Putin holds aces, Obama deuces

By: Finian Cunningham

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2014/03/03/353101/putin-holds-aces-obama-deuces/

As Russian troops pour into Ukraine consolidating control over the southern Crimea region it looks as if President Putin has finally had enough of playing games according to bent Western rules.

Vladimir Putin knows that world public opinion and a good many nations are on Russia's side in its show of strength against the cabal of rogue Western states led by Washington.

The morally bankrupt Western cabal tried to play its "sanctimonious card" at the weekend after Putin ordered more troops into the southern Ukrainian territory. American President Barack Obama said with tiresome cliché "the US stands with the international community in condemning violation of Ukraine's sovereignty".

Even more absurdly, US Secretary of State John Kerry later lambasted Russia's "brazen aggression". With a ridiculous straight face, probably due to years of botox treatment, Kerry said: "You just don't invade another country on phoney pretext in order to assert your interests. This is an act of aggression that is completely trumped-up in terms of its pretext. It's really 19th century behaviour in the 21st century."

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov shot back that US threats of sanctions and veiled military confrontation against Moscow are "completely unacceptable".

And the subsequent increase in Russian troop deployment in the Crimea seems to be a clear sign that Moscow is snubbing Washington's warnings with the contempt that they deserve.

For a start, Russia knows that it is morally and legally right to make its latest moves. With a Russian ethnic population comprising up to 60 per cent of the Ukraine, particularly in the East and South of the country, Moscow has a responsibility to protect its compatriots in a territory with a long shared history and heritage. Russia has real vital national interests at stake in the Ukraine, and it is entitled to exercise this protection - unlike countless American trumped-up interventions around the globe.

Secondly, Russia knows that the phoney American rulers and their European proxies have been making a mockery of international law in Ukraine over many years and especially in the last three months, during which the West has inflamed social and political unrest to the point where the elected authorities in Kiev were ousted two weeks ago in a Western-backed coup d'état. It is only Western rulers and their delusional media who pretend that the events in Ukraine were "a popular uprising".

The American, British, French and German governments have orchestrated a regime change operation, which now sees a rabble of neo-Nazis and fascists in power in Kiev. The rabid anti-Russian politics of this Western-backed junta poses a real and present threat to the pro-Russian population. True to plan, this junta of unelected quislings who came to power on the back of murderous street violence - violence fully supported and encouraged by the Western states – will in short order give the green light to NATO troops being stationed on Russia's borders.

A third factor emboldening Putin to act decisively in a show of strength against these Western powers is that the Russian leader knows that world opinion is on his side. The world has had enough of US-led state terrorism and lawlessness, declaring war on countries on trumped-up pretexts, including Iraq and Afghanistan, where more than one million have been killed by American and British forces with total impunity. These illegal wars of aggression were based on proven outright lies and fabrications with the collusion of Western media.

The world has had it with US-led aggression against Iran with murderous sanctions that, again, are based on wanton and transparent lies that infringe on the legally entitled rights of the Iranian nation to develop nuclear technology.

The world is sickened by American sponsorship of the genocidal Israeli regime against the Palestinian people - a grotesque regime whose illegal stockpile of nuclear weapons is an affront to international law and morality.

And the world is abhorred by the US-led covert war of aggression on Syria for the past three years, conducted with the help of Arab despots and head-choppers, which has resulted in over 130,000 deaths and millions thrown into abject misery.

More than anything perhaps, the world, including many ordinary Americans, is disgusted by the shameless deception, double standards and hypocrisy of Washington and its European acolytes who claim to represent decency, democracy and the "international community".

In a hollow headline, the London Financial Times claimed: "World rounds on Russia over Crimea move". This is typical Western elite vanity that presumes to speak for the world majority.

The New York Times added: "So far, the Kremlin has shown no sign of yielding to international pressure".

What international pressure? The only people that seem to be in a fluster are the elites in Washington and their slavish coterie of European stooges in London, Paris and Berlin.

In actuality, the world has pointedly remained muted on Russia's moves to defend its interests in Ukraine. China, now the world's biggest trading nation, has indeed sided with Russia. India and the other members of the Non-Aligned Movement have made no comment.

This is because the majority of the world knows who the real aggressors are. The latter are the US and its cronies among the financially and morally bankrupt G7 capitalist club of elite mis-rulers.

