alexander Zhebin Director of the Center for Korean Studies Institute of Far Eastern Studies Russian Academy of Sciences A paper for the 2nd World Congress of Korean Studies Pyongyang, August 3-7, 2004
  1. Introduction Russia is an integral part of the Asia-Pacific region (APR). Two thirds of the Russian Federation's territories with more than 30 million Russian citizens are in Asia. We do not have any basic contradiction with any of the APR countries, a contradiction, such as would create ground for mistrust. However, the Asia-Pacific region still harbors a significant potential for disputes. There are forces, which would like to take advantage of the situation. Moscow is convinced that the remaining knots of tension and disagreements should be resolved by peaceful, political means. The purposes of Russia's policy in the APR are very clear-- our country is interested in a general improvement of the regional situation, in making it more stable and predictable. By the beginning of the current century Russia basically had finished the almost 10-years-long period of its policy toward Korea. The new course takes into account both social and economic changes in Russia and geopolitical realities on the international arena. Russia's new foreign policy is characterized, including that toward the Korean Peninsula, by a total disappearance of an ideological factor and by an appreciable increase in pragmatism in defining its approaches to the current global and regional problems.
• Sergey Mironov to visit DPRK
  Sergey Mironov, Chairman of the Council of Federation of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation is to pay an official visit to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. September 12-14
  Sergey Mironov visits the capital city of North Korea Pyeongyang to hold meetings with the President of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea Kim Yong-nam, President of the Supreme People's Assembly Zhoj The Bok, Prime Minister of DPRK Pak Ponq Ju and the Chairman of the National Defense Committee of DPRK Kim Jong-il.
  Sergey Mironov plans to visit the Supreme People's Assembly of DPRK, the Mausoleum of Kim Il-sung, National palace of studies and lay a wreath to the Monument of liberation. Chairman of the Council of Federation also plans to address to the faculty and students of the Kim Il-sung University.
  
• Trains, oil on agenda for Roh's road trip
  The Blue House announced yesterday that President Roh Moo-hyun will visit Russia and Kazakhstan at the invitation of leaders from each country. Mr. Roh travels to Kazakhstan for two days beginning Sept. 19 to meet with President Nursultan Nazarbaev. He then makes an official visit to Russia for three days through Sept. 23, for talks with President Vladimir Putin. The two leaders are expected to discuss linking the Trans-Siberian Railway with the Trans-Korean Railway, South Korea's participation in the East Siberian Gas Company and importing liquefied natural gas from the Sakhalin Islands. "The two will also discuss how to provide energy to North Korea when the North agrees to dismantle its nuclear program," said Chung Woo- seong, the presidential adviser on foreign policy. [Railways]
• Message of Sympathy to Russian President
  Pyongyang, September 4 (KCNA) -- Kim Yong Nam, president of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly of the DPRK, Saturday sent a message of sympathy to Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, president of the Russian Federation, in connection with the recent explosions and hostage-taking incident in Russia perpetrated by terrorists that caused huge casualties among innocent inhabitants. The message said: A chain of recent hideous terrorism in your country can never be justified as they were the dastardly criminal acts perpetrated by the separatist forces and international terrorists to foil the process of the political settlement of the Chechen issue.
• Foreign Ministry Spokesman on Recent Terrorism in Russia
  Pyongyang, September 4 (KCNA) -- A spokesman for the DPRK Foreign Ministry gave the following answer to a question put by KCNA Saturday in connection with a series of recent terrorist acts in Russia that caused huge casualties: The terrorist acts committed in different parts of Russia recently have greatly shocked and infuriated the international community.
  It is the consistent and fixed stand of the DPRK government to oppose all forms of terrorism and any aid to it. Proceeding from this stand, the DPRK has actively supported the measures taken by the Russian government to cleanse Chechen terrorists and protect the security and territorial integrity of the country.
