Obama Administration opens the door for Russia to join NATO

[vector7]

NATO secretary general suggests cut in massive command structures



Anders Fogh Rasmussen

17:34 14/10/2010
© RIA Novosti. Vladimir Fedorenko

Related News

• NATO’s New Strategic Concept. What should Russia prepare for?
• NATO discussing its new strategic concept - Appathurai
• Russia, NATO ready to combat global threats together
• NATO's new strategic concept
• NATO commander backs cooperation with Russia on missile defense
• Russia, NATO reaffirm plans to boost ties

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen offered to cut to 7 from 11 bloc command structures, a source in NATO headquarters said on Thursday.

Rasmussen expressed the idea of streamlining NATO's structure in order to cut expenses and make the bloc more effective. In 1995, NATO's 26 command structure staff included 27,000 people. The current 11 structures have 13,000 personnel, NATO spokesman James Appathurai said.

During a meeting at the NATO Defense Ministers session, Rasmussen also suggested cutting to 4 from 14 of the alliance's agencies including among others the NATO Maintenance and Supply Agency, National Reserve Forces Committee, and the NATO Research & Technology Agency.

BRUSSELS, October 14 (RIA Novosti)

[vector7]

Russia to go to NATO summit, eyeing missile role



Related News

• Euro rescue fund won't just be extended - MerkelTue, Oct 19 2010
• Germany and EU want fair currency system-MerkelTue, Oct 19 2010
• Russia seeks answers on NATO from French and GermansTue, Oct 19 2010
• EU countries to cut budgets or face sanctions -summitMon, Oct 18 2010
• Berlin, Paris agree need EU treaty changes-MerkelMon, Oct 18 2010

Analysis & Opinion

• Former British Ambassador recalls German unification

Related Topics

• World »
• Russia »
• United Nations »
• France »
• Germany »

By Andreas Rinke and John Irish
DEAUVILLE, France | Tue Oct 19, 2010 4:09pm EDT

DEAUVILLE, France (Reuters) - Russia will attend next month's NATO summit as it looks to reach a compromise over a Europe-wide missile defense shield, softening its stance after reassurances from France and Germany, President Dmitry Medvedev said on Tuesday.

Security is a major stumbling block in Russia's relationship with the West and dominated talks on Monday and Tuesday between Presidents Nicolas Sarkozy and Medvedev and German Chancellor Angela Merkel in the northern French seaside town of Deauville.

"I will go to the Russia-NATO summit in Lisbon," Medvedev said after the talks. "It seems to me that this will further the search for necessary compromises and the development of dialogue between the Russian Federation and the North Atlantic alliance as a whole."

Russia has taken a cautious approach to U.S. offers of cooperation on missile defense, indicating that it wants a bigger say in evaluating missile threats and planning responses.

Moscow is concerned that the shield could be used to counter its own long-range nuclear arsenal, weakening its deterrent and leaving it vulnerable.

Medvedev told Sarkozy and Merkel that Russia was open to cooperation but needed to know more:

"We are now evaluating the idea of this proposal, but I think that NATO itself needs to understand in what form it sees Russia joining this system, what it will bring, in what manner an agreement can be reached, and how to proceed further."

The 28-country alliance will meet on November 19-20 in Lisbon to unveil a new strategic plan for the organization.

Merkel, Sarkozy and Medvedev talked about NATO over dinner on Monday as well as the Middle East peace process and Iran, calling once again on Tuesday for Iran to comply with the United Nations Security Council and its nuclear watchdog, the IAEA.

A French presidential source said last week the shield was designed to defend the alliance from an Iranian missile attack -- not one coming from Russia. "For us this anti-missile system is to face Iran and (similar) threats. It's as much for Russia as it is for the EU and the United States," the source said.

A senior NATO official told journalists in Paris on Monday: "We're not going to have a decision in Lisbon in which Russia says 'Yes, we're going to cooperate in a NATO missile defense system'. What we're looking toward is a process that allows NATO, together with Russia, to expand the kind of cooperation we have on missile defense."

France, which had earlier questioned details of the plan, says it is confident the November summit will reach an accord.

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said he was pleased Medvedev had accepted the invitation.

"The summit will be an important opportunity to deepen and broaden the political dialogue and practical cooperation between the NATO-Russia Council members, to enhance our shared security," he said.

Sarkozy said the missile system had to complement an existing nuclear deterrent, not replace it.