With Russia supplying up to 35 per cent of Europe's oil and gas, Moscow knows too that it holds an important ace in this new game. If the EU is foolish enough to push Washington's asinine agenda against Russia over the unrest and violence in Ukraine - which the US and the EU instigated in the first place - then Moscow can bring bankrupt Europe to its knees by turning off the fuel taps.

The old game of one-sided, bent rules - long played by Washington and its Western allies - is over. There's a new game in town, and where Putin has a few aces to play, the bankrupt West is holding a bunch of deuces.
------------------------------

 

Finian Cunningham (born 1963) has written extensively on international affairs, with articles published in several languages. He is a Master’s graduate in Agricultural Chemistry and worked as a scientific editor for the Royal Society of Chemistry, Cambridge, England, before pursuing a career in journalism. He is also a musician and songwriter. For nearly 20 years, he worked as an editor and writer in major news media organisations, including The Mirror, Irish Times and Independent. Originally from Belfast, Ireland, he is now located in East Africa as a freelance journalist, where he is writing a book on Bahrain and the Arab Spring, based on eyewitness experience working in the Persian Gulf as an editor of a business magazine and subsequently as a freelance news correspondent. The author was deported from Bahrain in June 2011 because of his critical journalism in which he highlighted systematic human rights violations by regime forces. He is now a columnist on international politics for Press TV and the Strategic Culture Foundation.

News Updates on the unfolding events in Ukraine

 

Israeli war threats have smell of psyops

Source: Press TV

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/07/22/252232/israeli-war-threats-have-smell-of-psyops/

With four American carrier battle groups in the Persian Gulf, a full fighter wing in Kuwait and the unannounced possibility of long range bombers in Diego Garcia, there is an undeniable move toward an attack against Iran.

All the forces are American with rumors of Israeli planes in Azerbaijan or Georgia, rumors that have the smell of a “psyop” or psychological operation more than reality.

The military reality, one pundits and activists ignore is that, when the first Israeli plane takes off from Azerbaijan, more likely “if,” the Iranian flag will be flying over Baku within 48 hours.

There is no military sufficient to secure Azerbaijan and Russian interference in a conflict that was not sanctioned by all five permanent members of the United Nations security council, a virtual impossibility after we saw two vetoes stopping action against Syria only a short time ago, a “turn around” by China and Russia would cost both governments all international credibility.
Moreover, despite the “drum beating” being done by Netanyahu, his attempts to put an Iranian face on a very suspiciously timed attack in Bulgaria, Netanyahu “jumping the gun” and “showing his hand,” the hand of a potential “false flag” terrorist, just isn’t going to fly.
Going further, this is an election year in America. No one outside the US understands American politics, the duplicity, the Israeli games which oddly differ from the loyalties and voting habits of America’s Jewish population.

Though Israel has bought all Republicans in Congress, the opposition party, and a small core of Democrats, enough to sabotage needed financial regulation, social welfare programs and even handed international relations, and, this is the best part, though Republicans have sworn a full scale war against Iran, were Obama to stage an attack, even with a more major “false flag” provocation, and the warnings are out for exactly that, Republicans would turn on Obama in defense of Iran.

All that matters is power. It is generally assumed that the Americans, Canadians, Germans and British people are subject to press fabrication and government sponsored false flag terror. The last twelve years has proven this beyond a doubt.
Nuclear free Middle East
There are only two leaders in the world, of major powers at least, where there had been any expectation of leadership and honor and those have been Obama and Putin.

The issue is clear and always has been. If Israel can have nuclear weapons to protect themselves from invasion by hostile neighbors, then any country can or there has to be a formal understanding of a guaranteed “nuke free zone” that includes established borders and set formulas for addressing social change.
One of the greatest problems has been the rhetoric from activists, sometimes from the left or claiming to be and the very significant penetration of security services in regional NGOs and the press.

The reality is as it has been since the days of Alexander, entirely military. Let’s look at a few realities of that type since the ideas of who sides with whom during times of political fluidity simply don’t exist.
In the case of Iran, there have been no allies offering military defense, none capable of guaranteeing safe “flanks” or willing or able to place military forces behind implied friendship.
This is where we enter a new realm. When I see Putin with Netanyahu talking about Iran’s “nuclear program” while well aware that Russian technicians are onsite and totally cognizant that no weapons program exists, his own position as supposed ruler of Russia comes into question.

Though statements from both Obama and Putin are mitigated by claims of a desire for diplomatic solution, neither have faced the obvious injustice of a nuclear armed Israel, the injustice of sanctions without proof and both have been more than willing to repeat the lies of Netanyahu which are totally at odds with the hard proof of science, that Iran has no nuclear program.

