Is Vladimir Putin Out of Control?

Last week La Russophobe reported, in Publius Pundit, on the outrageous statements of Vladimir Putin about rape made in front of an Israeli diplomatic delegation. This week, he’s still at it. He had two choices when seeking to defend Russia from charges of systemmic corruption and violence; give substantive evidence of how the problems were being addressed or attack Italy. Guess which one he chose? Monsters and Critics reports:

An alleged Mafia jibe directed at Italy by Russian President Vladimir Putin received widespread coverage in the Italian media on Monday and risked straining relations between the two countries.

Speaking during a summit with European Union leaders in Finland, Putin reportedly defended himself from charges that organised crime networks dominate business in his country by noting that ‘the word Mafia was born in Italy, not Russia’, Spain’s El Pays reported on Sunday.

The remark was splashed out on the front pages of Italy’s leading dailies on Monday and drew condemnation from government officials.

‘It was an incredible remark. Instead of speaking nonsense, Putin should explain what has happened with the murder of (Russian journalist Anna) Politkovskaya,’ Italian Foreign Ministry undersecretary Gianni Vernetti told reporters.

Politkovskaya, who was murdered in Moscow on October 7, had repeatedly reported on human rights violations in Chechenya, which is ruled by pro-Kremlin politicians.

While Prime Minister Romano Prodi’s office sought to play down the incident, saying Putin’s remark was meant to be ironic, other lawmakers called on the government to issue a strong reaction.

‘Italy should respond to the serious remarks made by Russian President Putin,’ said Angelo Bonelli of the Green Party, which is a member of Prodi’s centre-left ruling coalition.

Putin had come under fire during the summit over human rights violations in Russia and reportedly also accused many Spanish mayors of being ‘corrupt’.

This is classic Neo-Soviet stuff. Rather than fix a problem, deny that it exists and then attack other countries for being even worse. That is what brought the USSR to its knees. Putin exposes the fact that his educatin is skin deep and his KGB indoctrination goes to the bone.

Thanks for reading La Russophobe !

Humiliating Defeat for Putin in Samara?

The Kremlin suffered a humiliating defeat in a mayoral race in Samara over the weekend, showing that Putin’s 70%+ popularity ratings are filled with propaganda. Or did it? This could be a harbinger of yet another round of assaults on democratic politics as the Kremlin’s fundamental weakness is revealed. Or it could be a sham election with the Kremlin pulling the strings. The International Herald Tribune reports:

The main Kremlin-backed party lost a mayoral race in Russia on Monday in what commentators said marked the rise of a new pro-government party that will play the role of a loyal opposition before key presidential elections in 2008.The Party of Life’s candidate Viktor Tarkhov won the weekend mayoral vote in the central Volga city of Samara by 56.37 percent to unseat the incumbent mayor, United Russia’s Georgy Limansky, who got 40.55 percent, the local electoral commission said.

The victory of the Party of Life, which at the end of this month is to merge with the nationalist Rodina (Motherland) and the Party of Pensioners, is seen as an important signal of the new political force’s ascending fortunes. “The second party of power is close to victory over the first one,” the independent Kommersant daily ironically headlined its story on the election Monday, published before results had come in.

United Russia has dominated the political landscape in recent years under President Vladimir Putin, who has been accused of rolling back post-Soviet democratic freedoms by squeezing out opposition parties and stifling the independent media since coming to office in 2000. The parties announced in August they were joining forces to create a new, as-yet-unnamed party to compete with United Russia, which holds a massive majority in the lower parliament house, the State Duma. The Party of Life is led by a close Putin ally, upper house speaker Sergei Mironov.

“This is a Kremlin strategy to create a two-party system with one ruling party and a so-called opposition,” said Olga Khrystanovskaya, a sociologist from the Russian Academy of Sciences who is an expert on the Russian political elite . “This is of course an imitation of an opposition, whose main purpose is to ensure that the Kremlin keeps hold of power,” she added.