[vector7]

Russia wants equal role in NATO missile shield: Minister

AFP, Oct 23, 2010, 09.26pm IST

BERLIN: Russia is open to talks on NATO's planned European missile shield but wants to play an equal role in its development, Russian defence minister Anatoly Anatoly Serdyukov told the German weekly Der Spiegel.

"The most important thing for us is firstly to define what are the real threats to Europe, and secondly is to see Russia put on an equal footing as a participant," Serdyukov said in an interview to be published in full on Monday.

"It is only thus can an anti-missile defence system be put in place which satisfies everyone."

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is to attend next month's NATO summit in Lisbon and said Tuesday that Moscow was prepared to discuss the alliance's proposed anti-missile shield.

Previous US plans to deploy an anti-missile system in former Soviet satellite states in eastern Europe angered the Kremlin, but NATO now hopes to ease these doubts by including Moscow in the planning of a broader system.

Washington insists the shield is to fend off threats from "rogue states" like Iran and is not aimed at undermining Russia's nuclear deterrent.

[American Patriot]

It was always Reagan's dream to "share" the missile shield with everyone.

[vector7]

A farewell to arms?

25 October 2010 La Repubblica Rome


Berlin, September 2010. A Germany army guard of honour.
AFP

The crisis is forcing European states to make unprecedented cuts in their defence budgets, leaving their armed forces short on men and means – and eventually eroding their technological edge.

Andrea Bonanni

After having served for centuries as the world’s barracks, its premier military hegemon and then as its battlefield, “soft-power” Europe, especially now in the grip of the crisis, is succumbing to the disarming charms of a farewell to arms. It is cutting defence budgets right and left, disbanding glorious regiments, dismantling ships and aircraft carriers, and retiring tanks and planes.

As always, the alert came from the other side of the Atlantic. In the run-up to November’s NATO summit in Lisbon, which is to proclaim the Alliance’s “new strategic concept”, the US is alarmed by Europe’s dwindling defence budgets.

Europe has never spent less on its armed forces

This time around, however, those in charge of the Old Continent’s defence share that concern. "While the US keeps putting massive resources into defence, there’s no doubt that European spending won’t reach the 2% of GDP target,” admits Admiral Giampaolo Di Paola, current Chairman of the NATO Military Committee, which is now looking to contain the impact of a disarmament race.

Here’s the paradox: Europe has never spent less on its armed forces – at a time when it is more committed on the ground than ever before in postwar history, with tens of thousands of soldiers in Afghanistan, Lebanon, the Balkans, and on various missions in Africa. These missions have taken a heavy toll on human life, but on the economy as well. Now the financial crisis, followed by the public debt crisis, has forced Europe to retrench defence spending radically.

Back in 2002, all the Alliance members had targeted spending “at least” 2% of GDP every year on defence. But in 2009 only Greece (3.1%), Albania (2.0%), France (2.1%), Great Britain (2.7%) and the United States (4.0%) made good on that pledge. Italy and Germany spent 1.4%, Spain 1.2%. Next year, in all likelihood, the US will be the only one still over the 2% mark.

Cameron leads the cutbacks

The first austerity measures came in the wake of the Wall Street meltdown. And now, British PM David Cameron has just announced 8% in cutbacks on military spending for the next four years. London is going to do without its sole aircraft carrier, the Ark Royal, whilst waiting for two new ones currently being built, and drastically pare down its purchase orders for the new American-made Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) planes. It will keep its nuclear programme going on the Trident submarines, while downsizing the Royal Navy. The defence sector will shed 42,000 employees by 2015.

France, on the other hand, has confirmed its budgetary commitments for this year, but military experts expect the axe to fall next year. France and Britain have already drafted deals to manage their nuclear arsenal jointly, and share the expense – likewise for the new fleet of A400 Airbus military transport planes. Germany, which is now switching from a conscript army to a professional army, smaller in size but more costly to run, is likewise bracing to chip away at defence spending.

And over in the Netherlands, the new government has already said it won’t be buying any JSFs. Italy is tightening its belt too: after opting out of NATO’s Strategic Airlift Capabilities (SAC) programme, which involves buying and sharing C130 military transport craft, it is now going to order 25 fewer Eurofighter planes than planned.