Moreover, no regional leader, Jordan, Egypt, Turkey, Iraq, Pakistan, has said a single word about Israel’s illegal nuclear arsenal and how its presence makes the statements of others seem hollow, duplicitous and insane.
In all honesty, I feel it necessary to point out that all are puppets it seems, including the Americans and Russians.
As for the EU, there is no realistic expectation of reality from their hands.
The approach to war
We have no doubt. It is obvious to everyone in the military and intelligence community that Israeli agents and “terrorist groups” under their control are seeking a perfect date for an attack that has to kill hundreds or thousands.
It is simple.
Politics demand an iconic attack, inside the US or Britain, something involving mass destruction, something that will stir fear in the public, that will draw on the orchestrated press.

We are waiting for murder. We have seen it before and, though it is never reported to the press or spoken of with honesty, every major terror attack blamed on “Al Qaeda” was foreseen by the FBI or CIA, all tied to secret White House operations and movements of “cells” that were clumsy, obvious, almost like a cheap carnival.

We are expecting another cheap Israeli carnival, mass murder, iconic destruction, questions silenced, investigations quashed, magical passports and drivers licenses floating from the air and fingers pointed at Iran.
Bulgaria was simply a bungled version of this.

We still mourn the lives of the dead and the fact that their loved ones will never be able to trust what their own government tells them. Netanyahu will sit on the couch, drink tea, hug the families of the victims, all the while with blood on his hands, as he has done so many times before.

The real shame
None of this has anything to do with Iran or Israel. “The markets” require a war. Those of us who examine the real agendas that members of the press seldom see note the actions of invisible hands, actions without reason, enmity without contact, conflict without purpose.
There is so much need for trade and cooperation with Israel the big winner, were it not to have chosen a role 60 years ago that no longer serves its own economy and people.
Fairness demands criticism for many. The real crime always comes back to what those of the left call “imperialism” though they often miss some of the players.
Military reality
Iran does not have an advanced military capability by American standards. Other than nuclear, even Russia and China’s military are considered primitive, even when both sides meet as friends, something that happens often but not so publicly.

Iran, however, can dominate sea lanes with missiles, can defend its coasts, can make land war an nightmare beyond imagination and can reach out and touch, not just oil, but the nuclear bomb plants of Dimona.
Iran has teeth.

Leadership
I look at Putin and Obama. Both have the power, the prestige and authority to end this stalemate, yet they choose not to.
They are profiting by it, but how?
What is being hidden from us that a war that can never be fought, never be won, a war that will never be sanctioned, can’t be paid for is preparing to be fought?
I look at the names and faces of those around Putin and Obama and I wonder about the unseen hand.

Russia: Talks with NATO over missile system deadlocked

Anatoly Antonov, Russia’s deputy defense minister and chief negotiator with the NATO on the deployment of a missile system in Europe

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/225567.html

Russia says its negotiations with the NATO over the deployment of a missile system belonging to the Western military alliance within Europe have reached ‘a dead end.’

On Monday, Anatoly Antonov, Russia’s deputy defense minister and chief negotiator with the NATO on the deployment of the missile system, called the missile system a threat to Russia's security.

Antonov pointed out that Moscow may pull out of the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), signed with Washington in 2010.

“New challenges emerge, including missile and nuclear proliferation … That’s why Russia’s military doctrine envisages the use of nuclear weapons in specific cases,” he said.

“I do not rule out that under certain circumstances we will have to boost, not cut, our nuclear arsenal,” the Russian deputy defense minister added.

Earlier, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin had accused Washington and NATO of pointing the missile system at his country.

US-led NATO has claimed that the missile system is planned to thwart possible attacks from 'rogue' states, and it will go ahead with the plan despite Russian concerns.

However, Moscow says it wants legal guarantees that the system will not be aimed at Russia.

Russia test fires long-range missile

Russian missiles. (File photo)

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/217980.html

Russia has successfully test fired its long-range ballistic missile with a new warhead aimed at developing a domestic missile shield capable of encountering US-NATO missile threats.

On Tuesday, Russia tested its long-range ballistic missile RS-18, known as Stilet (Stileto) to the West, from its Baiknonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

According to a statement by the Russian defense ministry, the missile hit its target on the Kamchatka Peninsula on the Pacific

This is while tension is on the rise between Moscow and Washington over a US-NATO missile system in Europe which excludes Russia's participation.

