Russia

[elle]

Gorbachev worries about the Missile plan, but he didn't care about Armenians being murdered on the streets of Sumgait, Baku, Gandzak, Shahumyan etc... Couple of years ago he was being interviewed and an Armenain called in and asked about why he didn't help the Armenians. His answer was that his father was very good friends with Azeris and that he had much respect for them.

 

My dad mentioned something about him having Turkic background...from Central Asia I think. One of his parents having the Turkish gene in the family or something.

[Ashot]

Russia’s “brute force” is ready: Moscow's NATO envoy

 

The significance of Kosovo's independence has gone beyond the diplomatic sphere - that's the message from Russia's envoy to NATO Dmitry Rogozin. In a world where the principle 'he who has the power, has the right' rules, Russia has "the brute force" necessary to protect its interests.

 

"Those states that supported Pristina find that they are making up an absolute minority. That means that today the European Union, if its members find common ground, and NATO, if it oversteps the bounds of its mandate, both will enter a conflict with the United Nations. And this is serious," he said.

 

With the authority of the United Nations undermined, there is no strict and universal international law to safeguard global security, the Russian official believes.

 

"This is not only between Russia and NATO.This is a conflict of the whole system of international security. This is not a diplomatic, but a political issue. An issue of the future, about whether there are any proprieties in interstate relations or that one can follow the policy of 'he who has the power has the right," he said.

 

In this new world Russia has to rely on force to protect itself, Rogozin believes.

 

"Then it has its own conclusions for Russia. We too would understand that we need brutal physical force to make sure we are respected, understood and that others acknowledge our right to our own point of view - and the name of that force is military force," he said.

 

Dmitry Rogozin was quick to qualify his words on the use of military force, saying it would only be used to protect direct national interests.

 

"Obviously, Russia will not take part in any kind of military operations in Kosovo, in the Balkans or outside its borders in general. Russia has enough political and moral authority to defend international law, and that's what it's doing. But when the issue touches its own national interests, its borders and attempts to repeat the Kosovo scenario on Russian territory, it will defend not only international law, but also its own sovereignty," Rogozin said.

 

Russia Today

[Ashot]

Medvedev builds bridges at CIS summit

Moscow was hosting a summit of leaders of the Commonwealth of Independent States. The favourite for the Russian presidential election, First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, has used the opportunity to build closer personal relations with the heads of nations.

 

Migration was high on the meeting’s agenda. Russia is attracting many immigrants from its neighbours and many of them work in the country illegally. Experts estimate the number of illegal guest workers coming to Russia every year to be as high as 14 million.

 

The other side of the coin is the rise of intolerance and xenophobia. Vladimir Putin, who was chairing the summit, said Russia is doing much to prevent crime and protect people coming to the country to work or as tourists.

 

Transport and economic co-operation were also brought to the table. The leaders shared their ideas on improving transportation networks.

 

Russia Today

[elle]

US hammers 'cynical Russian policy'

Sat, 23 Feb 2008 20:32:23

 

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice

The United States tears into Serbia and its ally, Russia for intensifying the recent tension over the independence of Kosovo from Serbia.

 

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice hammered the Serbian government for failing to fulfill their responsibility of shielding the US Embassy from the seething mob.

 

"They had an obligation to protect diplomatic missions, and, from what we can tell, the police presence was either inadequate or unresponsive at the time," she said.

 

"We do hold the Serb government responsible. We've made that very clear, We don't expect that to happen again," Rice said.

 

This is while Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns railed at Moscow for aggravating the Kosovo crisis with a 'cynical policy'.

 

"I think the Russians have... have pursued a fairly cynical policy. They're not in Kosovo, they're not doing anything to help the Kosovars. So they're kind of on the sidelines contributing mostly unhelpfully" claimed Burns.

 

The remarks come after Washington's support for Kosovo's independence enraged thousands of Serbs, prompting them to torch the United States embassy in Belgrade.

