The May 17 signing of the agreement to transfer uranium between Iran, Turkey, and Brazil met with sweeping opposition on the part of the Security Council and aroused new international unrest. The day after the signing, the Security Council’s permanent members, including Russia and China – both of which were surprised by the development – signed a proposed resolution to impose sanctions against Iran. Since then, they have been working to curb the Turkish-Brazilian initiative. Iran, which was surprised by the speed and force of the...
Dmitry Medvedev’s visit to Syria on May 10-11 was the first by a Russian president; President Asad has already visited Russia three times (January 2005, December 2006, and August 2008). During the visit, agreements on aviation, scientific and information technology cooperation, tourism, and the environment were signed, as was a memorandum regarding cooperation between the two countries’ chambers of commerce. The leaders discussed infrastructure projects in energy, and Middle East political affairs, such as the peace process,...
Recent events in Russia – Islamic terrorist attacks on the one hand and the blunt message to Hamas demanding an end to the rocket fire on the other– are indicative of a Russian dilemma, reflected in its ambivalent policy on international terrorism
The new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), which the presidents of the United States and Russia signed a few days ago in a festive ceremony in the ancient castle in Prague, is a continuation of START I, signed between the United States and the former Soviet Union in July 1991. The treaty dealt with a reduction in the number of nuclear warheads and the means of launching nuclear weapons. This is likewise the stated purpose of the new treaty: to reduce the strategic nuclear arsenal of both countries. The treaty also allows the...
On March 19, 2010, the Quartet, established in 2002 in Madrid as a mediating body whose decisions carry advisory status, met in Moscow. Present at the meeting were the foreign ministers of Russia, the United States, and the European Union, as well as the Secretary General of the United Nations and the Quartet’s envoy to the Middle East. The present meeting was the first time the Quartet met in a special session rather than as ancillary to international conferences; it took place at Russia’s behest.
Abu Mazen visited Russia from January 26 to January 28, 2010, as part of a round of meetings that included visits to Germany and Britain (his previous visit to Russia took place in April 2008). During the visit Abu Mazen met with President Medvedev and other officials (Moscow Mayor Luzhkov, Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce Primakov, Chairman of the Russian Central Bureau of Statistics Stepashin, the Patriarch of the Russian Church Kirill, the chief of Russia’s Council of Muftis Ravil Gainutdin, and the mufti of Kazan, Gosman...
We have recently been witness to a new US initiative launched by the Obama administration for dialogue with Russia that affects both the bilateral and global levels. The American proposal, which generated several top level meetings, including with presidents and foreign ministers, was apparently submitted to the Russian side as a comprehensive ג€package deal.ג€ If it materializes, this arrangement will yield a positive change in relations between Russia and the West and stands to have considerable implications for the international...
The international community has of late demonstrated active political engagement in everything concerning the Middle East. There is heightened anticipation of strategic developments, whether political or military. The backdrop is the conduct of the American administration and its attempt at dialogue with the Muslim world, including an attempt at direct talks with Iran, and renewed efforts to jumpstart the political process between Israel and its neighbors. At the same time, the constant deterioration of the Iranian nuclear issue and...
The talks between Iran and Russia over the supply of the S-300 defense systems were public knowledge already in 1998, but despite various reports over the years about a contract and the actual supply of the systems, it seems that the contract was only signed in 2006 and was announced officially by both the Iran and Russia in the course of 2007.
The reality of the Iranian nuclear issue and the possibility that as a result of America’s new policy Russia will find itself outside the game have created a dilemma for Russia. So far Russia has assumed an ambivalent position: on the one hand it expresses concern over Iran’s possibly becoming a nuclear power, denies any involvement in the process, and seemingly agrees that it is necessary to stop Iran, and on the other hand, expresses sweeping support for Iran, which includes active participation in the development of...
The outbreak of the crisis in the Caucasus goes much deeper than Russia’s concern for the welfare of residents of South Ossetia, a non-Russian ethnic minority. The actual reason for Russia’s invasion of Georgia stems from a clash of interests between Russia and the West on four fronts, each reflected in this crisis. Indeed, while it was Georgia that Russia invaded, Russia’s expectation was that reverberations of its invasion into Gori and Poti would resound not only in Tbilisi and Kiev, but also in Brussels and...
Recent months have witnessed a series of threatening statements from Moscow. In February, the commander of Russian strategic missile forces said that if Poland and the Czech Republic allowed the deployment of an American anti-missile defense system on their territory, the Russian strategic missile force would be able to hit those sites. And in June, President Vladimir Putin threatened that the reaction to such a deployment might be the retargeting of nuclear missiles at European objectives, something that has not been done since the...