The US claims that its missile system is designed to avert possible missile attacks by either Iran or North Korea, the two major countries that have fiercely resisted US interference in their respective counties.

However, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev says he is not convinced with Washington's claims and wants legal guarantees that the system will not be aimed at Russia.

The US, Israel and their allies accuse Iran of pursuing a military nuclear program and have used this allegation as a pretext to convince the UN Security Council to impose four rounds of sanctions on Iran.

Tehran has categorically refuted Western allegations, saying that as a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), it has the right to acquire and develop atomic technology for peaceful purposes.

'Russia boosts littoral defense in Syria'

A model supersonic cruise missile (file photo)

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/213298.html

Russia has reportedly laid the groundwork for heightened defensive precautions along the Syrian coastline amid the potential of a Western-led military attack against the Middle Eastern nation.

On Thursday, an unnamed Russian military source said that Moscow had delivered anti-ship cruise missiles to Syria, Russia's Interfax news agency reported.

"This weapon allows coverage of the entire coastline of Syria from possible attack from the sea," the source noted.

In November, Russian sources said Moscow was sending its warships to Syrian waters to block any attack led by the Western military alliance of NATO against the country under the guise of 'humanitarian intervention.'

Syria has been experiencing unrest since mid-March, with demonstrations being held both in favor of and against President Bashar al-Assad.

Hundreds of people, including many members of the security forces, have been killed in the unrest.

The government blames outlaws, saboteurs, and armed terrorist groups for the deadly violence, saying that the unrest is being orchestrated from abroad.

The opposition and Western countries, however, accuse the Syrian security forces of being behind the killings. Damascus strongly rejects the claim, asserting that the security forces have been given clear instructions not to harm civilians.

On Tuesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called on the US and the European Union to put an end to their threats against Syria.

In October, Russia and China vetoed a Western-backed UN Security Council (UNSC) resolution condemning the Syrian government.

Moscow said the resolution could have led to a Western military intervention in Syria similar to the one in Libya, where, it said, NATO had overstepped its UNSC mandate

West warned against anti-Iran agitation

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich, and Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/213296.html

The Chinese and Russian governments have called on Western countries to show restraint over Iran, warning them against escalating tensions with the country.

"We hope the countries involved will keep calm, rational and restrained to avoid emotional actions,” that can aggravate the situation, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei was quoted by Xinhua as saying at a press briefing in Beijing on Thursday.

The remarks came after British Foreign Secretary William Hague ordered the closure of Iran's embassy in London following a Tuesday protest rally staged by Iranian students outside the British embassy in Tehran.

The student rally followed approval by Iran's Majlis (parliament) of a bill aimed at downgrading ties with the UK and in protest at Britain's hostile policies towards the Islamic Republic.

Also on Thursday and in an apparent reaction to the rallies, foreign ministers of the European Union (EU) imposed sanctions against 180 more Iranian individuals and companies, but failed to bring into force an embargo against the country's oil sector. The ministers, however, claimed that they would keep working on developing additional restrictive means, which would directly affect Iran's oil industry.

Hong added that China had "taken note of" the aggressive responses to the student protests.

Russia has also cautioned Western countries against further souring their relations with Iran.

"We speak out categorically against cranking up a spiral of tension and confrontation on issues linked with Iran. We believe that this ... is fraught with severe consequences," Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said on Thursday.

"The increasing tensions in relations with Tehran is essentially blocking the renewal of talks" between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council -- Britain, China, France, Russia, and the US -- plus Germany (P5+1) over Tehran's nuclear program, Lukashevich added.

On November 21, the United States, Britain, and Canada imposed unilateral sanctions on Iran's energy and financial sectors after a November 8 report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Tehran's nuclear program, which had alleged diversion in the Islamic Republic's nuclear activities.

The report has been dismissed by Tehran as "unbalanced, unprofessional, and prepared with political motivation and under political pressure by mostly the United States.”

The US, Israel, and some of their allies accuse Iran of pursuing military objectives in its nuclear program and have used this pretext to push for the imposition of sanctions on Tehran as well as to call for the launch of a military attack against the country.

Iran, however, refutes such allegations as 'baseless' and maintains that, as a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and a member of the IAEA, it has every right to acquire and develop nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.

The agency has conducted numerous inspections of Iran's nuclear facilities, but has never found any evidence of diversion in Tehran's civilian nuclear program.

Russia activates military radar facility

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/212829.html

Russia has officially activated an early warning military radar facility in response to a planned US missile system in Europe.