 

SBB/RA

 

After all this, it's Russia who's "cynical?" That's funny!

[elle]

Moscow threatens force over Kosovo

Fri, 22 Feb 2008 13:49:35

 

 

Russian envoy to NATO Dmitry Rogozin

Formal recognition of Kosovo as an independent state by the EU or NATO obligates Moscow to resort to 'brute force,' Russia's envoy to NATO says.

 

In a video link-up from Brussels Dmitry Rogozin said, "if the European Union works out a common position, or if NATO breaches its mandate in Kosovo, these organizations will be in conflict with the United Nations," Interfax news agency reported.

 

"We too will have to proceed from the view that in order to be respected we must use brute force, in other words armed force."

 

Russia, a permanent member of the UN Security Council, has been vehemently opposing Kosovo's independence, backing Serbia, and reflecting Moscow's close ties with the leadership in Belgrade.

 

Rogozin also cited unconfirmed reports that NATO troops were blocking the border between Kosovo and Serbia and not allowing Serb officials into Kosovo.

 

"This is not what we agreed. If this information is confirmed, then here in Brussels there will be some tough talking with our partners, and there could be quite a dramatic development in relations between Russia and NATO," RIA Novosti quoted Rogozin as saying.

 

The Russian envoy highlighted that 'under no circumstances' should NATO get involved in politics and that "It must remain neutral.''

 

So far, over a dozen nations have recognized Kosovo's declaration of independence from Serbia, including the United States, Britain, France and Germany, while Russia, China, Spain and others, have rejected the unilateral declaration.

 

MRD/PA/MRS/MMN

 

 

[elle]

Russia, Turkey seek broader ties

Mon, 18 Feb 2008 22:16:08

 

Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said that Moscow is seeking to establish a comprehensive partnership with Turkey.

 

Lavrov made the statement in an interview with Turkey's CNN-Turk and NTV channels in the run-up to an official visit to Russia by Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan on February 19-20.

 

"Cooperation in the Black Sea area, marine and surface transport was prioritized between the two countries," Lavrov added.

 

Turkish building companies were seeking to join the construction of infrastructure for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, a Russian Black Sea resort, he said.

 

Meanwhile, the minister said officials of the two countries hold regular meetings to discuss regional and international issues, including developments in Iraq and negotiations to reunite Cyprus

 

HSH/FH/RA

 

 

[Ashot]

Reunite Cyprus - hahaha, just another bait!!!

[elle]

Reunite Cyprus - hahaha, just another bait!!!

 

"Reunite Cyprus" uzuma asi vor turkerin tshen endexits te vonts? Chaskatsa Lavorvi mitk@ "reunite Cyprus" aselov. Uzuma asi vor miatsnen Cyprus@ vorpes Greek island norits?

[Ashot]

No Elle jan, inchqanov teghekutsyunner kan, Cypros@ uzuma arandznanan Furkiaits...

[RussianArmenian]

I do not know, whether you know this information or not: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has the Armenian origin. His father was an Armenian from Tbilisi.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergey_Lavrov

[Ashot]

yes we did bro, but thanks for posting it again!!!

[elle]

I do not know, whether you know this information or not: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has the Armenian origin. His father was an Armenian from Tbilisi.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergey_Lavrov

 

 

Yeah, I posted it before. Doesn't really matter much, since he's not really doing anything to resolve the Artsax situation.

[AVO]

well the Ukrainian PM is also half Armenian. Whats her name again?

[elle]

well the Ukrainian PM is also half Armenian. Whats her name again?

 

 

It's Yulia Timoshenko, but she's not! Her dad's last name is Grigyan, which made everyone think that she's half Armenian, but she said that she's not Armenian and that her dad is either Lithuanian or Latvian...from one of the Baltic states. She cleared the rumors a while ago.

I heard that there are few Baltic last names that do end in -yan/-ian, but they have nothing to do with Armenians!

