I would imagine that such a Peace Directive would also help bring about the nuclear disarmament of Pakistan and India as well.
Russia, Allies Offer to Assist U.S. in Afghanistan (Update2) (click here)
By Lucian Kim and Ken Fireman
Feb. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Russia and four former Soviet republics offered to help the U.S. campaign in Afghanistan even as one, Kyrgyzstan, moved forward on a decision to cut off American access to an air base used for war supplies.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said the five countries, including the Central Asian nations of Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan, are ready for “full-fledged and comprehensive cooperation” with NATO forces in the region. He spoke on state broadcaster Vesti-24 today.
At the same time, Kyrgyz Security Council Secretary Adukhan Madumarov said on the same channel that the U.S. air base at the Manas airport near Bishkek must cease operations within 180 days. The base would be crucial to President Barack Obama’s plans for a buildup of troops to defeat the Taliban in Afghanistan.
The Kyrgyz Parliament will likely vote Feb. 6 on legislation formally renouncing the agreement allowing U.S. operations at the base, the Interfax news agency reported from Bishkek....
Russian arms exports to China may drop significantly (click here)
18:14
04/ 02/ 2009
MOSCOW, February 4 (RIA Novosti) - Russian arms sales to China could shrink from 40% to 10%, the head of a state-controlled arms exporter said on Wednesday.
In the past several decades Russia has been selling Su-27 and Su-30 fighters, Varshavyanka-class diesel submarines, and air-defense systems to China, among other types of weapons and equipment.
Rosoboronexport's general director Anatoly Isaikin did not say exactly when the Chinese share was expected to drop, stressing, however, that Russia was unfazed by the prospect.
"After all, sales volumes [across the world] are still high," he said in an interview with Nezavisimaya Gazeta.
He said Russia's cooperation with Beijing "is reaching a fundamentally new level - the development of dual-purpose products with high-tech components."
Isaikin said Russia had signed the first military contract this year for the delivery of more than 100 engines for the Chinese J-10 fighter.
He added that China would continue to buy military transport aircraft, fuel tankers, and aircraft engines from Russia, and was also interested in air-defense system and naval systems.
Eurasian Economic Community (click here)
Russian aid to Kyrgyzstan not linked to U.S. airbase closure (click here)
20:31
04/ 02/ 2009
MOSCOW, February 4 (RIA Novosti) - Russian financial assistance to Kyrgyzstan is not linked to the Central Asian country's decision to close a U.S. military base, a deputy Russian foreign minister said Wednesday. (Video)
"We do not think these two events are connected," Grigory Karasin told journalists, adding that the decision to close the Manas base had been made independently by the Kyrgyz government.
"Russia and Kyrgyzstan are very close countries cooperating in many spheres. We were able to provide aid which could possibly help Kyrgyzstan get through a critical economic and social phase," he said, adding that the loan was the result of "many months of work by our ministries."
Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev said in Moscow on Tuesday he would demand the closure of the airbase, used to support antiterrorism operations in neighboring Afghanistan, citing Washington's refusal to discuss higher rental payments and its reluctance to address the 2006 killing by a U.S. serviceman of a local....
CSTO's rapid-reaction force will be equal of NATO's - Medvedev (click here)
20:49
04/ 02/ 2009
MOSCOW, February 4 (RIA Novosti) - The collective rapid-reaction force to be created by a post-Soviet regional security bloc will be just as good as comparable NATO forces, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Wednesday.
The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) agreed on Wednesday at a summit in Moscow to set up the new force, to be based in Russia.
Medvedev said the force, to be comprised of a "sufficient" number of units, would be "well trained and well equipped."
"Russia is ready to contribute a division and a brigade," he said. "This gives you an idea of the scale."
The Russian president also said the CSTO was open for cooperation with the United States in the fight against terrorism in Central Asia....