On Tuesday, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev inaugurated the facility in the western exclave of Kaliningrad, the Associated Press reported.

"I hope that our partners will perceive this move as the first signal of our country's readiness to respond in kind to the threats, which the missile defense system poses for our forces," Medvedev said, referring to US missile system in Europe.

Medvedev added that in case a cooperation agreement was made, the massive radar could be integrated in a joint NATO-Russia missile shield.

The opening of the radar facility comes days ahead of parliamentary elections.

Earlier, Russia threatened to block NATO's routes to Afghanistan, if the Western military alliance continued to disregard Moscow's concerns regarding the US-led missile shield for Europe.

The US and NATO have also refused to sign a written guarantee requested by Russia, claiming their system does not target Moscow.

The Russian government has long opposed NATO's disputed plan of deploying an anti-missile shield in Europe, arguing that the would-be system in its "backyard” is not to secure Washington's European allies, but is effectively aimed at Russia.

NATO claims that the anti-missile shield is planned to thwart possible attacks from 'rogue' states, and it will go ahead with the plan despite Russia's concerns.

West must end Syria threats: Russia

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/212798.html

The Russian foreign minister has called on the US and the European Union to put an end to their threats against Syria, urging Washington and the European bloc to exercise diplomacy on Damascus.

“Right now, the most important thing is to stop acting by means of ultimatums and try to move toward political dialogue,” AFP quoted Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as saying on Tuesday.

He further criticized a proposal by the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to impose a complete arms embargo on Syria.

On Monday, the UNHRC accused Syria of committing crimes against humanity and called for an arms embargo against the Middle Eastern country.

In addition, the Arab League on Sunday approved unprecedented sanctions against Syria.

The sanctions include cutting transactions with the Syrian Central Bank and an embargo on the investments for projects in Syria.

“We are going to view another embargo, this one against Syria, based on the experience that we gained from the Libyan example,” Lavrov said.

Syria has been experiencing unrest since mid-March, with demonstrations being held both in favor of and against President Bashar al-Assad. Hundreds of people, including members of the security forces, have been killed in the turmoil.

Damascus blames “outlaws, saboteurs and armed terrorist groups” for the unrest, saying that it is being orchestrated from abroad.

President Assad has warned against any foreign attack against Syria, saying the military action will cause instability in the whole Middle East.

Russia threatens to block NATO routes

Trucks carrying NATO supplies to US-led forces in Afghanistan (file photo)

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/212755.html

Russia has threatened to block NATO's supply routes to Afghanistan, should the Western military alliance continue to disregard Moscow's concerns about the US-led defense shield for Europe, a report says.

Russian Ambassador to NATO Dmitri Rogozin warned that Moscow will review its cooperation with the Western military alliance on Afghanistan if the NATO fails to address Russia's objections, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.

Earlier on Thursday, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev warned that direct actions will be taken if his country's concerns are not addressed.

Medvedev envisioned possible missile attacks on Poland, Romania, Spain, and Turkey as a means to disable the counter-missile batteries, if the United States fails to acknowledge the concerns of the Russian defense officials.

He also warned that the country will deploy nuclear weapons to European borders in response to the move.

Russia's threats to suspend the NATO supply lines to Afghanistan coincides with a similar punitive measure taken by Pakistan on Saturday in retaliation to the US-led alliance's recent airstrikes on Pakistani military forces, which killed 24 soldiers.

NATO started using safer routes in Russia to deliver its supplies to its forces since Washington and Moscow reset diplomatic relations in 2009.

The Russian government has long opposed the NATO's disputed plan of deploying an anti-missile shield in Europe, arguing that the would-be system in its "backyard” is not to secure Washington's European allies, but is effectively aimed at Russia.

NATO claims that the anti-missile shield is planned to thwart possible attacks from 'rogue' states, and it will go ahead with the plan despite Russia's concerns.

Russia will hit US missile sites if no deal

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev (L) and President Vladimir Putin

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/211689.html

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev says Russia will target US missile defense sites in Europe if Washington goes ahead with the planned shield despite Moscow's concerns.

Medvedev said on Wednesday that he will deploy strike systems in the west and south of Russia, and deploy Iskander missiles in the Kaliningrad region in order to counter the risk posed by the European missile defense system, Russia Today reported.

“By my order the Defense Ministry will run in a warning system radar station in Kaliningrad without delay,” the Russian president said.