Russia will hold parliamentary elections in 2007 and then a presidential vote in 2008, in which Putin is constitutionally barred from standing for a third consecutive term. There has been feverish speculation about the likely successor to Putin — the two main candidates touted at present are the hawkish defense minister Sergei Ivanov and the youthful deputy prime minister Dmitry Medvedev — as well as the immensely popular president’s future plans.

The Russian leader joked at a meeting with foreign media executives earlier this year that he might form an opposition party and start criticizing everyone. Khrystanovskaya said that it was not inconceivable that Putin — who has been rumored to be considering taking over as head of the Russian state gas monopoly Gazprom — might become an opposition leader and stand again for president in 2012. “I don’t think it was a joke. I don’t exclude that Putin may completely unexpectedly lead this opposition party, becoming a mild critic of the government who can return to power in four years,” she said.

Yury Korgunyuk, a political analyst from the Indem think-tank, said Putin was unlikely to head the Party of Life, but predicted it would prove an effective tool for mopping up opposition support that would otherwise go to populist Kremlin critics.”The Kremlin would prefer United Russia to be totally dominant, but Russians stubbornly protest by voting for the opposition. So they came up with this scheme to capture opposition votes,” he said.

Thanks for reading La Russophobe !

The Kremlin’s Coming Succession Crisis

The Moscow Times’ Alexei Bayer explains how the Kremlin has utterly destroyed even its own idea of how Russia should be governed. Have things really gotten so psychotic in Russia, and so fast, that it’s rational for Bayer to speculate that Ramzan Kadyrov, puppet ruler of Chechnya, could become the next “president” of Russia. You bet they have. People laughed when Yeltsin said Putin would be the next “president,” but it happened, and now he has a 70%+ approval rating. They dismissed the speculation of some that Alexander Lukashenko, maniacal dicator of Belarus, could take over the reins of power as part of a Russo-Belarus union. But they didn’t laugh. If Putin didn’t give the order that killed Anna Politkovskaya, then Kadyrov sure did. Could he be the next ruler of Russia? Who would stop him? The same person who stopped Putin?

The repression of Georgians and the resumption of contract killings should remove any doubts about the nature of today’s Russia. It is not a stable “vertical of power,” but an opaque and shifting bureaucratic morass.

This reality makes a mockery of any ideas of an orderly transfer of power in 2008, when President Vladimir Putin maintains he will step down. It leaves the two heirs apparent, First Deputy Pime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov, dangerously exposed.

Even though Russia’s democracy in the 1990s was undoubtedly flawed, it had some genuine political pluralism. Individuals outside the Kremlin wielded power and authority, based on wealth, regional connections or even voter support.

All of this has been stomped out. Today, the president has a monopoly on power — so much so that his whims, peeves and dislikes instantly become national policy. Presumed successors can’t accumulate any power of their own without it becoming a personal affront to Putin. While the two sitting ducks share the limelight, the real contestants jockey for position in the shadows of Putin’s throne.

Unlike the Soviet Union, where these power struggles occurred within the framework of the Communist Party, Putin’s system has shoddy institutional underpinnings. The United Russia party was an afterthought, created to service existing arrangements. Its manifesto is to support the president, or rather Putin personally. Russia’s elites are a web of loose alliances in which ultimately it’s every man for himself.

The succession prize will likely go to a dark horse — someone you would least expect to win. If forced to bet, I would lay my money on Chechen Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov.

True, many Russians abhor the Chechens and fear Kadyrov. This, however, has never been an impediment to ruling Russia — going back to the Varangian Rus principalities of the 9th century. The Russian yearning for a strong hand has always trumped mere ethnic prejudice. Russia’s most respected monarch was Catherine the Great, a German. The most adored Soviet leader — and the most hated as well — was a “person of a Caucasus nationality,” Josef Stalin.

Kadyrov is the only politician in Russia with an independent power base. He commands a battle-hardened militia that might be the strongest fighting force in the country. He has influence in the Kremlin, which relies on him for the pacification of Chechnya and has given him more autonomy than previous “separatist” Chechen leaders. September’s violent backlash against Chechens in Karelia has shown how widespread the diaspora has become.

