The Obama years: World arms sales up 14 percent in past 5 years.

The Obama years: World arms sales up 14 percent in past 5 years. (DailyStar).

A Swedish think tank says global arms exports increased 14 percent during the five years to 2015, with the U.S. retaining top position after its sales grew 27 percent from the previous five-year period.

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute says sales from the next biggest exporters, Russia and China, also increased but fell for numbers 4 and 5, France and Germany.

The top five exporters accounted for 74 percent of all arms sales, with the U.S. and Russia supplying a total of 58 percent.

The think tank said in its report Monday that China saw the largest growth during the five-year period of 88 percent.

The five biggest weapons importers were India, Saudi Arabia, China, the United Arab Emirates and Australia.

Russian Dep For Min Ryabkov: We Will Not At This Time Be Returning To Nuclear Arms Reduction Talks With U.S.

Russian Dep For Min Sergey Ryabkov: We Will Not At This Time Be Returning To Nuclear Arms Reduction Talks With U.S. Under 'New START' Treaty. (Memri).

To mark the fifth anniversary of the New START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty), which was signed in April 2010 and came into force on February 5, 2011, U.S. National Security Advisor Susan Rice stated: "We look forward to full implementation of the Treaty and continue to call on Russia to answer the President's invitation five years ago to begin talks on further reductions to our nuclear arsenals."[1]

Ryabkov to the effect that Russia will not at this time be returning to nuclear arms reduction talks with the U.S.   

In an interview, Ryabkov explained Russia's rejection of Security Advisor Rice's call, outlining two reasons: First, the U.S. is stepping up its military capability by developing its anti-missile defense system and its Prompt Global Strike (PGS) precision conventional weapons program, and second, the U.S. is currently undermining the Russian defense industry through its sanctions against Russia.

Following are excerpts from statements by Ryabkov, from interviews with the TASS[2] and Russia Today[3] news agencies and from reports in the Russian daily Kommersant[4] on this issue.

In a February 6, 2016 interview, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Ryabkov told Russia Today: "The Russian side's position regarding the possibility of further negotiations on the [New] START, and regarding nuclear arms reduction in general, hasn't changed. We have reached the point where further bilateral Russian-American negotiations in this field are not possible."

He added that Russia would only consider resuming negotiations if the above mentioned circumstances changed, and if the parties to the talks come to the dialogue as "equal sovereign states."

The same day, commentator Michael Belyaev wrote in Kommersant that the main reason for this Russian position is that "in light of the current U.S. policy towards Russia, the U.S. proposals are [an attempt] to impose a game by 'American rules' – There is no way that such a proposal can be seriously considered."

Iran supreme leader’s adviser had 'sudden' meeting with Russian defense minister.

Iran supreme leader’s adviser had 'sudden' meeting with Russian defense minister. (Taz).

Ali Akbar Velayati, advisor to Iran’s supreme leader, intends to meet with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu in Moscow Feb. 3, RIA Novosti reported citing a source in Iranian delegation visiting Russia.

“Velayati plans to meet with Shoigu in the afternoon,” said the source. “The meeting was not planned in advance,” the source added, noting that the decision on holding it was taken Feb. 3.

Velayati has been on a visit to Moscow from Feb. 1.

He has recently met with Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev, Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov and Russia’s special envoy on Syria, Alexander Lavrentiev.


Velayati has been recently reported to say that Tehran is ready to develop strategic partnership with Russia in all the spheres, adding there are all conditions to accelerate economic cooperation.

Related:

President #Putin: #Russia, #Iran having strategic ties. https://t.co/sl69V9xFA6

— MFS - The Other News (@MFS001) February 4, 2016

"CHANGE" - Russian ministry of foreign affairs calls Obama 'admin' the 'Washington regime'.

"CHANGE" - Russian ministry of foreign affairs calls Obama 'admin' the 'Washington regime'. (Mid.ru). [GoogleTranslate].

Comment of the Russian Foreign Ministry regarding the continuing anti-Russian attacks by the U.S. Administration:

Judging by the unrelenting campaign of defamation against Russia organized by the American administration, blatant lies are increasingly being relied upon there to conduct foreign policy. Take for one the new statements by the U.S. President’s press secretary, Josh Earnest, who directly accuses our country of destroying the Malaysian Airlines airliner over Ukraine.