Disarmament has not compromised our security yet

All the analysts concur that, despite the cuts, not a single country has reduced the pay for men in uniform in Afghanistan or anywhere else – but they are feeling the pinch there, too. And Europe’s shilly-shallying on the American request to send 10,000 more men to Kabul last year was not only caused by political indecisiveness, but by financial shortfalls as well.

For the time being, at least, European disarmament has not compromised our security yet, although Europeans would have a hard time mounting another major military operation in the event of a crisis. The idea of sending a peacekeeping force to Somalia was shelved partly for political reasons, but partly owing to financial straits. And sending in a buffer force in the event of a Middle East peace deal would not be possible without revising the defence budgets. Admiral Di Paola points out that "major arms development projects are under way in other parts of the world.

We might lose our technological edge very soon. Our qualitative superiority needs to be maintained at all costs, even if it means quantitative sacrifices.” So once again the cuts will impact the economy and the competitiveness of the “European system” more than our security. Still, Europe may be shooting itself in the foot at the very moment it is struggling to get its economies up and running again.

Translated from the Italian by Eric Rosencrantz

[vector7]

It was always Reagan's dream to "share" the missile shield with everyone.

NATO to invite Russia to join anti-Iran missile shield

The Associated Press
Date: Saturday Nov. 20, 2010 9:07 AM ET

LISBON — NATO planned Saturday to deliver a historic invitation for Russia to join a missile shield protecting Europe against Iranian attack, a milestone for an alliance that was built to defend against Soviet forces.

President Barack Obama won NATO support on Friday to build the missile shield over Europe, an ambitious commitment to protect against Iran's increasingly sophisticated ballistic missiles and a nuclear program the West says is aimed at producing a bomb.

Two key unanswered questions about the missile shield -- will it work and can the Europeans afford it? -- were put aside for the present in the interest of celebrating the agreement as a boost for NATO solidarity.

"It offers a role for all of our allies," Obama told reporters. "It responds to the threats of our times. It shows our determination to protect our citizens from the threat of ballistic missiles." He did not mention Iran by name, acceding to the wishes of NATO member Turkey, which had threatened to block the deal if its neighbour was singled out.

Turkish President Abdullah Gul said Saturday that NATO met his nation's demands and that the agreement "was within the framework of what we wished. We are pleased about this."

Under the arrangement, a limited system of U.S. anti-missile interceptors and radars already planned for Europe -- to include interceptors in Romania and Poland and possibly radar in Turkey -- would be linked to expanded European-owned missile defences. That would create a broad system that protects every NATO country against medium-range missile attack.


------------------------------------------------------


US security guarantees for Israel worthless when Turkey controls missile shield

DEBKAfile Exclusive Analysis November 20, 2010, 12:29 PM (GMT+02:00) Tags: NATO missile shield Turkey US-Israel



Turkish President Gul enjoys the joke

By bowing to Ankara's demand to omit Iran, Syria and their ballistic missiles as a threat from the NATO agreement to establish a missile shield base in Turkey, President Barak Obama has devalued any US security guarantees offered Israel - as well as negating the facility's avowed purpose. The missile shield and its location in Europe were conceived in the first place for detecting and defusing Iranian and Syrian ballistic missile before they reached Europe or the United States.

"For the first time we've agreed to develop a missile defense capability that is strong enough to cover all Nato European territory and populations as well as the United States," Obama declared Friday, Nov. 19, at the NATO summit in Lisbon.

The US president did not say against who or what. Neither did he reveal the full scope of US and NATO's surrender to Turkey.

debkafile's military sources report that the covert clauses in the deal additionally provide for the missile base to come under the command of a Turkish general. President Abdullah Gul held out on this point in discussions with President Obama and NATO leaders, following the lead given him by Prime Minister Tayyep Erdogan of Monday, Nov. 15: "Turkey would demand that NATO assign a Turkish commander to oversee the shield. Especially if this is to be place on our soil…," said Erdogan.

Turkey's leaders are very close to the Islamic Republic's extremist rulers and see nothing amiss in their deploying large portions of Iran's missile arsenal on Syrian and Lebanese soil (in Hizballah's keeping). A Turkish general in command of the NATO missile shield cannot be expected to regard threatening missile action by Iran, Syria or Hizballah in the same light as would President Obama or NATO Secretary-General Andres vog Rasmussen.

He would simply follow the orders of his own prime minister.