In fact, the murder on Oct. 7 of journalist Anna Politkovskaya, who was highly critical of the government, might be a sign that someone in Moscow also sees Kadyrov as a contender. Politovskaya certainly wasn’t killed because of her investigative reporting. In Russia as in the United States today’s docile voters ignore the lies, corruption and outright crimes committed by their leaders. Back in 1994, Russian generals could still fear public exposure of their thievery by reporter Dmitry Kholodov, for which he was murdered. They couldn’t care less about it now.

Needless to say, Politkovskaya’s actual murderers will never be brought to justice. But some Chechens might get arrested for it — as was the case with murdered U.S. journalist Paul Klebnikov. They may implicate Kadyrov — whose use of torture in Chechnya Politkovskaya was investigating — but only if he gets too big for his breeches.

Thanks for reading La Russophobe !

The Kremlin’s Coming Succession Crisis

The Moscow Times’ Alexei Bayer explains how the Kremlin has utterly destroyed even its own idea of how Russia should be governed. Have things really gotten so psychotic in Russia, and so fast, that it’s rational for Bayer to speculate that Ramzan Kadyrov, puppet ruler of Chechnya, could become the next “president” of Russia. You bet they have. People laughed when Yeltsin said Putin would be the next “president,” but it happened, and now he has a 70%+ approval rating. They dismissed the speculation of some that Alexander Lukashenko, maniacal dicator of Belarus, could take over the reins of power as part of a Russo-Belarus union. But they didn’t laugh. If Putin didn’t give the order that killed Anna Politkovskaya, then Kadyrov sure did. Could he be the next ruler of Russia? Who would stop him? The same person who stopped Putin?

The repression of Georgians and the resumption of contract killings should remove any doubts about the nature of today’s Russia. It is not a stable “vertical of power,” but an opaque and shifting bureaucratic morass.

This reality makes a mockery of any ideas of an orderly transfer of power in 2008, when President Vladimir Putin maintains he will step down. It leaves the two heirs apparent, First Deputy Pime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov, dangerously exposed.

Even though Russia’s democracy in the 1990s was undoubtedly flawed, it had some genuine political pluralism. Individuals outside the Kremlin wielded power and authority, based on wealth, regional connections or even voter support.

All of this has been stomped out. Today, the president has a monopoly on power — so much so that his whims, peeves and dislikes instantly become national policy. Presumed successors can’t accumulate any power of their own without it becoming a personal affront to Putin. While the two sitting ducks share the limelight, the real contestants jockey for position in the shadows of Putin’s throne.

Unlike the Soviet Union, where these power struggles occurred within the framework of the Communist Party, Putin’s system has shoddy institutional underpinnings. The United Russia party was an afterthought, created to service existing arrangements. Its manifesto is to support the president, or rather Putin personally. Russia’s elites are a web of loose alliances in which ultimately it’s every man for himself.

The succession prize will likely go to a dark horse — someone you would least expect to win. If forced to bet, I would lay my money on Chechen Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov.

True, many Russians abhor the Chechens and fear Kadyrov. This, however, has never been an impediment to ruling Russia — going back to the Varangian Rus principalities of the 9th century. The Russian yearning for a strong hand has always trumped mere ethnic prejudice. Russia’s most respected monarch was Catherine the Great, a German. The most adored Soviet leader — and the most hated as well — was a “person of a Caucasus nationality,” Josef Stalin.

Kadyrov is the only politician in Russia with an independent power base. He commands a battle-hardened militia that might be the strongest fighting force in the country. He has influence in the Kremlin, which relies on him for the pacification of Chechnya and has given him more autonomy than previous “separatist” Chechen leaders. September’s violent backlash against Chechens in Karelia has shown how widespread the diaspora has become.

In fact, the murder on Oct. 7 of journalist Anna Politkovskaya, who was highly critical of the government, might be a sign that someone in Moscow also sees Kadyrov as a contender. Politovskaya certainly wasn’t killed because of her investigative reporting. In Russia as in the United States today’s docile voters ignore the lies, corruption and outright crimes committed by their leaders. Back in 1994, Russian generals could still fear public exposure of their thievery by reporter Dmitry Kholodov, for which he was murdered. They couldn’t care less about it now.