• Putin Sends Message on NK's Founding Day
  SEOUL (Yonhap) _ Russian President Vladimir Putin has sent a congratulatory message to North Korean leader Kim Jong-il on the occasion of the 56th anniversary of North Korea's foundation, North Korea's media said
• Russian Provincial Government of Primorskii Krai Donates US$10,000 For the Construction of a Russian
  [Vladivostok, KOTRA] According to a report of the Itar-tass on Aug. 18, the Russian provincial government of Primorskii Krai donated $10,000 for constructing a Russian Orthodox church in Pyongyang, North Korea. The donation value was reportedly promised by Darkin, the governor of the Russian province, in the Autumn of 2003 when the governor visited Pyongyang. The event of the donation was performed at the National Cultural Palace in Pyongyang with attendees including Andrei Karlov, Russia¡¯s ambassador to the NK and Gang Chi-hyeon, a member of the NK¡¯s Religion Committee, the Russian news agency added. The construction of the church building which will sit on an area of 300 sq. m and nearby the Daedong River, started in June of last year, 2003. A part of the church building has already been constructed, while the construction of the parts requiring professional technology such as a roof is still in the process. Itar-tass reported that after the construction of the exterior aspect of the building, the interior items such as furniture would be installed. The news agency forecast that it would take more time for the building to have the actual appearance of a Russian Orthodox church. Meanwhile, two North Korean students are currently studying the theology of the church in Moscow. After graduation, they will serve the Saint Trinity Church, Pyongyang¡¯s first Russian Orthodox church under construction, Itar-tass added. *Itar-tass, Aug. 18, 2004
• Kim Jong Il Meets Russian FM Visiting DPRK
  Personal Letter From Putin Conveyed Kim Jong Il and the Russian Foreign Minister talk about matters of mutual concern including the nuclear issue. Kim Jong Il, General Secretary of the Worker's Party of Korea and Chairman of the National Defense Commission of the DPRK, met Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Viktorovich Lavrov on July 5. The Russian Foreign Minister stayed in Pyongyang from July 4 to 5.
• Kim Il Sung's Soviet Image-Maker
  By Anatoly Medetsky Staff Writer Thursday, July 22, 2004 When World War II ended, and the Korean peninsula was divided into Soviet and U.S. occupation zones, South Korean radio began reporting that the leader of communist North Korea, Kim Il Sung, was not an ethnic Korean. At a time when Koreans ached for a leader of their own after decades of Japanese subjugation, Kim's grassroots popularity appeared to be in jeopardy. The job of masterminding a response to the South Korean claims fell to Lieutenant Colonel Grigory Mekler, the top Soviet propaganda officer in Korea.
• Kim Jong-il Plans Russia Visit
  [Yonhap,Jul.28th] North Korean leader Kim Jong-il is planning a visit to Russia as early as within this month, diplomatic sources here said Wednesday, citing North Korea's balanced diplomacy toward Russia and China and Kim's recent trip to China. The North Korean leader will likely visit Vladivostok to hold a summit with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, possibly before the end of the month or early next month, sources familiar with North Korean affairs said on condition of anonymity.
• Rodong Sinmun on Daily Developing DPRK-Russia Relations
  Pyongyang, March 17 (KCNA) -- Rodong Sinmun today in a signed article recalls that an agreement on economic and cultural cooperation was signed between the governments of the DPRK and the former Soviet Union on March 17, 1949.
  The bilateral economic and cultural cooperation has become closer in recent years. Substantial work has been promoted between the two countries to boost exchange and cooperation in economic, cultural and other fields of social life
• North Korean Diplomat Prospects Favorable for a North Korea-Russia Relationship This Year
• Russian tanks to face off along demilitarized Zone
  In an odd juxtaposition, Russian tanks in North Korea will soon be facing Russian-made tanks in South Korea across the inter-Korean border, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday. The ministry confirmed a report in Chosun Ilbo, a Korean daily newspaper, that the army plans to deploy the Russian-made armored vehicles to the central-eastern Demilitarized Zone. A defense ministry spokesman said yesterday that about 30 T-80U Russian-made tanks and some BMP-3 infantry combat vehicles will begin guarding the border before the end of this year. South Korea's Russian tanks are far more modern than those of North Korea.
• South Korea to Deploy Russian Tanks on Frontline This Year
• Kim Jong Il Enjoys Performance by Russian Folk Dance Troupe
• Russia Sees Chance of Progress at Korea Talks
  Published: February 19, 2004 Filed at 7:13 a.m. ET MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's top Asia diplomat was quoted as saying on Thursday that Moscow saw the chance for ``some progress'' at six-sided talks in Beijing next week on North Korea's suspected nuclear weapons program.
• Kim Jong Il Attends Reception of Russian Embassy
• Russia's good graces with North Korea on trial
  [Foreign trade] [Rocketry]
• Russia Worried About U.S. Moves to Add Forces in Asia: Lawmakers
  [Belligerence]
• Russia Voices Opposition to Referring Nuclear Issue to UNSC
  [Exclusion] [Nuclear]
• North Korea?! Where Is It?