So NATO's forward missile interceptor may be physically and technically located in Turkey but, under a Turkish commander, its usefulness as an operational shield for the West against the most concrete perils facing NATO members is nil.

In these circumstances, there is not much point in Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu holding out for American security guarantees, even after the US State Department spokesman stated Friday, Nov. 19, "The United States is prepared to offer Israel written security guarantees if it would help to restart stalled Middle East peace talks."

Those guarantees were awarded Turkey at the NATO summit in Lisbon and, by extension, to Iran, Syria and their radical allies, whose missiles are poised on Israel's borders facing in only one direction.

[vector7]

NATO AGREES ON MISSILE DEFENSE AND SEEKS RUSSIAN ROLE By Steven Erlanger and Jackie Calmes New York Times Posted: 11/19/2010 09:39:45 PM PST Updated: 11/19/2010 09:39:46 PM PST LISBON, Portugal -- NATO leaders agreed Friday evening to establish a missile defense shield that would cover all NATO member states, and today, they expect Russia to agree to discuss the possibility of cooperating on the system's development. President Barack Obama, who has promoted a less costly, more flexible missile defense system that will have components in Europe and at sea, praised the day's work, saying that for the first time "we've agreed to develop a missile defense capability that is strong enough to cover all NATO European territory and populations as well as the United States." Turkey, which had seemed to present a potential sticking point, dropped its objections to a common missile defense system when it was satisfied that no country, particularly Iran, would be named as a principal threat. Turkey also wanted money to buy anti-missile components. Missile defense has long created tensions between NATO and Russia, but American officials were optimistic that the meeting today would prove more productive than earlier ones with the Russian president at the time, Vladimir V. Putin, who made no secret of his mistrust of the alliance. In general, senior NATO officials note a welcoming Russian tone under President Dmitry A. Medvedev to the idea of cooperation with NATO on missile defense and European security, and they also note the general silence of Putin, now prime minister. On Saturday, Russia will beformally invited to take part in the missile defense system, especially with intelligence and radar sharing. Moscow has indicated that it is interested but has questions and wants to ensure that the system is not aimed at countering Russian missiles. The missile defense system approved Friday is different from the fixed-missile defense that President George W. Bush initiated and that proved controversial. The idea is to have a phased system of radars and anti-missile missiles that would be less expensive than the Bush system. The NATO spokesman, James Appathurai, said the nearly $1.5 billion cost could be managed over 10 years. U.S. officials hailed the agreements as a victory for Obama and his efforts to strengthen the alliance and improve relations with Moscow. They said the agreements showed that Obama retained influence and credibility among the allies despite his party's drubbing in the recent midterm elections and his inability so far to overcome Senate Republican objections to a revised nuclear arms treaty with Russia. Obama has been seeking support among the allies here for the treaty, known as New START.

[vector7]

Obama welcomes Russia's help on missile defense

Published November 20, 2010

LISBON, Portugal – President Obama on Saturday welcomed Russia's pledge to work with NATO on efforts to build a missile-defense system to protect Europe against a possible missile attack, saying it turns a "source of past tension into a source of shared cooperation." After a meeting of the 28 NATO members and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Obama told reporters, "Together, we've worked hard to reset the relations between the United States and Russia. Now we're also resetting the NATO relationship with Russia."

Obama also used the occasion to prod Republicans in the U.S. Senate to stop standing in the way of a new nuclear arms reduction pact with Russia. The New START treaty, he said, would leave "a partner hanging" at a time when the U.S. and its NATO allies were seeking to improve relations with Moscow.

He said European allies told him that the stalled treaty is critical to U.S.-European security.

The president said he was confident the U.S. can go ahead with Afghan troop transition starting July 2011 with the goal of an end to combat operations by the end of 2014. "We are in a better place now than we were a year ago," Obama said.

The goal, he said, is to have Afghans in the lead, but that it was hard to anticipate what level of U.S. or NATO troops would be necessary after 2014.

NATO has over 150,000 troops based in Afghanistan, including more than 100,000 Americans. NATO signed an agreement with Afghanistan to control the country's security until 2014 and then assist with its logistics, training and advising.

Medvedev agreed to involve Russian technicians in development work on such a missile shield network but stopped short of joining NATO's invitation to join the missile shield system itself.

Obama said that NATO, created 60 years ago to protect Europe from a possible attack from the Soviet Union, now sees Russia as "a partner, not an adversary."