Needless to say, Politkovskaya’s actual murderers will never be brought to justice. But some Chechens might get arrested for it — as was the case with murdered U.S. journalist Paul Klebnikov. They may implicate Kadyrov — whose use of torture in Chechnya Politkovskaya was investigating — but only if he gets too big for his breeches.

Thanks for reading La Russophobe !

The Kremlin’s Coming Succession Crisis

The Moscow Times’ Alexei Bayer explains how the Kremlin has utterly destroyed even its own idea of how Russia should be governed. Have things really gotten so psychotic in Russia, and so fast, that it’s rational for Bayer to speculate that Ramzan Kadyrov, puppet ruler of Chechnya, could become the next “president” of Russia. You bet they have. People laughed when Yeltsin said Putin would be the next “president,” but it happened, and now he has a 70%+ approval rating. They dismissed the speculation of some that Alexander Lukashenko, maniacal dicator of Belarus, could take over the reins of power as part of a Russo-Belarus union. But they didn’t laugh. If Putin didn’t give the order that killed Anna Politkovskaya, then Kadyrov sure did. Could he be the next ruler of Russia? Who would stop him? The same person who stopped Putin?

The repression of Georgians and the resumption of contract killings should remove any doubts about the nature of today’s Russia. It is not a stable “vertical of power,” but an opaque and shifting bureaucratic morass.

This reality makes a mockery of any ideas of an orderly transfer of power in 2008, when President Vladimir Putin maintains he will step down. It leaves the two heirs apparent, First Deputy Pime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov, dangerously exposed.

Even though Russia’s democracy in the 1990s was undoubtedly flawed, it had some genuine political pluralism. Individuals outside the Kremlin wielded power and authority, based on wealth, regional connections or even voter support.

All of this has been stomped out. Today, the president has a monopoly on power — so much so that his whims, peeves and dislikes instantly become national policy. Presumed successors can’t accumulate any power of their own without it becoming a personal affront to Putin. While the two sitting ducks share the limelight, the real contestants jockey for position in the shadows of Putin’s throne.

Unlike the Soviet Union, where these power struggles occurred within the framework of the Communist Party, Putin’s system has shoddy institutional underpinnings. The United Russia party was an afterthought, created to service existing arrangements. Its manifesto is to support the president, or rather Putin personally. Russia’s elites are a web of loose alliances in which ultimately it’s every man for himself.

The succession prize will likely go to a dark horse — someone you would least expect to win. If forced to bet, I would lay my money on Chechen Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov.

True, many Russians abhor the Chechens and fear Kadyrov. This, however, has never been an impediment to ruling Russia — going back to the Varangian Rus principalities of the 9th century. The Russian yearning for a strong hand has always trumped mere ethnic prejudice. Russia’s most respected monarch was Catherine the Great, a German. The most adored Soviet leader — and the most hated as well — was a “person of a Caucasus nationality,” Josef Stalin.

Kadyrov is the only politician in Russia with an independent power base. He commands a battle-hardened militia that might be the strongest fighting force in the country. He has influence in the Kremlin, which relies on him for the pacification of Chechnya and has given him more autonomy than previous “separatist” Chechen leaders. September’s violent backlash against Chechens in Karelia has shown how widespread the diaspora has become.

In fact, the murder on Oct. 7 of journalist Anna Politkovskaya, who was highly critical of the government, might be a sign that someone in Moscow also sees Kadyrov as a contender. Politovskaya certainly wasn’t killed because of her investigative reporting. In Russia as in the United States today’s docile voters ignore the lies, corruption and outright crimes committed by their leaders. Back in 1994, Russian generals could still fear public exposure of their thievery by reporter Dmitry Kholodov, for which he was murdered. They couldn’t care less about it now.