As is now Washington’s wont, in corroboration never mind evidence, not even simple references to facts are adduced, which one could consider and comment on. Everything in Washington is limited to mentioning certain “intelligence data” that cannot in any way be presented, and what is completely absurd, “information in social media”. In other words, the Washington regime in their constructs bases itself on anti-Russian conjectures gathered on the Internet that do not correspond to reality. Who is littering the Web with such rubbish is clear: the same Washington, and probably also Kyiv.

Nevertheless, a number of questions arise for the American side, which is increasingly isolating itself from the possibility of adequately understanding anything apart from its own schemes and conclusions. Before appointing “guilty ones,” the USA should answer the ten questions from the Russian Defense Ministry and the twenty-two questions posed through the Russian Federal Air Transport Agency. Why does Washington then remain silent? Apparently because Washington has nothing to reply. Or because the response boils down to one word: “sanctions”.

We will get through this, but it is deplorable that at the same time the USA is continuing to push Kyiv towards crushing the dissatisfaction of the Russian-speaking population by force. There is only one conclusion: the administration of B. Obama bears its share of responsibility for the internal conflict in Ukraine and its grave consequences.More here.

"CHANGE" - Russia may join forces with China to compete with US, European satnavs.

"CHANGE" - Russia may join forces with China to compete with US, European satnavs. (RT).

Russia and China are eyeing a number of joint high-tech projects, ranging from creation of a new long-range passenger plane to joining forces on a satellite navigation system to compete with American GPS and European Galileo.

The range of prospects was outlined on Friday by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, who met Chinese Vice-Premier Wang Yang in Siberian Novosibirsk. Rogozin said Russia would develop cooperation with BRICS members in defiance of any possible Western sanctions.

“Our technological partnership should be directed at the countries that are close to us in mentality and which in general constitute an emerging geopolitical force that we could rely on in opposing the monopolar world. Those are BRICS countries first and foremost,” he said.

BRICS are an informal group of developing economies comprised of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, with a combined economic and political power allowing them to defend their interests in a world dominated by US-led Western countries. Rogozin set examples of several joint projects Russia has or may have with China. The most concrete is the project for a new long-range wide-hull airliner with an estimated development cost of $7-8 billion. Russia and China have already signed a memorandum on it in May.

Rogozin’s shot was aimed at both American GPS, which was the focus of a recent fallout between Russia and the US, and the European Galileo.

He also commented on Russia’s downgrade of the work of ground stations of the Differential GPS network based in the Russian territory. This week’s move was Moscow’s response to Washington’s failure to allow deployment of similar Glonass stations in America.

“When we have 11 American GPS stations operating in Russia since early 1990s, we are entitled to expect a right to deploy similar Glonass stations in the US,” Rogozin said.

“But here we faced an obvious trend to politicize the issue. There were some statements that the Russian stations would act as some sort of spies.” He added that he hopes Washington would change its mind and seek a compromise by September 1.Read the full story here.

Russia will respond to increased NATO activity near border, says top general.

Russia will respond to increased NATO activity near border, says top general.(Taz).

Russia's top general said on Friday that Moscow would retaliate against increased NATO activity near its border as tensions with the western alliance over Ukraine escalate, Reuters reported.

Since Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimea region, NATO has moved to reassure its nervous eastern European allies. Ships and planes have been temporarily deployed to their countries and military exercises in the region stepped up.

"NATO's military groupings in the Baltic states, Poland and Romania are being built up, as well as the military presence of the bloc in the Baltic, Mediterranean and Black Sea," General Valery Gerasimov, the chief of general staff of the Russian armed forces, told a defense conference in Moscow.

"The intensity, the operational and combat readiness of the alliance's troops is being increased near the Russian border. In these circumstances ... we have to take retaliatory measures."

Russia has long been wary of the expansion of the military bloc of 28 nations into eastern Europe, with President Vladimir Putin saying last month that his annexation of Crimea was partly influenced by NATO enlargement.