[Eurocentric]

It's Yulia Timoshenko, but she's not! Her dad's last name is Grigyan, which made everyone think that she's half Armenian, but she said that she's not Armenian and that her dad is either Lithuanian or Latvian...from one of the Baltic states. She cleared the rumors a while ago.

I heard that there are few Baltic last names that do end in -yan/-ian, but they have nothing to do with Armenians!

 

Like Hanz Guderian, who was Prussian.

[elle]

Like Hanz Guderian, who was Prussian.

 

I know! Or just like Hakobian, which is French!

 

 

OK I'm joking now

[AVO]

They are all hidden Armenians. They just don't know it yet.

[Ashot]

Ya Avo jan they just need to get on the internet more to find out!!

[Ashot]

Whopping lead for Medvedev

 

A new era in Russia is set to begin, with 42-year-old Dmitry Medvedev almost certain to become the country`s next president. The Central Election Commission says he`s gained 70.2% of votes, while his closest rival, Communist Gennady Zyuganov, has just 17.8%. In all, 98% of votes have been counted.

 

Liberal Democrat Vladimir Zhirinovsky is in third with 9.4% and Democratic Party leader Andrey Bogdanov has 1.3%.

 

Official preliminary results will be released at 10am Moscow time (7am GMT).

 

The final results will be announced on March 7 and two months after that, on May 7, the next Russian president will be sworn in.

 

Vladimir Putin congratulated Dmitry Medvedev on his clear lead when the two appeared onstage at a live concert by the Kremlin walls in central Moscow.

 

The 42-year-old Medvedev thanked voters.

 

“It is a special day. And despite the bad weather it is a special day in the life of our country. We are choosing our way for many years. And we have a chance to continue develop as we have been doing in the recent years, make our country more stable, improve the quality of life, move forward using the plan that we’ve been using all these years. I’m completely sure that we must choose this path - and we’ve got all the opportunities we need. And today’s election - in which you have taken part - and I want to thank everyone who has voted for me!” he said.

 

Russia Today

[Ashot]

Medvedev will cause investment surge: analysts

With Dmitry Medvedev’s win in the presidential election investors have got what they crave – stability and a clear direction. Analysts are now predicting an investment surge in Russia.

 

“Our international investors and stock markets will have a positive reaction to the news. For them this is good, because Russia will continue on the same course of economic reforms which it has followed in the last eight years,” said Kostin

 

Putin's presidency co-incided with massive economic growth. Business has flourished and average wages have soared.

 

Medvedev’s election and his closeness to Putin, who’ll become prime minister, is re-assuring for business.

 

But, despite the views of some western commentators, Medvedev will set his own course. He’s already identified the need to diversify the economy away from oil and gas.

 

“Over the next four years, we should focus on the four main directions, the so-called “four i’s” - institutes, infrastructure, innovation and investment,” Dmitry Medvedev stressed.

 

For the moment though, Russia's growth remains dependent on oil, which for the time being is okay. Prices continue to soar, as the credit squeeze wreaks havoc on financial markets. And metals prices are also on the rise, which again is good for Russia.

 

Analysts say Medvedev’s election will be the catalyst for an investment surge in Russia.

 

“It all comes together for the Russian investment case. People really want to invest in Russian stocks. What I think they're waiting for is some kind of catalyst to open new positions,” believes Erik Depoy, Strategist at Alfa-Bank.

 

Russia Today

[Ashot]

Medvedev sweeps to victory

 

Russia’s youngest leader for more than 100 years will rule from May 7, after Dmitry Medvedev’s stunning victory in the presidential election. The 42-year-old gained 70.2% of the vote, handing him a mandate to continue the stability of the Putin years while diversifying Russia’s economy.

 

Medvedev also signalled he would work in tandem with Vladimir Putin, who will become Prime Minister.