Needless to say, Politkovskaya’s actual murderers will never be brought to justice. But some Chechens might get arrested for it — as was the case with murdered U.S. journalist Paul Klebnikov. They may implicate Kadyrov — whose use of torture in Chechnya Politkovskaya was investigating — but only if he gets too big for his breeches.

Thanks for reading La Russophobe !

The Kremlin’s Coming Succession Crisis

The Moscow Times’ Alexei Bayer explains how the Kremlin has utterly destroyed even its own idea of how Russia should be governed. Have things really gotten so psychotic in Russia, and so fast, that it’s rational for Bayer to speculate that Ramzan Kadyrov, puppet ruler of Chechnya, could become the next “president” of Russia. You bet they have. People laughed when Yeltsin said Putin would be the next “president,” but it happened, and now he has a 70%+ approval rating. They dismissed the speculation of some that Alexander Lukashenko, maniacal dicator of Belarus, could take over the reins of power as part of a Russo-Belarus union. But they didn’t laugh. If Putin didn’t give the order that killed Anna Politkovskaya, then Kadyrov sure did. Could he be the next ruler of Russia? Who would stop him? The same person who stopped Putin?

The repression of Georgians and the resumption of contract killings should remove any doubts about the nature of today’s Russia. It is not a stable “vertical of power,” but an opaque and shifting bureaucratic morass.

This reality makes a mockery of any ideas of an orderly transfer of power in 2008, when President Vladimir Putin maintains he will step down. It leaves the two heirs apparent, First Deputy Pime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov, dangerously exposed.

Even though Russia’s democracy in the 1990s was undoubtedly flawed, it had some genuine political pluralism. Individuals outside the Kremlin wielded power and authority, based on wealth, regional connections or even voter support.

All of this has been stomped out. Today, the president has a monopoly on power — so much so that his whims, peeves and dislikes instantly become national policy. Presumed successors can’t accumulate any power of their own without it becoming a personal affront to Putin. While the two sitting ducks share the limelight, the real contestants jockey for position in the shadows of Putin’s throne.

Unlike the Soviet Union, where these power struggles occurred within the framework of the Communist Party, Putin’s system has shoddy institutional underpinnings. The United Russia party was an afterthought, created to service existing arrangements. Its manifesto is to support the president, or rather Putin personally. Russia’s elites are a web of loose alliances in which ultimately it’s every man for himself.

The succession prize will likely go to a dark horse — someone you would least expect to win. If forced to bet, I would lay my money on Chechen Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov.

True, many Russians abhor the Chechens and fear Kadyrov. This, however, has never been an impediment to ruling Russia — going back to the Varangian Rus principalities of the 9th century. The Russian yearning for a strong hand has always trumped mere ethnic prejudice. Russia’s most respected monarch was Catherine the Great, a German. The most adored Soviet leader — and the most hated as well — was a “person of a Caucasus nationality,” Josef Stalin.

Kadyrov is the only politician in Russia with an independent power base. He commands a battle-hardened militia that might be the strongest fighting force in the country. He has influence in the Kremlin, which relies on him for the pacification of Chechnya and has given him more autonomy than previous “separatist” Chechen leaders. September’s violent backlash against Chechens in Karelia has shown how widespread the diaspora has become.

In fact, the murder on Oct. 7 of journalist Anna Politkovskaya, who was highly critical of the government, might be a sign that someone in Moscow also sees Kadyrov as a contender. Politovskaya certainly wasn’t killed because of her investigative reporting. In Russia as in the United States today’s docile voters ignore the lies, corruption and outright crimes committed by their leaders. Back in 1994, Russian generals could still fear public exposure of their thievery by reporter Dmitry Kholodov, for which he was murdered. They couldn’t care less about it now.

Needless to say, Politkovskaya’s actual murderers will never be brought to justice. But some Chechens might get arrested for it — as was the case with murdered U.S. journalist Paul Klebnikov. They may implicate Kadyrov — whose use of torture in Chechnya Politkovskaya was investigating — but only if he gets too big for his breeches.

Thanks for reading La Russophobe !

