Medvedev: U.S. aggravating Eastern Europe
Russia will be forced to appropriately respond if the U.S. aggravates Eastern Europe by deploying its controversial missile defence system, President Dmitry Medvedev has told Russian diplomats. Medvedev has called for a truly open security system in the Euro-Atlantic zone. "The deployment of elements of the U.S. global missile defence system in Eastern Europe is only aggravating the situation. We will have to respond appropriately and our American and European partners have already been warned," Medvedev said.
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AFP photo / Pool / Alexander ZemlianichenkoMedvedev stressed both Russia and the U.S. share responsibility for preserving strategic stability.
“It’s clear our common legacy cannot be kept if one of the sides destroys selective elements of this strategic structure. It doesn’t suit us,” Medvedev said.
He made the statement while addressing dozens of Russian ambassadors and diplomatic representatives in Moscow, during a biannual meeting.
The President has said that Russia wants to see the establishment of a multi-polar world where respect for international law would be ensured by robust international bodies.
“Any actions in breach of norms of international law are absolutely unacceptable. It's unacceptable when the universal idea of personal security which lays the foundation of national security is ignored,” Medvedev said.
The Russian President said some recent events can be classified as a violation of such norms, in particular the unilateral declaration of Kosovo's independence and the international recognition of the new state.
However any legal actions in this field can only be achieved through negotiation and in the case of mutual agreement of all the sides concerned, Medvedev added.
Medvedev introduced a set of new foreign policy guidelines which he says are based on the analysis of all modern trends in international affairs.
He said the protection of the rights of Russian-speaking people abroad is one of Russia's top priorities.
"The protection of those rights is an element of our common work," he said.
Medvedev has called on Russian diplomats to protect Russia's interests without confrontation.
"The world which has got rid of the Cold War cannot regain balance. Moreover, the slant towards the use of violent methods in a number of areas is increasing and we are well aware of that," Medvedev said.
Medvedev has also said Russia cannot accept individual countries' attempts to reanimate fascist slogans.
"Next year will mark 70 years since the beginning of WW2. We just cannot accept attempts to reanimate the advocacy of a 'civilising and liberating' mission of the fascists and their accomplices,” Russian President said.
Medvedev said it is tantamount to playing with fire – to understand this one must respect history instead of engaging in sly interpretations.
The leadership of the Russian Foreign Ministry and the heads of the presidential administration, government members and representatives of various ministries and agencies engaged in international co-operation also joined Medvedev and ambassadors at the meeting.
Similar sessions have been held at the Foreign Ministry in Moscow every two years since 2002.
3pm BST / 10am ET
Medvedev renews tensions with US over missile shield
- guardian.co.uk,
- Tuesday July 15, 2008
- Article history
Russian president Dmitry Medvedev speaks at the foreign ministry in Moscow, during a meeting with Russian ambassadors to countries around the world. Photograph: Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP
Russia's new president, Dmitry Medvedev, today launched an outspoken attack on America's European missile defence plans, in the latest sign that his policy towards the west is identical to that of his hawkish predecessor, Vladimir Putin.
Medvedev denounced the Bush administration's plans to build a missile defence shield in the Czech Republic and Poland - allegedly to shoot down potential rogue missiles fired by Iran. He accused the US of "aggravating the situation" and promised Russia would "respond appropriately".
"This common (security) heritage cannot survive if one of the sides selectively destroys isolated elements of the strategic construction," Medevev said this morning, adding: "This doesn't satisfy us."
Addressing Russian ambassadors in Moscow, Medvedev also called Kosovo's US-backed independence as "illegal", and accused the Baltic states of glorifying fascism. "They are shuffling history like a pack of cards," he complained.
Medvedev's hardline comments in one of his first major speeches on foreign policy since his inauguration in May are likely to disappoint western observers. They had hoped that his presidency might usher in a more conciliatory era in relations with the west.
The latest tensions follow Russia's decision last week to veto a UN security council resolution imposing sanctions and travel restrictions on Robert Mugabe. This earned an unprecedented rebuke from the US ambassador to the UN, Zalmay Khalilzad, and British officials.
Khalilzad said Russia's actions were not worthy of a G8 partner. He suggested that Medevedev had reneged on commitments he gave during last week's G8 summit in Japan - a claim the Kremlin angrily rejects.
Medvedev was also embroiled in several deepening confrontations with Russia's neighbours - most notably Georgia and the Czech Republic. Last week, the Czechs formally signed a deal with the US secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, agreeing to host the Pentagon's missile defence shield.
Yesterday, Russia's state-run oil pipeline Transneft confirmed it had halved oil deliveries to the Czechs - a move it claimed was "commercial" rather than "political". Prague officials expressed scepticism at Russia's explanation.
With tensions rising over Georgia's breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, Moscow last week admitted one of its warplanes had entered Georgian air space. Georgia's pro-US government threatened to shoot down any more military jets that crossed into its territory.
"There are no signals that Russia's foreign policy, as well as its domestic policy, has changed," Vladimir Ryzhkov, an independent opposition politician and former deputy in Russia's Duma told the Guardian today. He added: "It's the same line. No new ideas. No new signal."
Russia's ongoing diplomatic war with Britain - which last week saw the Kremlin identify a senior British diplomat in Moscow as a spy - was further evidence that there were no significant differences between Medvedev and Putin, Ryzhkov said.
"Relations between Russia and Britain are very cold," Ryzhkov noted. "Many people wrote and said that Medevedev was a liberal and a moderniser. I was always more sceptical. We have to wait and see what happens over the next six months."
He added: "I think there is a struggle in the top of the Russian political leadership between modernisers and conservatives. Medvedev is not in control of the situation. Putin's role is still crucial. Paradoxically the position of Putin's officials has strengthened over the past three months."
Medvedev's speech this morning took place in front of Russian diplomats at Russia's foreign ministry, a grandiose Stalin-era skyscraper in central Moscow. Medvedev, a 42-year-old ex-lawyer, eschewed the often-waspish rhetoric used by his predecessor.
But his message was essentially the same as Putin's. Medvedev criticised the Conventional Armed Forces in Europe treaty - which Putin withdrew from - describing it as "ineffective and unfair". In a new foreign policy "concept", he also today reaffirmed Russia's deep opposition to Nato enlargement.
"Russia continues to disapprove of Nato expansion, in particular, its plans to admit Ukraine and Georgia as new members and to bring Nato military infrastructure closer to Russian borders in general," Medevdev's office said in a statement on the presidential website.
Since becoming president, Medvedev has made several progressive-sounding speeches, calling for a reform of Russia's notoriously compromised legal system and calling for an end to corruption. So far, though, it appears that any comparisons with Mikhail Gorbachev, the Soviet Union's last reformist leader, are far-fetched.
"We can compare Medvedev with the early Gorbachev days, in March and April 1985," Ryzhkov said today. "Even Gorbachev started new signals from practically his first days."
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