“In the event of unfavorable developments (in regards to European missile defense), Russia reserves the right to halt further steps in the disarmament sphere and, respectively, weapons control,” Medvedev said.

He added, “Besides, given the inseparable interconnection between the strategic offensive and defensive weapons, grounds may appear for our country's withdrawal from the START treaty.”

The new START treaty, signed by Russian President Medvedev and US President Barack Obama in the Czech capital of Prague in April 2010, replaced START 1, which expired in December 2009.

New START went into force on February 5, 2011. The arms reduction pact would limit Washington and Moscow to a maximum of 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads each.

Russia fears that the plans for missile shields in Europe, including in Romania and Poland, would undermine its nuclear deterrence, and thus has been seeking legally binding guarantees to check it.

During a meeting in Lisbon in late November 2010, Russia agreed to cooperate with NATO on the US-backed pan-European missile system.

Russia's agreement with NATO, however, raised eyebrows as Moscow had traditionally been fiercely opposed to the missile system.

Moscow has called for the shared control of the system but Washington refuses to share the responsibility for protecting NATO member-states with a third party.

US, Germany slam Khodorkovsky verdict

Khodorkovsky, the former head of the Yukos oil company, is accused of stealing billions of dollars worth of oil from their oil company between 1998 and 2003

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/157508.html

The US and Germany have criticized Moscow over a second guilty verdict against the jailed Russian former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky.

Khodorkovsky and his business partner Platon Lebedev were charged with embezzlement and laundering of stolen property at a Moscow district court on Monday.

The United States was quick to express its "deep concern" about the verdict.

"The apparent selective application of the law to these individuals undermines Russia's reputation as a country committed to deepening the rule of law," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said.

Meanwhile, German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said he was "very worried" by the "extremely dubious" trial.

"The trial … is a step backward on the road toward modernization of the country," Westerwelle said in a statement.

So far, the European Union has refrained from denouncing the verdict.

Political commentator, Peter Lavelle, told Press TV that Khodorkovsky is "a criminal at a vast scale" and compared the tycoon to US financier Bernard Maydoff, who was sentenced to a 150 years in prison for large-scale fraud.

Khodorkovsky, the former head of the Yukos oil company, and his business partner Lebedev are accused of stealing over 23 billion dollars worth of oil from their oil company between 1998 and 2003.

Both Khodorkovsky and Lebedev maintained their innocence and claimed the charges against them were politically motivated.

The trial, which began in March 2009, was the second for the two men. During a 2005 hearing, both Khodorkovsky and Lebedev were sentenced to eight years behind bars for tax evasion.

The new verdict is likely to keep Khodorkovsky and Lebedev in prison for several more years, but the announcement of the final verdict may take some days.

As the judge inside the court delivered the guilty verdict, hundreds of supporters outside the court building were chanting "freedom" and "shame."

Among those who gathered were public figures, opposition and rights activists.

They believe that the Kremlin wants Khodorkovsky behind bars for as long as possible because he financed the opposition when Vladimir Putin was the country's president.

Days ahead of the verdict, Putin -- who is now Russia's prime minister -- referred to the former oil tycoon as "a thief" who "belongs in prison."

Since the Russian premier has hinted that he may return to presidency in 2012, observers believe Khodorkovsky is likely to stay behind bars until then.

However, many in Russia have no sympathy for the former billionaire.

US concerned over Putin visit to Venezuela

Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=122213§ionid=351020704


On the eve of the Russian prime minister's visit to Venezuela, the US has preemptively blasted any prospective arms deals between the two sovereign states.

Vladimir Putin is due to arrive in Caracas on Friday for extensive trade and political talks with left-wing Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

Russian media earlier reported that among other topics, discussions will focus on a reputed $2.2 billion loan from Moscow to Caracas for the purchase of Russian arms.

Venezuela is said to be interested in purchasing a range of Russian weapons, including 92 T-72 main battle tanks and an unspecified number of Smerch multiple rocket launchers, reported Russia's RIA Novosti news agency.

The prospect of such trade in Venezuela, which the US considers its “backyard”, under the “Monroe Doctrine”, has raised heckles in the US.

Speaking earlier today, Acting Deputy Spokesman for the US Department of State Mark Toner said, "I think we've voiced our concerns … about Venezuela's need for these kinds of defense systems."

"Beyond that, Venezuela, Bolivia, any country, is entitled to pursue its own bilateral relationship with any other country, clearly," he continued.