The Kremlin’s Coming Succession Crisis

The Moscow Times’ Alexei Bayer explains how the Kremlin has utterly destroyed even its own idea of how Russia should be governed. Have things really gotten so psychotic in Russia, and so fast, that it’s rational for Bayer to speculate that Ramzan Kadyrov, puppet ruler of Chechnya, could become the next “president” of Russia. You bet they have. People laughed when Yeltsin said Putin would be the next “president,” but it happened, and now he has a 70%+ approval rating. They dismissed the speculation of some that Alexander Lukashenko, maniacal dicator of Belarus, could take over the reins of power as part of a Russo-Belarus union. But they didn’t laugh. If Putin didn’t give the order that killed Anna Politkovskaya, then Kadyrov sure did. Could he be the next ruler of Russia? Who would stop him? The same person who stopped Putin?

The repression of Georgians and the resumption of contract killings should remove any doubts about the nature of today’s Russia. It is not a stable “vertical of power,” but an opaque and shifting bureaucratic morass.

This reality makes a mockery of any ideas of an orderly transfer of power in 2008, when President Vladimir Putin maintains he will step down. It leaves the two heirs apparent, First Deputy Pime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov, dangerously exposed.

Even though Russia’s democracy in the 1990s was undoubtedly flawed, it had some genuine political pluralism. Individuals outside the Kremlin wielded power and authority, based on wealth, regional connections or even voter support.

All of this has been stomped out. Today, the president has a monopoly on power — so much so that his whims, peeves and dislikes instantly become national policy. Presumed successors can’t accumulate any power of their own without it becoming a personal affront to Putin. While the two sitting ducks share the limelight, the real contestants jockey for position in the shadows of Putin’s throne.

Unlike the Soviet Union, where these power struggles occurred within the framework of the Communist Party, Putin’s system has shoddy institutional underpinnings. The United Russia party was an afterthought, created to service existing arrangements. Its manifesto is to support the president, or rather Putin personally. Russia’s elites are a web of loose alliances in which ultimately it’s every man for himself.

The succession prize will likely go to a dark horse — someone you would least expect to win. If forced to bet, I would lay my money on Chechen Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov.

True, many Russians abhor the Chechens and fear Kadyrov. This, however, has never been an impediment to ruling Russia — going back to the Varangian Rus principalities of the 9th century. The Russian yearning for a strong hand has always trumped mere ethnic prejudice. Russia’s most respected monarch was Catherine the Great, a German. The most adored Soviet leader — and the most hated as well — was a “person of a Caucasus nationality,” Josef Stalin.

Kadyrov is the only politician in Russia with an independent power base. He commands a battle-hardened militia that might be the strongest fighting force in the country. He has influence in the Kremlin, which relies on him for the pacification of Chechnya and has given him more autonomy than previous “separatist” Chechen leaders. September’s violent backlash against Chechens in Karelia has shown how widespread the diaspora has become.

In fact, the murder on Oct. 7 of journalist Anna Politkovskaya, who was highly critical of the government, might be a sign that someone in Moscow also sees Kadyrov as a contender. Politovskaya certainly wasn’t killed because of her investigative reporting. In Russia as in the United States today’s docile voters ignore the lies, corruption and outright crimes committed by their leaders. Back in 1994, Russian generals could still fear public exposure of their thievery by reporter Dmitry Kholodov, for which he was murdered. They couldn’t care less about it now.

Needless to say, Politkovskaya’s actual murderers will never be brought to justice. But some Chechens might get arrested for it — as was the case with murdered U.S. journalist Paul Klebnikov. They may implicate Kadyrov — whose use of torture in Chechnya Politkovskaya was investigating — but only if he gets too big for his breeches.

Thanks for reading La Russophobe !

A postcard primer on nuclear weapons

In about 1965, the United States stopped increasing the number of its deployed nuclear weapons, having reached just over 30,000 of them. Every year since then, the U.S. has reduced its stockpile of deployed nuclear weapons, or held it constant, so that today it has fallen by 2/3 from its high-water mark and the U.S. maintains a strikeforce of just over 10,000.