  [Russia] [US NK relations] [Exclusion]
• Friendship meeting hosted by Russian Ambassador
  [Cultural relations]
• Russians Say Times Report Is Untrue
  [Espionage] [Black]
• Special envoy of Russian President interviewed
  [Losyukov]
• Kim Jong Il receives special envoy of Russian President
  [Losyukov]
• Russia Helped U.S. on Nuclear Spying Inside North Korea
  {James Risen} [Nuclear] [Espionage]
• DPRK officials meet special envoy of Russian President
  [Losyukov]
• Russian Envoy in N. Korea for Nuclear Crisis Talks
  [Nuclear] [Russia] [Peace Efforts] [Losyukov] [United Nations] [Starvation]
• Russia's Putin to Send Envoy to North Korea
  [Peace efforts][Spin][Losyukov]
• S. Korea, Russia Urge NK to Revoke NPT Withdrawal
  [NPT]
• Moscow Is Negotiating With North Korean Officials In Quiet Effort To Defuse Tensions
  [Peace efforts] [NPT][Friction] [Nuclear]
• Koizumi joins Russia in N Korea 'concern'
  [NPT]
• S. Korea, Russia Urge NK to Revoke NPT Withdrawal
  [NPT]
• Russian Defence Minister on DPRK's nuclear problem
  [NPT][Pro-Pyongyang]
• Koizumi joins Russia in N Korea 'concern'
  [NPT] [Peace efforts] [Japan Russia relations]
• Russia and Japan Want to Cooperate, Territory Problem Still Unsolved
  [Japan Russia relations]
• Kim Jong-il's Manual
  [Admission] [Iraq]
• Moscow pledged to assist Seoul in dealing with N.K. nukes
  [Nuclear]
• Deputy South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Hang-kyung, left, and his Russian counterpart Alexander Losyukov smile during a meeting in Moscow, Sunday.
  [photo]
• North Korea is Playing the Game of Threats and Bribery
  [Nuclear] [Admission] [James Kelly]
• George Bush's Web of Lies
  [Iraq][Missile Defense]
• Russia seeks to calm nuclear row
  [Nuclear]
• Kim Yong Nam sends message of sympathy to V. Putin
  [terrorism]
• Russia Warns N. Korea to Stay in Treaty -AP
  [NPT]
• Protocol on cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow inked
• Russia talks to North about nuclear issue
• Russian defense official to visit Seoul
• Russia offers to help soothe tension over North Korea's nuclear intentions -AP
  [Nuclear]
• Gov't Procures $534 Mil. Worth of Russian Weaponry
  [Armaments]
• Russia expresses "deep concern" about North Korean nuclear announcement -AP
  [Agreed Framework]
• Moscow calls for N.K. U.S. to adopt favorable stance for each other
  [Nuclear]
• Russia Leery of N. Korea's Nuke Info -AP
  [Nuclear]
• Seoul, Moscow vow military cooperation
• Seoul, Moscow fail to reach loan accord
• Russia expresses concern over North Korea's "contradictory" claims on nuclear arms -AP
  [Nuclear]
• Russian foreign minister expresses concern to North Korean ambassador over nuclear weapons charges -AP
  [Nuclear]
• N.K. air force officials visit Russia
• Report: Moscow unconvinced North Korea is pursuing a nuclear weapons program -AP
  [nuclear]
• North Korean military delegation in Russia
• Russia and N.K. to practice joint military drill next month
• Russia to continue military exchanges with N.K., Iran
  [armaments]
• Putin Hails Railway, Road Project
  [Connections] [Railways]
• South's Foreign Minister holds talks with Russian counterpart
• Russia's Putin praises Japan's Koizumi for plans to visit North Korea -AP
  [Putin] [Koizumi]
• Kim Jong Il Holds Third Summit Talks with Putin during Tour of Far Eastern Region of Russia
• North asks Russia for help removing land mines
  [Railways]
• Russia in hurry to link Koreas to the Trans-Siberia Railway
  [Railways] [China]
• North said shopping for Russian weapons
  [Armaments]
• Detailed report on Kim Jong Il's visit to Far Eastern region of Russia
• Russia sells military spare parts to North Korea -AP
  [Armaments]
• Achievements in DPRK
• Kim Jong Il returns home
• North media abuzz as leader returns
• North Korean, Russian ties firmly on track
  {Sergei Blagov} [Railways]
• Koreans deeply impressed by Kim Jong Il's foreign tour
• Kim Jong Il meets with Putin
• Chairman Kim Jong-il looking around the pharmaceutical plant in Khavarovsk, Far Eastern district of Russia on Thursday, August 22
  [photo]
• N. Korea, Russia Talk Economics -AP
• Putin, Kim discuss linking railroads
  [Railways]
• Kim, Putin talk railroad links, economic cooperation
  [Railways]
• Sergeyevna Remembers Kim Jong Il
  [Kim Jong Il]
• Kim Jong Il visits Komsomolsk-on-Amur
• N.K. Chairman Kim Jong-il observing the statue of Lenin at military museum at Khavarovsk in Far East Russia Thursday, August 22
  [photo]
• Kim, Putin meeting set on Friday
  [Religion] [Kim Jong Il]
• Third day: Kim Jong-il visits factories in Khabarovsk
• Kim's trip said to promote North's economic reforms
  [Economic reform]
• North Korean leader heartedly embraces his Russian host
  {James Brook} [Arrogance]
• N. Korea's Kim talks economics with Putin
• North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, second from left, visits an aircraft plant in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Wednesday
  [photo]
• Kim's Tour Troubles ROK Diplomats
• Kim Jong Il leaves to visit Far Eastern region of Russia
• Kim Jong-il in Russia
• DPRK-Russia friendly relations grow stronger
• N.K.-Russia's strategic partnership would pressure U.S.