Since 2005, Venezuela has bought $4 billion worth of Russian defense equipment, including warplanes, Kalashnikov rifles and 36 Mi-17 Hip helicopters. During his visit, Putin will oversee the handover of the final four of these helicopters.

With some 30 percent of the total international arms sales, the US remains by far the biggest exporter of weapons in the world, according to a 2010 report by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.\

Putin clarifies Iran nuclear plant launch date

Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=121137§ionid=351020104


Russia has announced that it plans to start up Iran's long-delayed 1,000 megawatt Bushehr nuclear plant “this summer.”

"The start-up of the first reactor of the Bushehr atomic power station is planned for this summer," Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Thursday.

The construction of the Bushehr plant started in 1975 when Germany signed a contract to build a nuclear plant in Bushehr. Berlin, however, pulled out of the project following the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Iran then reached an agreement with Russia in 1995. Under the deal, the plant was originally scheduled to be completed in 1999 but completion of the $1 billion project has been frequently delayed.

Putin's remarks come two days after Russian Energy Minster Sergei Shmatko said "technical reasons" are the only obstacles in the way of the long awaited launch of the Bushehr power plant.

Putin noted that Moscow will “continue work on developing atomic energy capacity both at home and abroad.”

The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran also announced earlier in March that the Bushehr nuclear plant will come on stream by June this year.

Russia must boost space defenses: Putin

Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=118850§ionid=351020602


Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin says Moscow must improve its space defenses and modernize its nuclear arsenal by 2020.

"In accordance with the plan for the development and reconfiguration of the armed forces, special attention, of course, will be paid to nuclear deterrent forces, space and air defenses," he said.

He added that the Kremlin would finance the plans but guard against "ineffective expenses."

Putin made the remarks late Tuesday at a meeting devoted to implementing an ambitious Kremlin plan to rearm Russia's military between 2011 and 2020, a statement on the government's website said.

Putin also said the military should have high-tech communications equipment and that Russia should finish building a fifth-generation fighter jet.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has also spoken of the necessity of modernized military forces.

In a televised interview last December, Medvedev said the country's military hardware was obsolete and would be modernized within the next 10 years.

Military reform was fueled by Russia's brief conflict with Georgia in August 2008, which was sparked Tbilisi's attack on independence-seeking Republic of South Ossetia.

Georgian Troops Move to Retake Rebel Province

Article by: the Associated Press

Tbilisi, Georgia - Russian troops moved into South Ossetia hours after Prime Minister Vladimir Putin warned Georgia that its attack on the breakaway region would draw retaliation, Russian television reported Friday.

The Russian move comes after Georgian troops launched a major military offensive earlier Friday to regain control over South Ossetia and the president accused Russia, which has close ties to the separatists, of bombing Georgian territory.

The fighting in South Ossetia has raised fears of an all-out war that could draw in Russia, which has peacekeepers in the region. Putin said an unspecified number of the peacekeepers have been wounded.

Russia's Channel 1 television showed a convoy of Russian tanks which it said entered South Ossetia. The tanks were reportedly expected to reach the provincial capital, Tskhinvali, in a few hours.

There was no immediate comment from Georgian officials.
Putin had earlier said the Georgian attack will draw retaliation and the Defense Ministry pledged to protect South Ossetians, most of whom have Russian citizenship.
An Associated Press reporter saw tanks and other heavy weapons concentrating on the Russian side of the border with South Ossetia and villagers were fleeing into Russia.

"I saw them (the Georgians) shelling my village," said Maria, who gave only her first name. She looked shocked and was reluctant to speak. She said she and other villagers spent the night in a field and then fled toward the Russian border as the fighting escalated.

NATO has called for an immediate end to fighting. NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said he is seriously concerned about the fighting and that the alliance is closely following the situation.

Separatist officials in South Ossetia said 15 civilians had been killed in fighting overnight. Georgian officials said seven civilians were wounded in bombing raids by Russia.

South Ossetia officials said Georgia attacked with aircraft, armor and heavy artillery. Georgian troops fired missiles at the regional capital, Tskhinvali, an official said, and many buildings were on fire. The Russian news agency Interfax said a hospital was hit by Georgian shelling.

Full Mobilization

Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili said Russian aircraft bombed several Georgian villages and other civilian facilities.
"A full-scale aggression has been launched against Georgia," Saakashvili said in a televised statement.
He also announced a full military mobilization with reservists being called into action.