 

His closest contender, Gennady Zyuganov of the Communist party, is left far behind with less than 18 %. The leader of the Liberal-Democratic Party Vladimir Zhirinovsky is on 9 %, and independent candidate Andrey Bogdanov brings up the rear, taking little more than 1%.

 

The final results will be announced on March 7.

 

More than 69% of eligible voters turned out on Sunday. Some 52 million people gave their support to Medvedev, which is the highest in Russia's recent history for a head of state.

 

The country has got the man it wanted, as did the incumbent President, who was among first to congratulate Dmitry Medvedev.

 

Was the election democratic?

 

Medvedev's victory was predictable. Many in the Western media had portrayed Russia's presidential election as nothing but a farce.

 

However, that was not a view shared by most of the international observers invited to monitor the vote.

 

A monitor from Slovakia, Anna Belousovova said “there were some critics who didn’t even bother to get themselves familiar with the way the election system works here”.

 

“They started saying straightaway that the election was undemocratic. But I think that the citizens of Russia stopped the mouths of those critics with their high turnout. The main attribute of a democratic country is that all decisions are made by the people. Politicians and everybody else should respect the choice of people,” she said.

 

European Parliament Member Bernard Perego confirmed the election met international standards.

 

“After we discussed what we saw, we came to the conclusion that the election was excellent in the way it was organised and that it met Western standards,” Perego said.

 

The monitors from the Council of Europe were not so enthusiastic, saying that although the results reflected the will of the people, the election was not entirely democratic.

 

“This election repeats most of the flaws revealed during the parliamentary election in December 2007. None of the concerns of the pre-election mission were dealt with ahead of the March 2 vote. Candidate registration concerns couldn’t have been accommodated, putting into question the degree of how free the election was,” Andreas Gross, the head of PACE observation team, said.

 

As for Europe's principal election watchdog from the OSCE, it didn't even attend. In a similar vein to the rows over the parliamentary election last year and the presidential vote in 2004, it complained of excessive restrictions and refused to come.

 

Russia Today

[Ashot]

Who is Dmitry Medvedev?

 

According to preliminary presidential election results, Dmitry Medvedev has more than 70% of the votes. He may be relatively new to some foreigners, but his name is well known to Russians and world business leaders. The international community, including the U.S. and the EU, have shown their willingness to co-operate with him.

 

The 42-year-old has had a meteoric rise from a council estate in St. Petersburg to the Kremlin. On the way, he’s lectured in law, learnt English, married his childhood sweetheart and been First Deputy Prime Minister. But perhaps it’s his love of hard rock bands like Deep Purple which most intrigues foreigners.

 

Dmitry Medvedev's Bio

 

Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev was born on 14 September, 1965 in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg).

 

His father, Anatoly Afanasievich Medvedev, was a professor at the Leningrad Technological Institute (he died in 2004). His mother, Yulia Veniaminovna was a philologist, lectured at the Leningrad Pedagogical Institute and then worked as a museum guide. He was the only child in the family, who lived on the Kupchino council estate, a suburb of Leningrad.

 

In 1987 Dmitry Medvedev graduated from the Law faculty of Leningrad State University. In 1990 he completed post-graduate study at the same university gaining a PhD in law. The theme of his PhD thesis was “Problems of realisation of civil juridical personality of state enterprise”.

 

From 1987-1990, simultaneously with his post-graduate study, he worked as an assistant lecturer of civil law at Leningrad State University.

 

In spring 1989 he took part in the election campaign of Anatoly Sobchak to the Chamber of People’s Deputies of the USSR.

 

From 1990 to 1999 Medvedev was an associate professor of civil law at the law faculty of Leningrad State University (later – St. Petersburg State University). His first taste of an administrative job was from June 1990 to January 1991, when he was one of the deputies of St. Petersburg City Council chairman Anatoly Sobtchak.

