Rise of Russia(?)

[thethinker]

http://news.yahoo.com/kicking-russia-g8-now-g7-214800555.html

After Kicking Out Russia, the G8 Is Now The G7

This year's G8 summit won't be in Sochi, Russia as planned. And it won't include Russia at all, after the seven other world leaders in the group of industrialized nations decided to give Russia the boot. The seven leaders met at the behest of President Obama, and instead of Sochi, the now G7's summer meeting will happen in Brussels.

In a statement, the G7 explained their reasoning. Surprise! It has to do with Russia's annexation of Crimea.

The response given by these Russian guys to the G8 exclusion :

Meanwhile, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has already suggested that Russia was kind of over the G8 anyway: "If our Western partners believe the format has exhausted itself, we don't cling to this format. We don't believe it will be a big problem if it doesn't convene," he told Reuters. Lavrov added, "The G8 is an informal club. No one hands out membership cards and no one can be kicked out of it."

 

[happy]

http://news.yahoo.com/kicking-russia-g8-now-g7-214800555.html

After Kicking Out Russia, the G8 Is Now The G7

This year's G8 summit won't be in Sochi, Russia as planned. And it won't include Russia at all, after the seven other world leaders in the group of industrialized nations decided to give Russia the boot. The seven leaders met at the behest of President Obama, and instead of Sochi, the now G7's summer meeting will happen in Brussels.

In a statement, the G7 explained their reasoning. Surprise! It has to do with Russia's annexation of Crimea.

The response given by these Russian guys to the G8 exclusion :

Meanwhile, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has already suggested that Russia was kind of over the G8 anyway: "If our Western partners believe the format has exhausted itself, we don't cling to this format. We don't believe it will be a big problem if it doesn't convene," he told Reuters. Lavrov added, "The G8 is an informal club. No one hands out membership cards and no one can be kicked out of it."

Finally it will become only G3 with america, uk and canada as the members !!

 

[thethinker]

Pre sanctions article but still interesting nonetheless.

$71M: Russia Triples Price to Fly U.S. Astronauts to Space Station | CNS News

$71M: Russia Triples Price to Fly U.S. Astronauts to Space Station

(CNSNews.com) – Russia will charge the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) $71 million to transport just one American astronaut to the International Space Station (ISS) aboard its Soyuz spacecraft in 2016.

That's more than triple the $22 million per seat the Russians charged in 2006, according to a July 8 audit report by NASA's inspector general.

But NASA has little choice but to pay Russia's inflated ticket prices. Ever since August 2011, when the U.S. space agency mothballed its 30-year-old space shuttle program, NASA has had no way of getting American astronauts to the space station. The Russian Soyuz is now "the only vehicle capable of transporting crew to the ISS," the IG report noted.

Payin' Putin: As Ukraine crisis simmers, NASA to pay Russia $71M for rocket ride | Fox News



'If NASA had received the President's requested funding, we would not have been forced to sign a new contract for Soyuz flights.'
- NASA administrator Charles Bolden

 

[W.G.Ewald]

I would credit Putin for Russian growth & agressive posture , If you give Russia to Manmohan singh or Sonia gandhi or AK antony or Chindambaram to govern will they take russia to super power status?? noooooooooooo If the leader is firm & agressive on foreign policy then country will prosper both militarily or economically:thumb:

Is it too obvious to state that India is not Russia and never will be except in the dreams of a few fanboys here? India must have its own very different foreign policy, military, and economic goals. [No emoticons needed or used in those statements.]

DFI posters who worship Putin just need a daddy figure in their lives, I believe. Their misplaced adoration of Russia (post #18) does nothing for their own country. Honestly, it is just embarrassing to see.

 

[Pratap]

Is it too obvious to state that India is not Russia and never will be except in the dreams of a few fanboys here? India must have its own very different foreign policy, military, and economic goals. [No emoticons needed or used in those statements.]

DFI posters who worship Putin just need a daddy figure in their lives, I believe. Their misplaced adoration of Russia (post #18) does nothing for their own country. Honestly, it is just embarrassing to see.

Agreed. We can become great on our own but some sort of stupidity leads Indians towards Russophilia( in old days in 70s, Indians were enchanted with Russian literature also). Indians need an Indian leader not FD Roosevelt and certainly not Putin.

In lighter vein, Indians are more genetically related to Russians( east europeans in general) than to other " whites".

 

[ubuntu]

Is it too obvious to state that India is not Russia and never will be except in the dreams of a few fanboys here? India must have its own very different foreign policy, military, and economic goals. [No emoticons needed or used in those statements.]

DFI posters who worship Putin just need a daddy figure in their lives, I believe. Their misplaced adoration of Russia (post #18) does nothing for their own country. Honestly, it is just embarrassing to see.

You are misunderstanding mutual respect to mutual partnership.