The crisis in Ukraine - which holds a presidential election on Sunday seen as crucial for its fragile democracy - has left ties between Russia and the Western alliance at their lowest ebb since the Cold War.

NATO last month suspended all practical cooperation with Russia to protest its absorption of Crimea.
But despite tension over Ukraine, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said earlier this month that the bloc does not expect to base large numbers of new combat troops in eastern Europe.

Related:

Russia delivers first batch of some 100 "T-90C" tanks to Azerbaijan

Dep PM Rogozin: "Moscow to ban US from using Russian rocket engines for military launches."

Rogozin holding a speech with The far-right Union of Orthodox Banner

Dep PM Rogozin: "Moscow to ban US from using Russian rocket engines for military launches."(RT).

Moscow is banning Washington from using Russian-made rocket engines, which the US has used to deliver its military satellites into orbit, said Russia’s Deputy PM, Dmitry Rogozin, who is in charge of space and defense industries.

According to Rogozin, Russia is also halting the operation of all American GPS stations on its territory from June 1.

Russia currently hosts 11 ground-based GPS stations, the Deputy PM said.

The move comes after the US refused to place a signal correction station for Russia’s own space-based satellite navigation system, GLONASS, on American territory, he explained.   Hmmmm.....Rogozin 'a man i've been warning about for a long time.....a man with a vision'

"RESET" - Russian Navy to Get 40 New Ships in 2014.

"RESET" - Russian Navy to Get 40 New Ships in 2014.(RN).

Russia’s Navy is expected to receive 40 new warships and auxiliary vessels in 2014, a high-ranking official said Friday.

In addition to surface ships of various classes, the navy will also commission the third Borey-class nuclear powered ballistic missile submarine, the Vladimir Monomakh, and a Varshavyanka-class diesel electric submarine, Rear Admiral Viktor Bursuk, a deputy commander of the Russian navy, said.

Bursuk, who oversees weapons procurement for the navy, said that Russia will continue the repair and overhaul of the Admiral Nakhimov nuclear-powered missile cruiser and three nuclear-powered attack submarines this year.

The Kirov-class cruiser, known as the Kalinin until 1992, was commissioned in 1989 and mothballed in 1999. It has since been docked for upgrades at the Sevmash shipyard in the northern Russian city of Severodvinsk, on the White Sea.

The Admiral Nakhimov is expected to rejoin the Russian navy in 2018 with the most advanced weapons systems for its vessel type, the Sevmash shipyard said in June last year.

Auxiliary ships to be commissioned by the end of 2014 include the Igor Belousov, an advanced search-and-rescue ship designed to boost the navy’s ability to rescue submarines and ships in distress, Bursuk said.

"Reset" - Russian navy boosted with new nuclear attack submarine.

"Reset" - Russian navy boosted with new nuclear attack submarine.(RT).

The Severodvinsk had been under construction at the Sevmash shipyard in northern Russia since 1993.

“Yesterday the parent nuclear submarine of the Yasen-project has been handed over to the navy for trial operation,” Rogozin wrote on Twitter, confirming an earlier report by RIA-Novosti news agency.

The Severodvinsk is one of eight Yasen-class (Graney-class, according to NATO classification) attack subs ordered by the Russian navy.

The second and third boats of the series, the Kazan and the Novosibirsk, are currently under construction and will feature an updated design.

The Severodvinsk has a submerged displacement of 13,800 tons, length of 119 meters, speed of 31 knots, and can dive to 600 meters.

The boat is able to host of 90 submariners, including 32 officers.

Its main armament consists of 24 Oniks (SS-N-26) and Kalibr (SS-N-27) cruise missiles, self-guided torpedoes and mines.

On Monday, the Northern Fleet also said that the Smolensk, a Project 949A (Oscar II-class) nuclear-powered attack submarine, had rejoined the fleet after two years of repairs and upgrading at the Zvyozdochka shipyard in northern Russia.

Built in 1990, the Smolensk has a length of 155 meters, displacement of up to 24,000 tons, operating depth of 600 meters, and maximum submerged speed of 32 knots.

The boat is armed with 24 P-700 Granit (SS-N-19 Shipwreck) supersonic cruise missiles with a range of 550 kilometers (300 nautical miles).