 

On November 9, 1999 Medvedev was appointed Deputy Head of Government Administration (under the head Dmitry Kozak). However he was dismissed as soon as January 11, 2000, due to his appointment as Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration on December 31, 1999 by caretaker President Vladimir Putin (under the head Aleksandr Voloshin).

 

On February 15, 2000 Medvedev interrupted his work in the Presidential Administration to manage Putin’s election campaign. He resumed it on June 3, 2000 as First Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration.

 

On June 30, 2000 during a yearly meeting of JSC Gazprom board of directors, Medvedev was elected Chairman of the

Board. From October 30, 2003 he headed the Presidential Administration.

 

In April 2004 Medvedev was appointed a member of Russia’s Security Council.

 

On November 14, 2005 Dmitry Medvedev was appointed First Deputy Prime Minister and gave up the job of the Head of Presidential Staff.

 

After that President Putin put Medvedev in charge of national priority projects. Their key goal was investing in Russia's human capital by boosting the sectors that determine the quality of life in the country, namely education, public healthcare, housing and agriculture.

 

Dmitry Medvedev is a well-known for his scientific publications in the area of transport law, juridical personality of legal bodies and legal regulation in credit relations. He is also co-author of the university text-book on civil law, three volumes of which were published by Leningrad State University between 1991 and 2001. The book later received a government award in education.

 

During his student years Medvedev was a hard-rock fan with Black Sabbath, Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin his favourite bands. He still collects vinyl records and recently was pictured with Deep Purple during their visit to Moscow.

 

He also took an interest in photography and enjoyed sports. He participated in rowing and weight-lifting competitions at University and won several of them.

 

Dmitry Medvedev is married with a son, Ilya, who was born in 1996. He met his future wife Svetlana at school and they were married in 1989.

 

Svetlana Medvedev (maiden name - Linnik) graduated from the financial and economic institute. She now works in Moscow and organises social events in her home town, St. Petersburg.

 

Russia Today

[Ashot]

New president to face serious economic issues: experts

 

Dmitry Medvedev’s landslide victory takes place amid record high oil prices, a rise in Russian consumer spending and an inflow of foreign capital. Meanwhile, economists warn he faces some tough challenges over the next four years.

 

Sergey Guriev of New Economic School says Putin’s successor won’t have an easy time maintaining Russia’s current economic growth.

 

"Russia is much richer than 10 years ago, and that’s an achievement of Mr Putin. But it also means that Russia needs to change the growth model from the centralised to more decentralised and innovative. That’s a huge challenge,” Guriev said.

 

Diversifying the economy will be the key to Medvedev’s success as a leader, says Chris Weafer of Uralsib. “Now the clock is ticking very loudly and they really need to get on with starting to more effectively diversify the economy,” he said.

 

Russia's economy has entered the period of the global financial crisis in a relatively good shape. But that doesn’t mean Medvedev can breathe a sigh of relief.

 

Economists stress he’ll also have to weed out widespread corruption and tackle social inequality if Russia is to become a true global leader during his reign.

 

Russia Today

[Arpa]

There is abig buzz about Medvedev's Jewishness. It is all over the net.

I had a feeling as soon as I heard about his candidacy. One letter writer says that he is married to Levon's wive's sister.

He denies it and professes to have been babtized as Russian Orthodox.

Not that it really matters. What is the truth?

[Ashot]

Arpa jan, I have stopped listening to the media and all the conspiracies that flood the net and the television networks... Personally this is what I think - LTP is Armenian, Medvedev is Russian, Bush is American, Serzh is Armenian, and I am Armenian... So what that I have a Jew in my ancestry, does that make me a Jew? I don't think so... even if I marry a Jew still doesn't make me a Jew... So Arpa jan, I strongly suggest you believe whatever you want to believe, who cares what the media says, they will say anything and everything to make their money, make a great confusion between people and they love add more lines into the story... what I mean is - they get a short story, make up a longer version to it, and print it!!! Just like many members we know in the forum, who love to get a small story, make a big fuss out of it, and post it in!!!