• North's leader sits in cockpit of Russian jet; summit unsure
  [Armaments] [Kim Jong Il]
• North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, center, waves as Russian presidential envoy Konstantin Pulikovsky stands....
  [photo]
• Kim Jong-il reaches first destination; discusses military cooperation
  [Armaments][Russia]
• North Korea Chairman Kim Jong-il at Russia's border station of Khasan on Tuesday, August 20
  [photo]
• Second day in Russia: Kim Jong-il to view fighter jets
  [Railways] [Armaments]
• North Korean Leader's 2nd-day Itinerary Focused on Economy
  [Joint venture] [Armaments] [Russia]
• North-Russia ties at a mature stage, Russian ambassador says
• Kim Jong-il rolls into Russia
• Military, Economic Figures Accompany Kim Jong-il
• Kim Jong-il begins trip to Russia's Far East
• North-Russia ties stronger than ever, says Russian ambassador
• Russia's Far East tensed over preparations for N.K.-Russia summit
• Russian Paper Says N. K. Talks to be Held in Late August
• Signature campaign by Koreans in Russia
  [Diaspora]
• NK Confirms Kim to Visit Russia Soon
• N.K. media confirms Kim Jong-il to visit Russia this month
• Kim Jong Il to visit Russia
• Kim Jong-il plans Russia visit
• Kim Jong Il's visit to Russia given wide publicity abroad
• Russian delegation from Amur region visits Pyeongyang
• Seoul to use part of debt for Russian armaments
  [Armaments]
• Russian rail journey set for North's Kim
  [Kim Jong Il] [Railways] [Energy]
• Anniversary of Kim Jong Il's Russian visit observed
• North's Kim, Putin expected to confer
• North's Kim reported set for another Russia visit
• DPRK Ready for Talks with U.S., Japan: Ivanov
  [Peace efforts]
• North celebrates 1st anniversary of Kim Jong-il's visit to Moscow
• Russian foreign minister interviewed
• Chairman Kim Jong-il may visit Russia's Far East
  [Russia]
• Kim Jong Il sees performance "Arirang"
  [Arirang] [Russia]
• Kim Jong Il receives Russian foreign minister
• N.K. ready for unconditional talks with U.S., Japan
  [US-NK negotiations] [Peace efforts] [Russia]
• Ivanov Meets Paek Nam-sun in Pyongyang
  [Russia] [Peace efforts]
• Ivanov to Deliver Putin's Letter to NK Leader
  [Russia] [Peace efforts]
• Russian foreign minister arrives in North Korea -AP
  [Russia] [Peace efforts]
• Embassy Opening Heralds New Russo-Korean Ties
• Ivanov to deliver Putin's letter to N.K. leader
  [Russia] [Peace efforts]
• Korea, Russia Agree on Security Cooperation
  [Railways]
• Seoul Rejects Moscow's Mediation
  [Russia] [Peace efforts]
• South Korea only venue for 2nd inter-Korean summit: ministry
• Russia to Propose Two Kim's Meeting in Khabarovsk
  [Peace efforts] [Russia]
• Kim Will Ask Ivanov to Persuade NK Leader
  [Sunshine policy]
• Russian Envoy to Convey ROK Message to NK
  [continuities]
• Russian official: North Korea ready for dialogue with South Korea -AP
  [Railways] [Continuities] {Konstantin Pulikovsky}
• Russian foreign minister to visit both Koreas
• Book Shows Arrest of N. Korea Agents -AP
  [drugs]
• Kim Jong Il meets with Russian military delegation
• N.K. defense minister meets with Russian military delegation
• DPRK, Russian FMs Sign Plan of Exchange; Mutual Commitment Confirmed
• DPRK foreign minister's visit to Russia
• North, Russia reaffirm agreement with the South
• Russian foreign minister praises warming ties with North Korea -AP
• DPRK foreign minister Paek Nam Sun leaves for Russian Federation
• N. Korean Foreign Minister Embarks on Visit to Russia
• North says its security is directly linked to Russia
• Kim Jong Il Meets Russian Envoy and Mayor