 

[alphacentury]

Is it too obvious to state that India is not Russia and never will be except in the dreams of a few fanboys here? India must have its own very different foreign policy, military, and economic goals. [No emoticons needed or used in those statements.]

DFI posters who worship Putin just need a daddy figure in their lives, I believe. Their misplaced adoration of Russia (post #18) does nothing for their own country. Honestly, it is just embarrassing to see.

Fanboys you say ,huh .India is not Russia nor Russia is India ,I think everyone here is sane enough to understand that .But that doesn't mean any good work from their President wont be appreciated by us .Talking for myself (a fanboy as you put it ),its always good to see a strong leader working for his/her country and people rather than sucking some zionist di@k .And every leader of those qualities will be welcomed and appreciated irrespective of their nationality .So ,no . No one is a fanboy here except you being a little butthurt which is good to see.:thumb:

 

[ubuntu]

Fanboys you say ,huh .India is not Russia nor Russia is India ,I think everyone here is sane enough to understand that .But that doesn't mean any good work from their President wont be appreciated by us .Talking for myself (a fanboy as you put it ),its always good to see a strong leader working for his/her country and people rather than sucking some zionist di@k .And every leader of those qualities will be welcomed and appreciated irrespective of their nationality .So ,no . No one is a fanboy here except you being a little butthurt which is good to see.:thumb:

you should understand brainwashed americans they dont have any openion or choice .they watch only cnn ,bbc which is the main tool to brain wash them.

you should feel sorry for this poor guy.

 

[laughingbuddha]

I guess the russians will now speed up production of the Yasens and Boreis.

 

[W.G.Ewald]

you should understand brainwashed americans they dont have any openion or choice .they watch only cnn ,bbc which is the main tool to brain wash them.

you should feel sorry for this poor guy.

Does DFI in any way benefit from the incessant inarticulate rage exhibited by these posters?

What empty lives they must lead, to day after day vent their spleen here. Certainly they contribute nothing in terms of knowledge about the armed forces of India.

I can only conclude that anyone with responsibility in this forum has just given up and made a decision to let chaos reign. It's ironic that at this time somebody has proposed a Wiki article about DFI.

 

[ubuntu]

Does DFI in any way benefit from the incessant inarticulate rage exhibited by these posters?

What empty lives they must lead, to day after day vent their spleen here. Certainly they contribute nothing in terms of knowledge about the armed forces of India.

I can only conclude that anyone with responsibility in this forum has just given up and made a decision to let chaos reign. It's ironic that at this time somebody has proposed a Wiki article about DFI.

You are an expert in defence issues no point in that but you suck in politics.

 

[laughingbuddha]

I am glad that Russia did what it did.
Ever since the end of the cold war the west has been bullying and thrashing all and sundry into submission. What they do is humane and what everybody else does is evil.
See the results of their "liberations": Anarchy in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, the list goes on... which country is next in line to be liberated?

 

[Jagdish58]

Is it too obvious to state that India is not Russia and never will be except in the dreams of a few fanboys here? India must have its own very different foreign policy, military, and economic goals. [No emoticons needed or used in those statements.]

DFI posters who worship Putin just need a daddy figure in their lives, I believe. Their misplaced adoration of Russia (post #18) does nothing for their own country. Honestly, it is just embarrassing to see.

I can understand your frustration your big daddy obama is crying like a baby on crimea affair

whole world knows about US double standards and we don't need explanation of your :hitwall: bull shit policy please don't joke in DFI mate Eg: Narendra modi affair you refused to issue VISA earlier now you beg behind him for an interview

USA is biggest terrorist country which gave birth to Taliban & Al qaeeda , if that is the foriegn policy you are talking about then im sorry we don't need that in INDIA:thumb:

 

[thethinker]

http://news.yahoo.com/us-senate-hears-pleas-more-natural-gas-exports-200248152.html

Boo-hoo. US allies backing Russian sanctions made their bed and now time to lay in it. Certainly makes one wonder which nation actually has policies that borderline on economic terrorism, not Russia for sure!

US Senate hears pleas for more natural gas exports

WASHINGTON (AP) — Calls to increase U.S. natural gas exports to counter Russian influence across Europe grew louder Tuesday amid concerns that Russia will move deeper into Ukraine.

Lithuania's energy minister, Jaroslav Neverovic, pleaded in emotional terms for U.S. help, saying his country is "100 percent" dependent on Russia for natural gas and has to pay 30 percent higher prices for it than other countries in Europe.

"This is not just unfair, this is abuse," Neverovic told the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

Four Central European nations — Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic — made formal requests for U.S. exports as Moscow moved to annex part of Ukraine. Concerns about energy security threaten the region's residents on a daily basis, ambassadors to the four countries said in letters to House and Senate leaders."

The end- game is becoming clearer. Trying to establish US as a dominant energy exports player while taking away buyers from Russia.