The USSR, however, continued adding to its stockpile for twenty years after the U.S. stopped doing so, and indeed halted the expansion only when it went bankrupt and collapsed. By the late 1980s, when the U.S. arsenal held just over 20,000 weapons, the Russian arsenal was twice as large, over 40,000. It plummeted precipitously after the USSR collapsed, and today the U.S. force is slightly larger than Russia’s. More than half of all the nuclear weapons that exist in the world today are either active or inactive Russian weapons.

Source: Time magazine, October 23 issue, pages 34-35, relying on the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Thanks for reading La Russophobe !

Russia to World: Drop Dead!

Business Day reports that Russia will block the world’s efforts to control the rogue state of Iran’s acquisition of nuclear weapons through the U.N., not suprising since Russia is the one selling nuclear technology to Iran:

Russia stuck to its guns on Iran at the weekend, saying it would definitely block any United Nations (UN) Security Council resolution to sanction Iran for its nuclear programme.

The European Union said on Tuesday that its diplomatic effort had failed to curb Iran’s nuclear programme and the UN should act on US-led demands for sanctions. A resolution to impose limited sanctions on Iran might come before the security council this week, Russian state television reported yesterday.

However, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Saturday that Russia would veto any such move because there was no evidence the country was developing nuclear weapons. “We will oppose any attempts to use the security council to punish Iran or use Iran’s nuclear programme to promote the removal of the regime there,” Lavrov said in an interview.

Russia holds a veto in the security council as one of its five permanent members.

Iran ignored an August 31 UN deadline for halting enrichment.

There were “questions” Iran had not answered and Russia was urging it to do that, Lavrov said.

Iran’s foreign minister said on Saturday Iran had invited western representatives for discussions of why Tehran was continuing uranium enrichment in the face of international sanctions threats.

Iran has insisted its nuclear intentions are peaceful, but analysts fear Iran is being duplicitous in dealing with the UN. Iran has held several meetings on its programme, but has failed to convince negotiators that its longer term goals are not towards a nuclear bomb.

“We don’t see any logic to suspending uranium enrichment. Enrichment of uranium by Iran is a legal action derived from its membership rights in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty,” said Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki. “But we are ready to hold talks about the reason for enrichment,” he said.

Iran has been locked in a standoff with the west over its nuclear programme. French Defence Minister Michele Alliot-Marie said on Friday her country would be willing to suspend the drive for sanctions if Iran took steps to resolve questions over its nuclear programme. France also has veto power on the security council.

Thanks for reading La Russophobe !

Madrid Club Blasts Neo-Soviet Russia

Georgia Messenger reports:

The Madrid Club, an independent democracy promotion international organisation made up of 68 distinguished former heads of state and government from around the world, unanimously passed a decree on October 21, condemning the ongoing anti-Georgian campaign in Russia. Addressing the Club, Georgian Speaker of Parliament, Nino Burjanadze, said that Russia had been attempting to misinform the international community about the current crisis. “It is very important that everybody-the political elite and the rest of society-to know what the main problem really is,” Burjanadze said.

Speaking about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s Friday meeting with EU leaders-where Putin laid the blame for the crisis firmly with Georgia-she said “Yesterday, at the European Union summit, an attempt to re-accent the problem was undertaken. To tell you the truth, I found out for the first time that there are no problems between Georgia and Russia. It appears that the economic blockade and sanctions against Georgia have been introduced not by Russia, but by someone else,” Burjanadze told Georgian journalists on Friday. Burjanadze stressed that the international community should know the truth about the situation, noting “people that have serious moral and political authority, whose words carry a lot of weight in their country and internationally, are well represented in the Madrid Club.”

The former heads of state who make up the club passed a joint resolution saying that “Russia must not pressurise small countries”. Javier Solana, the European Commissioner for Foreign Affairs arrived in Madrid following the EU-Russia informal summit in Lahti, Finland. He called for Saakashvili and Putin to hold talks.

Thanks for reading La Russophobe !