Seven civilians were wounded when three Russian Su-24 jet bombers flew into Georgia and bombed the town of Gori and the villages of Kareli and Variani, Deputy Interior Minister Eka Sguladze said at a briefing.

She said four Russian jets later bombed Gori, the hometown of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin, but that raid didn't cause any casualties.

Saakashvili urged Russia to immediately stop bombing Georgian territory. "Georgia will not yield its territory or renounce its freedom," he said.
A senior Russian diplomat in charge of the South Ossetian conflict, Yuri Popov, dismissed the Georgian claims of Russian bombings as "disinformation," the RIA-Novosti news agency reported.

Moscow Denounces 'Dirty Adventure'

Russia's Defense Ministry denounced the Georgian attack as a "dirty adventure." "Blood shed in South Ossetia will weigh on their conscience," the ministry said in a statement posted on its Web site.
"We will protect our peacekeepers and Russian citizens," it said without elaboration.

Georgia, which borders the Black Sea between Turkey and Russia, was ruled by Moscow for most of the two centuries preceding the breakup of the Soviet Union. The country has angered Russia by seeking NATO membership - a bid Moscow regards as part of a Western effort to weaken its influence in the region.

Saakashvili long has pledged to restore Tbilisi's rule over South Ossetia and another breakaway province, Abkhazia. Both regions have run their own affairs without international recognition since splitting from Georgia in the early 1990s and built up ties with Moscow.

Most residents of South Ossetia and Abkhazia have Russian passports. An open war could prompt Russian to send in more forces under the claim of protecting its citizens.

Putin Warns of 'Retaliatory Actions'

Putin, speaking in televised remarks Friday during his trip to the opening of the Beijing Olympics, said Georgia's military action causes "grave concern and it will certainly lead to retaliatory actions."

Saakashvili said government troops have seized the outskirts of Tskhinvali and are fighting for control of the center. Georgian forces also have seized several villages around the capital.

Gen. Mamuka Kurashvili, a Georgian military officer in charge of operations in the region, said on Rustavi 2 television that Georgian forces were moving to "establish constitutional order in the region."

The leader of Russia's province of North Ossetia rushed to Tskhinvali. "We are jointly organizing defenses here," Teimuraz Mamsurov said in the city, according to the Interfax news agency.

Mamsurov said hundreds of volunteers from North Ossetia were streaming across the border into South Ossetia, Interfax said. It also quoted the separatist leader of Abkhazia as saying that some 1,000 volunteers from his region were heading to South Ossetia.

Georgian State Minister for Reintegration Temur Yakobashvili said Georgian officials were doing everything they could to avoid casualties and the destruction of property.

But Boris Chochiyev, a minister in the South Ossetian government, said that Georgian troops shelled the center of Tskhinvali with truck-launched missiles. He asked the Russian government to defend South Ossetians.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Boris Malakhov called on Tbilisi to commit itself to peaceful resolution of the conflict.
Yakobashvili said Friday that Georgia was ready to negotiate, but claimed the South Ossetian officials were dragging their feet in starting talks.

At the request of Russia, the U.N. Security Council held an emergency session in New York but failed to reach consensus early Friday on a Russian-drafted statement.
The council concluded it was at a stalemate after the United States Britain and some other members backed the Georgians in rejecting a phrase in the three-sentence draft statement that would have required both sides "to renounce the use of force," council diplomats said.

"We think that this is a very serious error of judgment and political blunder," Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said of the council members' disagreement. "I hope that the Georgian side will reconsider its reckless actions in the area of the Georgia-South Ossetia conflict."

The Georgian attack came just hours after Saakashvili announced a unilateral cease-fire in a television broadcast late Thursday in which he also urged South Ossetian separatist leaders to enter talks on resolving the conflict.
Georgian officials later blamed South Ossetian separatists for thwarting the cease-fire by shelling Georgian villages in the area.

Worst Fighting Since 1992

The fighting was the worst outburst of hostilities in the region since it won a de-facto independence in a war that ended in 1992.
Russia has soldiers in South Ossetia as peacekeeping forces, but Georgia alleges they back the separatists. Russia also was criticized by the West as provoking tensions by sending warplanes over South Ossetia last month.

Most of South Ossetia, which is roughly 1.5 times the size of Luxembourg, has been under the control of an internationally unrecognized separatist government since 1992. Georgian forces hold several swaths of it.

Relations between Georgia and Russia worsened notably this year as Georgia pushed to join NATO and Russia dispatched additional peacekeeper forces to Abkhazia.