"Landrieu, House Speaker John Boehner and other lawmakers have been urging the Obama administration to clear the way for more exports amid a U.S. natural gas boom driven by improved drilling techniques, including hydraulic fracturing.

The process, also known as fracking, involves pumping huge volumes of water, sand and chemicals underground to split open rocks to allow oil and gas to flow. Improved technology has allowed energy companies to gain access to huge stores of natural gas across the U.S. but also has raised widespread concerns that it could lead to groundwater contamination and even earthquakes."

 

[mattster]

If you really want to understand how most American feel about Crimea......then read the "readers' comments section" in the New York Times article below. The readers who commented on this article - almost half of them or more agree that Nato and the US pushed too hard and too far against the Russians. They tried to corner the Russians and a cornered dog will always bite back.

Here is the Link : http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/26/w...trafficking-of-nuclear-materials.html?hp&_r=0

Below I have Cut and pasted a 2 comments by 2 people - these type of comments are typical. It shows you that not everyone here is "Drinking the Kool-Aid"



But we must admit that we took advantage of Russia in 1991 when we drew the boundaries of the current state. Ukraine was never a country until we made it one. It has no historical claim to any territory -except maybe Ruthenia.

Drawing borders is an art and requires great knowledge of history to do so fairly -- people who normaly draw border have no respect for history, are not interested in history, but only in creating a political advantage for one side or the other.

NATO is a relic of the Cold War and should be disbanded or handed over to the EU, minus the US. Continual expansion of NATO is BAD for international relations. It creates conflict zones. The US and EU is using NATO as a Trojan horse to take over militarily and politically the whole of Eastern Europe, from the Baltic to the Black Sea.

Article 5 could obligate the US to defend such countries as Croatia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Romania etc. Do we really want to send US troops and money to defend those countries? Do you think the AMerica people want US blood and treasure to be lost in Slovenia? I doubt it and that is the problem with NATO - the more it adds nations, the more the US is committed to defend countries we don't care about.

We must stop NATO expansion and if the EU wants to defend Ukraine militarily they are free to do so without US help. But Ukraine should NEVER be given NATO membership.

Victor Colombia 1 hour ago
pure demagogics, Obama has always been good at writting speaches or having someone else write for him. Deniying that Russia is a Power strong enough to defend its strategic backyard, ignoring threats from so called allies that wanted to threaten her is naive. Russians stopped the nazis, they are a proud and courrageous people prone to sacrifice like no other and they are convinced, like i am convinced, that they are rigth. And they have the power to also demonstrate they are. Real politiks is Crimea is now back part of Russia and no nice speaches neither economic sanctions, neither Nato bravado will change that. Neither do I think the Russians will push westward into Ukraine, not if not necessary, not if the West does not push them. What would the United States do if a foreing powerful nation, or group of nations, stepped into its strategic backyard? watch or play diplomacy? The US would play exactly the same cards Russia is playing now. And it would do because it has the Power to and would also have the reason to.

 

[W.G.Ewald]

@mattster

If you really want to understand how most American feel about Crimea......then read the "readers' comments section" in the New York Times article below.

Correction. If you want to understand how most Americans who read The New York Times feel about Crimea & etc.

NYT readers tend to have a left-progressive point of view, as does that paper..

 

[nrupatunga]

China, Russia Sign Massive 400 billion $ Gas Supply Deal

China and Russia signed a $400-billion gas supply deal on Wednesday, securing the world's top energy user a major source of cleaner fuel and opening up a new market for Moscow as it risks losing European customers over the Ukraine crisis.

The long-awaited agreement is a political triumph for Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is courting partners in Asia as those in Europe and the United States seek to isolate him over Moscow's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea peninsula.

Commercially, much depends on the price and other terms of the contract, which has been more than a decade in the making.

China had the upper hand as talks entered the home stretch, aware of Putin's face-off with the West.

But both sides could take positives from a deal that will directly link Russia's huge gas fields to Asia's booming market for the first time - via thousands of miles of new pipeline across Siberia that form part of the package.

"This is the biggest contract in the history of the gas sector of the former USSR," said Putin, after the agreement was signed in Shanghai between state-controlled entities Gazprom and China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC).

Putin and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping applauded as they witnessed the deal being signed before the Russian leader was to leave Shanghai at the end of a two-day visit.

The agreement came in time for a major economic summit in St. Petersburg starting Thursday. About a dozen chief executives and chairmen of major U.S. and European firms have withdrawn from the forum over the Ukraine crisis.

Putin loyalist and senior parliamentarian Alexei Pushkov, who was included on a U.S. list of sanctions imposed in the wake of the crisis in Ukraine, said the gas deal showed Russia could not be isolated.

"B. Obama should abandon the policy of isolating Russia: it will not work," he tweeted, referring to U.S. President Barack Obama, who has pushed for greater Western punishment of Russia.