Russian officials have long expressed skepticism about a Europe-based missile-defense system, suggesting it could be used to weaken Russia's nuclear deterrent. Medvedev's meeting with leaders of the trans-Atlantic alliance came a day after NATO agreed to a plan for missile defense across Europe and the U.S.

[vector7]

Russian sub joins NATO exercise for first time




01:15 31/05/2011
Related News

• Russian Black Sea Fleet to join NATO naval drills in 2011
• Russia offers NATO 5-year cooperation deal

Russian Black Sea Fleet task force led by a submarine is taking part in NATO naval drills off the coast of Spain, the Russian Defense Ministry said, the first time a Russian submarine has participated in any NATO exercise..

Bold Monarch is the world's largest submarine rescue exercise held every three years. This year's exercise, conducted on May 30-June 10 near the Spanish port of Cartagena, involves submarines, ships and aircraft from both NATO and non-NATO countries, including Russia.

"The Russian task force comprises the diesel submarine Alrosa, salvage tug Shakhtyor, auxiliary vessel KIL-158, and rescue vessel Epron," a Russian Defense Ministry spokesman said on Monday.

The Alrosa, a Kilo class diesel-electric submarine, will play the part of a "vessel in distress", stuck on the sea bed. Ships equipped with a range of sophisticated debris clearance, diver assisted gear and submarine rescue vehicles will attempt to salvage the sub and rescue its crew.

The Russian auxiliary vessel KIL-158 carries an advanced Seaeye Panther Plus underwater remotely operated vehicle (ROV), the spokesman said.

Panther Plus was adopted by the Russian Navy after an incident with Russian submariners in the Bering Sea in August 2005, when Russia's AS-28 submersible became tangled in a fishing net at a depth of about 190 meters (about 620 feet).

The ROV can operate at depths up to 1,000 meters (3,300 feet).

MOSCOW, May 31 (RIA Novosti)

[vector7]

Russian submarine to join NATO exercise for first time
by Staff Writers
Brussels (AFP) May 27, 2011



A Russian submarine will take part in the world's biggest submarine rescue exercise with its former Cold War foe NATO next week, the Western military alliance said Friday.

The Russian submarine, the first to participate in any NATO exercise, will drop to the bottom of the Mediterranean along with Portuguese, Spanish and Turkish submarines and will await listless for a rescue mission off the coast of Cartagena, Spain.

Around 2,000 military and non-military personnel as well as ships and aircraft from more than 20 nations will take part in the exercise, dubbed Bold Monarch 11, that will run from May 30 to June 10.

Held every three years, it "is the world's largest submarine rescue exercise," said a statement from NATO's SHAPE allied military headquarters based in Mons, Belgium.

"The exercise is designed to maximise international cooperation in submarine rescue operations -- something that has always been very important to NATO and all the submarine-operating nations," it said.

The inclusion of a Russian submarine in the exercise comes amid a warming of ties between Moscow and the 28-nation alliance, nearly three years after Russia's war with Georgia had sparked tensions between the two sides.

The United States, Russia, Italy, Sweden are contributing submarine rescue vehicles and sophisticated gear to clear debris. France, Norway and Britain will use a jointly owned rescue system.

Aircraft will deploy from Italy, Britain and the United States to help locate the submarines and drop parachutists to provide emergency assistance.

The vast exercise will culminate with a 48-hour coordinated rescue and evacuation of 150 survivors, including casualties, from a submarine acting in distress.

Russia suffered a traumatic submarine accident more than 10 years ago, when the Kursk sank in the Barents sea, killing all 118 sailors inside.

International search operations had taken a week to start after the August 12, 2000, incident.

[vector7]

Russian warship joins NATO drills in North Atlantic


Admiral Chabanenko destroyer
© AFP/ STR

07:45 20/06/2011
MOSCOW, June 20 (RIA Novosti)

Russia's Admiral Chabanenko destroyer from the Northern Fleet will make a port call at the U.S. naval base of Norfolk on Monday in preparation for joint naval drills with NATO warships.

Admiral Chabanenko, an Udaloy II class destroyer, and rescue tug Shakhter will take part in the FRUKUS 2011 exercises, which will be held on June 23-30 in the North Atlantic off the east coast of the United States.

The annual naval drills, which traditionally involve France, Russia, Britain and the United States, practice interoperability for future joint anti-piracy operations under a UN mandate.