• Kim Jong-il to visit Far East within year
• Pulikovsky wishes success for army-first policy
• North's foreign minister to visit Russia in May
• Army-first policy lauded
• Kim Jong Il meets Pulikovski
• Russian musicians entertain Kim Jong-il
• Mayor calls visit a success
• Russia welcomes North Korean readiness to resume reconciliation talks with South -AP
• Russian mayor on way to Seoul after N.K. visit
• N.K. delegation wraps up trip to Russia
• Moscow's ties with Pyongyang back on track
• Kim Jong Il receives mayor of St. Petersburg of Russia
• North Korea's Other Axis: With Moscow
• Papers on DPRK-Russia relations
• Kim Jong Il attends holiday celebration hosted by Russian ambassador
• DPRK delegation of general bureau of atomic energy leaves for Russia
• Russia celebrates a half-century of aid to North
• Russian defense minister sees Bush about potential U.S. nuclear targeting -AP
• Kim Jong Il Meets Putin's Envoy; Mutual Commitment Reconfirmed
• N.K.'s rejection of dialogue is no surprise, says VOR
• Seoul Snubs Sukhoi in Fighter Project
• Plenipotentiary Representative of Russia Visits Pyongyang
• Russian Envoy Stresses Russo-DPRK Ties Are Good
• Congratulatory letter to Kim Jong Il from V. Putin
• Beijing and Moscow offer birthday wishes
• Kim Jong Il meets Pulikovski
• Kim Jong Il receives Pulikovski from Russia
• NK Leader Meets Russia, China Envoys in Pyongyang
• Representative of Russian President to Far East Federal District here
• North and Russia to reinforce ties in various fields
• Russia Set to Mediate S-N Talks
• Pyongyang and Moscow open friendly ties
• Kim Jong Il Visits Russian Embassy
• Russia's Foreign Minister meets with North Korean ambassador
• N. Koreans rescued by Russian vessel
• NK Leader Visits Russian Embassy
• Kim visits Russian Embassy in Pyeongyang
• Kim Jong Il visits Russian embassy here
• Korea, Russia hold policy meeting today
• Russia Reports Spying by U.S. Foes -AP
• Text of Putin's ABM Statement - AP
• Friendly gathering between Russia ambassador and N.K. military heads
• N.K. criticizes China and Russia for joining anti-terror moves
• North Korea and Russia may be laying grounds for MIG-29 production
• Make better use of DPRK-Russia relations, says analysis
• Chairman Kim to receive new Russian ambassador Karlov
• Russia to Send Military Delegation to North
• Russia Credited With Convincing North to Join Anti-Terror Pacts
• Sunshine Policy Going the Right Way, Says Gorbachev
• Putin Blames U.S. for Frosty North Korean Stance
• North Korean Workers in Siberia Wandering Around as Aliens
• Russia names new envoy to P'yang
• DPRK, Russia Reconfirm Revitalized Traditional Ties; Kim Jong Il Meets V. Putin Again in Moscow
• Speech of Kim Jong Il at Banquet (in Russia)
• Speech of V.V. Putin at Banquet
• Kim Jong Il's visit to Russia reported by Russian media
• Detailed report about Kim Jong Il's visit and stay in Russia
• Kim's visit to Russia to aid normalization of ties
• Kim Jong Il's message of thanks to Putin
• Joint statement of WPK, CMC of WPK and DPRK NDC
• Kim Jong-il Returns Home
• U.S. Thanks Russia for Encouraging North Korea
• Seoul Assesses North Korea -Russia Summit
• Kim Jong Il has unofficial meeting with V.V. Putin
• Russia, N. Korea Leaders Sign Pact
• Abrupt Kim-Putin Talks Grab Seoul's Attention
• Speculation mounts in Seoul over 2nd Kim-Putin meeting
• Rediscovered North Korean ties raise doubts in Moscow
• DPRK-Russia Moscow Declaration [via People's Korea]
• Full Text of DPRK-Russia Moscow Declaration[via KOTRA]
• Foreign minister says Putin may have urged Kim to visit Seoul