 

[nrupatunga]

Is Putin Really Backing Down Over Ukraine?

After months of threatening the start of Cold War 2.0, Russia's Vladimir Putin has shifted from troop movements to talk of compromise.

The change of tune has been cautiously welcomed by the West, but experts and analysts warn that the Russian president is unlikely to be backing down.
"It would be immensely foolish to act upon what Putin says," according to James Nixey, who heads the Russia and Eurasia Program at London-based think tank Chatham House. "It is a huge misreading of Vladimir Putin and everything that he stands for to think that he's backing off now and it's all over".

Analysts said that Putin's comments are less conciliatory than a change in tactics toward achieving his great ambition: Russia's re-emergence as a superpower.

"The tone has changed for a simple reason – it benefits him," Nixey said. "He doesn't do anything that doesn't benefit the Russian tactical game."

The Russian leader has "an enormous toolbox" of various instruments to get what he wants – military capabilities, cyber-warfare, corruption and diplomacy, according to Nixey.

"Putin doesn't really care which tools he uses – he just uses the ones that he thinks fit best with Russia's strategic interest," Nixey said.

Putin touched off a diplomatic crisis and tense showdown with the West by annexing Crimea and moving Russian forces to the border with Ukraine.

But earlier this week, he instructed Russia's parliament to repeal a law allowing Moscow to order a military intervention in Ukraine and expressed support for a ceasefire between the newly-installed Kiev government and pro-Russian rebels in the country's east.

Western leaders – including Secretary of State John Kerry – have stressed that words must be translated to actions.

"It is critical for Russia to show in the next hours, literally, that they're moving to help disarm the separatists, to encourage them to disarm, to call on them to lay down their weapons and to begin to become part of a legitimate process," Kerry told reporters in Paris on Thursday.

Kerry noted that possible sanctions against Russia will be discussed later in the day by European Union leaders in Belgium."We all agree that they need to be ready. But our preference is not to have to be in a sanctions mode," he added.

It would be wrong to take Putin's recent comments as a response to sanctions, according to Nixey.

"He has a goal, he has an ambition, and an election in Ukraine or some fairly weak sanctions are not making him say, 'Actually, you guys were right, you win,'" Nixey said. "It's just a cover for what he wants, which is for Ukraine to be east of an East-West dividing line. He might still use tanks if it's all going wrong."

Moscow's reasoning behind any escalation was publicly stated as ensuring the protection of Russian citizens in Ukraine, though ensuring that Kiev remains neutral and doesn't join NATO heavily figured into Putin's previously hostile approach.

"Putin's endgame is the maintenance of influence in the former Soviet Union and the establishment and security of his leadership at home, which play into each other," said Matthew Clements, who heads the Europe and CIS country analysis team at IHS. "It plays very popularly domestically to project a strong image of Russia internationally."

While Putin's recent remarks and moves confirm that Russia does not wish to become militarily involved in Ukraine, Clements said that the country's importance to Moscow as a key buffer to what it views as NATO's encroachment remains the same.

"The endgame is making sure that Ukraine remains neutral and isn't a member of NATO and that Russia still has significant influence in the country," said Clements. "It's clear from Russia's perspective now that its goal can probably be met without having military intervention."

That reflects Russia's understanding that using military force in eastern Ukraine would be politically damaging, invoke much more serious sanctions and involve Russian forces in a costly and protracted campaign, according to Nixey.

"The threat of military intervention was something that served the purpose at the time," Clements said, adding that continued instability in eastern Ukraine has only helped Putin's case. "What would be better from a Russian perspective now would be to say we're pushing for a peaceful option."

 

[nrupatunga]

Rediff uvacha

Russia dispatches naval force to reopen Arctic base:
Russia today sent six ships carrying personnel and equipment to a Soviet-era military base in the Arctic that it is reopening to bolster its presence in the region, Russian news agencies reported.

Moscow is ramping up its military presence in the pristine but energy-rich region as other countries such as Canada and Norway are also staking claims to access its resources.

President Vladimir Putin last year ordered the military to return to a base on the far-Northern New Siberian Islands that was abandoned in 1993.

Today, a fleet of six ships including two large landing ships set off from the port of Severomorsk in northern Russia, a spokesman for the Western military district, Vadim Serga, told ITAR-TASS news agency.

The ships will be accompanied by several icebreakers.

"The main task of the latest expedition by a number of Northern Fleet ships to the Arctic is to deliver staff, equipment and supplies to the taskforce that from this year will serve on the New Siberian islands on a permanent basis," said the northern fleet's commander, Admiral Vladimir Korolyov.

 

[Cadian]

A very interesting thread where you can see how Russian cities have changed in the past decade in a before/after comparison:

Yekaterinburg

Изменения в городах России: Было-Стало. - SkyscraperCity