Another Oscar II-class attack submarine, the Voronezh, returned to the Northern Fleet this November 2011 after undergoing similar upgrades.Hmmmm....Dep PM Rogozin tweeted also New year wishes for NATO:

"RESET" - 'Nuclear train' returns: Russia to deploy rail-based missiles to counter US 'Prompt Global Strike'

"RESET" - 'Nuclear train' returns: Russia to deploy rail-based missiles to counter US 'Prompt Global Strike'.(RT).

“A Defense Ministry report has been submitted to the president and the order has been given to develop a preliminary design of a rail-mounted missile system,” the commander of the Strategic Missile Force, Lt. Gen. Sergey Karakayev, said Wednesday, RIA Novosti news agency reported.

General Karakayev compared a potential power of a “nuclear train” with several missiles to a division of stationery silo-based intercontinental ballistic missiles.
“Our missile officers are frustrated that we don’t possess such a system today,” Karakayev said Wednesday. “When the Supreme Commander-in-Chief [President Vladimir Putin] asked me about it, I expressed full support in the railroad-based missile systems.”

Russia used to possess the intercontinental ballistic missile system RT-24 Yars (NATO designation: SS-24 Scalpel) disguised as an ordinary freight train, inherited from the Soviet Union. With Russia’s extremely vast railroad system, detection and preemptive destruction of that system was extremely difficult.

“We see the future missile as solid-fueled, with multiple warheads – with RT-24 Yars as a prototype. We are talking of modifying missiles that are to weigh 47 tons. To compare, a missile in the old nuclear train weighed 110 tons,” Karakayev said.

Within the framework of the START-II nuclear arms reduction treaty with the US, signed by President Boris Yeltsin and his US counterpart, George H. W. Bush in 1993, the SS-24 Scalpel system was decommissioned and all launching platforms were destroyed by 2007.

The ‘New START’ treaty signed by presidents Dmitry Medvedev and Barack Obama in 2011 does not limit the use of railway-based systems, so in 2012 Russia reconsidered development of a new version of a railway-based strategic missile system.

One year later, Russia’s Defense Ministry announced the new railroad missile system would be developed by the Moscow Institute of Thermal Technology – the same institute that developed the sea-based Bulava nuclear missile for the latest generation of Borey-class submarine strategic nuclear missile carriers.

The Institute is expected to present a blueprint of the system within the next six months.

The project is aimed at countering the threat posed by the US Conventional Prompt Global Strike concept. This concept implies destroying stationary targets with hypersonic missiles armed with conventional warheads in any part of the planet within an hour of receiving an order.

A constantly moving “nuclear train” is viewed as a hard target for that still-being-developed system.

Last week, Russia’s Deputy PM Dmitry Rogozin, who oversees the Russian military and defense industry, called America’s Conventional Prompt Global Strike concept “the most important new strategy being developed by the United States today.” Rogozin warned that in case Russia becomes a target of such a strike, “in certain circumstances we will of course respond with nuclear weapons.”

Recently, Rogozin also announced that Russia was developing strike hypersonic missiles itself.Hmmmm.....Welcome to the "Changed Obama World"...... the Obama legacy to your children and grandchildren.

New Russian Ballistic Missile Sub Alexander Nevsky to Join Fleet.

New Russian Ballistic Missile Sub Alexander Nevsky to Join Fleet.(RN).

The second new Borey class ballistic missile submarine will enter Russian Navy service on Saturday, a defense industry source has told RIA Novosti.

“The commissioning of the ship into the fleet, as well as a flag-raising ceremony on the ballistic missile submarine Alexander Nevsky, is planned for December 21,” the source told RIA. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu will attend the ceremony at the Sevmash shipyard in the northern city of Severodvinsk.

The Defense Ministry said last month that delivery of the boat would be delayed until 2014 following the failure of an onboard missile system during sea trials in September. The malfunction was the latest in a string of eight failures of the new Bulava missile – developed for the new Borey class submarines – out of a total of 19 or 20 launches.