"The goal of the exercise is to practice interoperability between warships in a multinational task force fighting piracy and protecting convoys," a spokesperson for the Russian Defense Ministry said.

The FRUKUS 2011 exercise will consist of several stages including joint maneuvering, repelling attacks of fast-speed boats, boarding operations, and helicopter landings.

Previously called RUKUS, the exercises were launched in 1988 to promote dialogue between the Soviet Union, Britain, and the United States. The name was changed to FRUKUS in 2003, when France formally joined the group.

Admiral Chabanenko was on a two-month anti-piracy duty in the Gulf of Aden in Dec. 2009 - Jan. 2010, and successfully escorted several commercial convoys through pirate-infested waters off the Somali coast.

[vector7]

French, Russian, UK sailors in Norfolk for training

Posted to: Military Norfolk



Sailors from the U.S. destroyer James E. Williams receive lines from the Russian ship Admiral Chabanenko at Norfolk Naval Station Monday, June 20, 2011. The Russian ship will participate in a two-week training off the coast of Virginia. (Petty Officer 3rd Class Darren Moore | U.S. Navy)
View full-size photo | Buy Pilot photos

By Lauren King
The Virginian-Pilot
© June 21, 2011
NORFOLK

Ships from Russia, France and the United Kingdom arrived Monday to participate in a two-week exercise with the U.S. Navy off the coast of Virginia.

FRUKUS 2011 – named for the participating countries – is an exercise to improve maritime security through open dialogue and increased training between the participating navies, a news release from the aircraft carrier Harry S. Truman said.

The training will take place in two phases. In the ashore portion, sailors from each ship will train in areas including damage control, firefighting and ship handling. The at-sea portion, which begins next week, includes critical training in maritime domain awareness, anti-piracy and maritime interdiction operations.

A shore-based multinational combined task group will provide command and control for the ships during the at-sea portion of the training exercise.

Forces participating in the two-week exercise include: U.S. Carrier Strike Group 10, Destroyer Squadron 26 and destroyer James E. Williams; the French FS Ventose; Russian RFS Admiral Chabanenko; and United Kingdom’s HMS Dauntless.

[American Patriot]

I wonder whom they are training AGAINST?

[vector7]

Russia ‘Will Attend’ NATO Summit in Chicago

News | 14.05.2012 | 09:43

MOSCOW, May 14 (RIA Novosti) Tags: G8, ISAF, NATO, Vladimir Putin, Dmitry Medvedev, Zamir Kabulov, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Sergei Lavrov, Chicago, United States, Russia A high-ranking Russian diplomat will attend a NATO summit in Chicago on May 20-21, the Kommersant daily reported on Monday, quoting diplomatic sources. Zamir Kabulov, the presidential envoy to Afghanistan who also heads a Foreign Ministry department in charge of Afghanistan, will most likely fly to Chicago, the source told the paper. There has been no official confirmation of the report. Russia had been reluctant to accept an invitation from NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen to join the summit, which will focus on the situation in Afghanistan, as well as on the alliance’s European missile defense plans. Relations between NATO and Moscow have grown sour lately over the missile shield issue, but the sides have cooperated closely in the war in Afghanistan, which has been the main source of heroine flowing into Russia through its porous borders with former Soviet Central Asian republics. Russia has allowed NATO to transit cargos to and from Afghanistan through its territory, and its continued support is crucial for the U.S.-led coalition fighting the Taliban as foreign troops are set to leave the country in 2014. Moscow is preparing to allow the United States to use an airport in Ulyanovsk, the birthplace of Russian revolutionary Vladimir Lenin, to transit non-lethal cargo to and from Afghanistan. Commenting on the invitation to join the Chicago summit, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov recently said the alliance has rejected Moscow’s requests to attend international meetings on Afghanistan held in Brussels, which gather representatives of NATO member states, as well as other countries contributing troops to the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). He hinted that Russia would attend the summit if NATO agreed to invite it to other meetings on Afghanistan as well. The Chicago talks will take place immediately after a G8 summit in Camp David on May 18-19, which Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev is expected to attend. The Kremlin said last week President Vladimir Putin would not be able to join the summit because he will be busy finalizing a new government after his inauguration on May 7. The White House said U.S. President Barack Obama, who discussed the issue with Putin in a phone conversation, “expressed his understanding” of Putin’s decision.