• Editorial]N.K.-Russian summitry
• Highlights of Saturday's N.K.-Russia declaration
• Talks held between leader Kim Jong Il and President V.V. Putin
  (various other articles in same and subsequent issues)
• DPRK-Russia Moscow Declaration
• NK-Russia Summit Refocuses Attention on USFK
• Withdrawal of U.S. troops included in N.K.-Russia pact
• Putin-Kim pact feared to prolong stalemate
• Kim visits Moscow space Sites
• Kim's visit annoys Russian press
• Russian-North Korean Declaration: Excerpts
• Economy, security to top N.K.-Russia summit agenda
• Putin Congratulates Kim on Trans-Siberian Odyssey
• Seoul Hails Summit Accord
• Putin, left, shakes hands with Kim Jong-il (photo)
• Kim Jong-il, Putin to Hold Summit Today
• Kim's Omsk visit seen as plan to modernize weapons
• Kim goes on Siberian walkabout
• Kim to Stay in Russia for 24 Days
• [Today's Editorial] Kim Jong-il's Visit to Moscow/Selection of Leader for Super Bank
• 'Russia, N.K. make progress on high-tech weapons trade'
• [Editorial]Kim Jong-il's journey to Moscow
• Kim Jong Il to visit Russia
• Answers given by Kim Jong Il to questions raised by Itar-Tass
• Kim Jong-il's Railroad Trip to Moscow
• 'N.K.-Russia talks will benefit inter-Korean relations'
• Officials: N Korea Leader in Russia
• Chong Wa Dae Welcomes Kim's Trip as Positive Sign
• Kim's Visit Raises Hopes for S-N Ties
• Kim takes slow route to Moscow
• Breakthrough in Pyongyang-Moscow Debt Talks
• First anniversary of DPRK-Russia joint declaration marked
• DPRK, Russia Sign New Military Pacts to Develop Military Ties
• NK Seeks to Purchase Weapons From Russia
• Moscow firms military ties with Pyongyang
• Talks held between vice-chairman of DPRK NDC and Russian deputy prime Minister
• Russia's defense deal with N. Korea not viewed as threat to ties with S. Korea
• NK ASKS FOR DELAY IN KIM JONG IL'S MOSCOW VISIT
• News Analysis: Russia May Help Persuade North Korea to Give Up Missiles
• South Korea Now Pulls Back From Russia on Missile Shield
• [Today's Editorial] Outcome of Kim-Putin Summit
• Putin Meets Opposition Leader
• Stability on Korean Peninsula important to Russia, says Putin
• Putin Swipes at Bush After Winning Seoul's Support
  [See related stories on US page]
• Putin in Korea: A Mix of Trade and Politics
• Putin Backs `Sunshine' Policy
• Summit Produces `Perfect' Trade-Off
• Kim, Putin agree on support for S-N detente, arms control
• Putin Expected to Seek `Constructive' Role in Inter-Korean Détente
• [Putin's speech] Russia Steps Up Friendship, Practical Cooperation With Asian Neighbors
• [Today's Editorial] Putin's Visit to Korea
• Kim, Putin to issue joint communique on N. Korea, economic cooperation
• [Editorial]Putin in Seoul
• Defense Tops Putin's Seoul Talks
• Putin arrives in Seoul today
• Russia's Putin to Arrive in Seoul Today
• Putin's East Asian adventure to court old allies
• Russia hoping to offset its debt to S.K. through N.K. investment
• Rodong Sinmun on Friendly and Cooperative Relations between DPRK and Russia
• Putin to Visit Korea Feb. 27-28
• Putin to discuss N.K., economic cooperation in Seoul next week
• 2 Koreas to attend missile talks in Moscow
• Papers on friendly and cooperative relations between DPRK and Russia
• Kim Jong-il to Visit Russia in April
• 'Putin-Kim Jong-il summit in April'
• Russia, North Korea agree summit date

  2000
  

• Rodong Sinmun Runs Putin's Article
• P.M. Lee says Russia visit consolidated bilateral Ties
• Russian Policy Towards North Korea
• Russia Backs Korea's Peace Initiative Putin Assures President Kim
• PUTIN TO VISIT NORTH KOREA IN JULY (New York Times 9 June)