The new Borey class boats are currently incapable of performing their primary role of nuclear deterrence while the Bulava has not yet been cleared for service, a navy command source said on November 1.
The Alexander Nevsky, with a length of nearly two football fields, can carry sixteen Bulava missiles, each fitted with up to ten independently-targetable nuclear warheads. The first ship of the Borey class, the Yury Dolgoruky, entered service in January.

Ballistic missile submarines comprise one leg of Russia’s strategic nuclear triad along with land-based ICBMs and the bomber force.

The Borey is Russia’s first post-Soviet ballistic missile submarine class and will form the mainstay of the strategic submarine fleet, replacing aging Typhoon, Delta-3 and Delta-4 class boats. Russia ultimately expects eight of the type to enter service by 2020. The third boat in the class, the Vladimir Monomakh, is expected to be launched for manufacturer’s acceptance trials this month.Hmmmm......'RESET'.

Russia confirmes that it has deployed tactical ballistic missiles near its borders with NATO.

Russia confirmes that it has deployed tactical ballistic missiles near its borders with NATO.(RN).

Russia confirmed Monday that it has deployed tactical ballistic missiles near its borders with NATO but said the move did not violate international agreements.

Bild newspaper in Germany reported over the weekend that Russia had “quietly” moved 10 Iskander-M (SS-26 Stone) missile systems into its Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad and along its border with the Baltic States and NATO members Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The deployment marks the realization of threats from Moscow to respond with a firm gesture to NATO plans to place elements of the so-called European missile shield close to Russian borders.

“The deployment of Iskander missile battalions on the territory of the Western Military District does not violate any respective international agreements,” ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said.

Konashenkov declined to provide details on the number of deployed missiles or their specific locations. The Iskander-M is a mobile theater missile system equipped with two solid-propellant single-stage 9M723K1 guided missiles with "quasi-ballistic" capability.

With its reported effective range of 400 kilometers (250 miles), the Iskander does not fall into the category of intermediate-range nuclear missiles banned by the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty between Russia and the United States. The missiles deployed in Kaliningrad could hit NATO targets located in Poland, Lithuania and even in Germany, however. Hmmmm......Leading from behind the golf course.

Someone knows it's coming - Russian Students to bear arms instead of taking summer holidays.

Someone knows it's coming - Students to bear arms instead of taking summer holidays.(RT).

Russia’s Ministry of Defense is in talks with the country’s leading educational institutions trying to find a way to kill two birds with one stone: to have graduates with true military service experience who could become reliable reserve officers, Vedomosti daily reports.

A group of chancellors from leading universities has proposed that students studying in faculties of interest to the military should do army service for three summertime months for three consecutive years.

This would mean that engineers-to-be would do service relative to their education plan, getting acquainted with equipment and vehicles they might have to deal with if D-day comes.

To prevent students from over fatigue, the plan also build in prolongation of the four-year Bachelor's program by half a year so that students can have vacations.

The source of the Vedomosti daily close to the Ministry of Defense says the project would be opened to public discussion.

Delivering his annual address to the Federal Assembly last Thursday, President Vladimir Putin mentioned that the country should “think about creating a well-trained military reserve” of mainly technical specialists.

The Russian president suggested changing the way military education and training is conducted in universities without abolishing the draft deferment for students.
“Every student would go through the basics of military training as part of their education and acquire a military skill,” Putin said, demanding that the government and the Security Council present “specific ideas” regarding the establishment of such a system that would allow the army to have technically educated and military trained reserve officers.

Last Thursday, deputy Minister of Defense, Nikolay Pankov, revealed that the Ministry supports the idea of ‘deferred service’.
“We don’t reject such ideas, we scrutinize them and we are ready to work in this direction,” Pankov told journalists.

In the meantime the Russian Students Union does not welcome the idea because such service would “have a detrimental effect on their performance and on professional training as such”.

The head of the Union, Artem Khromov, explained to the Interfax news agency that the actual summer vacation only lasts a month and a half, whereas the first half of the summer is a hard time for students, who attend summer classes and undergo obligatory on-the-job training.

The Ministry of Economic Development opposed the project, claiming it is excessively expensive and does not guarantee that a student would finalize his military education.

Anyway such innovation can’t be introduced throughout the country without a test period.