[vector7]

http://www.jihadwatch.org/2012/05/na...n-chicago.html

Jihad Watch

NATO invites Pakistan to summit in Chicago

This just in: FDR, Churchill invite Hitler to the Atlantic Conference. "NATO invites Pakistan to summit in Chicago," by Chris Brummitt and Slobodan Lekic for the Associated Press, May 16 (thanks to Maxwell):

ISLAMABAD (AP) — NATO has invited Pakistan's president to the upcoming Chicago summit on Afghanistan, the strongest sign yet that Islamabad is ready to reopen its western border to U.S. and NATO military supplies heading to the war in the neighboring country. President Asif Ali Zardari was expected to accept the invitation, a Pakistani official in Washington said Tuesday.

Pakistan blocked the routes in November after American airstrikes killed 24 of its troops on the Afghan border. The attack sent ties between Washington and Islamabad to new lows, threatening regional cooperation needed for negotiating an end to the Afghan war.

The developments signal something of a rapprochement between the two countries, but tensions are likely to bedevil what has long been a brittle relationship, scarred by mistrust on both sides. Many in Washington believe Pakistan is supporting the Taliban, making the Afghanistan war unwinnable....

Many are right. But of course the Afghan war is unwinnable anyway, because Washington doesn't want to win, and doesn't know what winning would look like.

[vector7]

Russia, NATO to hold joint exercises in 2013

Photo EPA/ITAR-TASS

He said their aim will be to drill practical interaction in logistics and fighting terrorism and also rescue on the high seas.

Supplying army contingents with fuel, foodstuffs and other resources will be drilled in the exercise in Slovakia in summer. Russia will also take part in NATO exercise scheduled for the second half of 2013 aimed for training in fighting terrorism on air transport, Gerasimov said.

He said the plan of military cooperation in 2013 was adopted at the meeting of the Russia-NATO Council at the level of Chiefs of General Staff on Wednesday. “We will continue cooperation in the fight against terrorism and piracy and in search and rescue on the high seas, in logistics and military-academic exchange,” he said.




Russia-led military bloc offers cooperation with NATO

Published: 17 January, 2013, 17:17



Sergey Lavrov holds a news conference at the end of a NATO-Russia meeting during a NATO Foreign Ministers meeting in Brussels (Reuters / Sebastien Pirlet)

Colonel-General Valery Gerasimov, Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, said closer interaction between NATO and the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) could produce ‘positive results’ in Afghanistan and the region.

Given that any security lapses due to the coalition forces’ pullout from Afghanistan “will be happening in proximity to the Russian border and the borders of our CSTO allies,” Russia cannot afford to remain indifferent to the situation, Gerasimov told reporters following a session of the Chiefs of the General Staff of the NATO-Russian Council in Brussels.

"Obviously, all forces that are interested in preventing the region from sliding back into chaos should coordinate their efforts,” the Russian military officer emphasized. “That is why we invited NATO to discuss (a joint security proposal) with CSTO in order to devise…a security concept for the region."

The CSTO is an intergovernmental military organization comprised of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan.

NATO attempted to reassure its Russian colleagues that the transfer of power to the Afghan government does not mean a full withdrawal of NATO troops from Afghanistan.

On January 1, 2015, NATO officials will still be in Afghanistan, NATO Secretary General's Special Representative for the South Caucasus and Central Asia James Appathurai said.

The western military alliance will play “an auxiliary role” by providing support to the Afghan authorities, he said.

The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) is a NATO-led security mission in Afghanistan established by the United Nations Security Council on December 20, 2001. The ISAF has been fighting for over a decade in Afghanistan against the Taliban, and other militant groups, including al-Qaeda.

It is the existence of these radical forces in Afghanistan and elsewhere in Central Asia, which continues to create security headaches for ISAF today, that are of great concern for Russia and its allies.

"The upcoming significant reduction of the military contingents of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) is capable of provoking greater activeness of radical forces in that country," Gerasimov warned.

Despite their divergence of opinion concerning the future of Afghanistan, Russia and NATO continue to cooperate and are scheduled to hold joint military exercises this year.

"Joint exercises will train for the practical interaction in counterterrorism and maritime rescue operations," Gerasimov revealed.

Russia and NATO forces will continue to cooperate in areas such as “counterterrorism, anti-piracy activities, maritime search and rescue operations, logistics and military academic exchanges," he added.