Today only about 30 Russian universities possess military faculties, yet graduates who attain officer rank haven’t done service since 2009, when military reform cut down service personnel by thousands of officers.

"Reset" - Russian submarines outfitted to break thick Arctic ice.

"Reset" - Russian submarines outfitted to break thick Arctic ice.(RBTH).

By 2016, Russian submarines will have the ability to cut through thick, Arctic ice without damaging the ship’s housing during rapid surfacing, thanks to a new design that puts advanced technology on the boats.

The new technology for the submarines will allow subs to quickly surface for Arctic missions or to rescue the crew in case of an accident, according to the Central Design Bureau for Marine Engineering in charge of the new submarine design.

Current submarine design does not allow the ship to break the ice to emerge quickly without damage to the housing. Igor Kurdin, the former commander of the nuclear submarine Yekaterinburg and the chairman of the St. Petersburg Submariners' Club, said that to exit the boat on a surface covered by ice, there are two ways: surfacing without at a very slow speed or, as an extreme case, on-the-go breaking the ice with the ship’s housing.

"Surfacing on-the-go is fraught with injuries to the housing, sliding devices, sonar system and torpedo tubes. Today cases of ice breaking on-the-go are unknown, but surfacing without speed is a regular maneuver often used,” Kurdin said.

Before surfacing in normal mode, the boat "hangs" in the water, and then begins to rise very slowly - the rate of several centimeters per minute, he said. To ensure a safe ascent while moving, the wheelhouse and the bow of the boat have to be strengthened, since these parts take the blow.

 The new additions will have management software that searched for the thinnest area of ice, as well as an apparatus that works to clear the housing of ice fractures from the deck as the ship rises. Kurdin said that missile silos, the most important strategic parts of the submarine, are often enclosed by ice while surfacing, so the new design should solve this problem.

"Surfacing from the ice is done for only one purpose - for the application of nuclear missile attack from a surface position. This is done only in the Arctic regions. After surfacing when people come on deck, the whole deck is in huge blocks of ice," Kudrin said.

U.S. tactical nuclear weapons must be withdrawn from Europe - Russian Defense Ministry.

U.S. tactical nuclear weapons must be withdrawn from Europe - Russian Defense Ministry.(RBTH).

Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov has called for withdrawal of U.S. tactical nuclear armaments from the territories of non-nuclear countries and dismantlement of the related infrastructure."As an expert on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) I have a question why nuclear armaments are deployed on the territories of non-nuclear countries. What is the nuclear weaponry control system of NATO states? In my opinion, this is a violation of Articles 1 and 2 of the NPT," the deputy minister told reporters on Wednesday.

Article 1 of the NPT prohibits nuclear powers to transfer nuclear armaments to non-nuclear countries or to entrust them with control over such weapons. Article 2 prohibits non-nuclear states to acquire and use nuclear weapons.
"How does the concept of joint use of nuclear weapons look in this context? NATO states refuse to discuss this issue under the pretext this is an internal affair of the alliance and deny their violation of the NPT provisions," the deputy minister said.

Tactical nuclear weapons deployed in NATO states in Europe may be rapidly relocated towards Russian borders, which actually makes them strategic, he said.
At the same time, Russia is incapable of rapid delivery of its non-strategic nuclear weapons to the U.S. territory and these weapons do not endanger U.S. security, Antonov noted.
"We think that the United States and, obviously, NATO countries must decide on the withdrawal of U.S. nuclear weapons to the U.S. territory. But this would not be enough. There is also military industrial and technological infrastructure in West European countries. We think this infrastructure should be destroyed," Antonov said.Hmmm......Flexibility Russian style......Bend over Comrade.Read the full story here.

Snowden Asylum Request: Another Blow to Obama’s Russia “Reset” Policy.

Snowden Asylum Request: Another Blow to Obama’s Russia “Reset” Policy.HT: Heritage.

Last Sunday, a Russian consular official confirmed that former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden asked for political asylum in Russia. Snowden’s defection, announced after a week in Moscow, may be not an impulsive act but a thoroughly pre-planned operation.

The Interfax news agency cited Kim Shevchenko, duty officer at the Russian Foreign Ministry’s consular office at Sheremetyevo airport, as saying that a Snowden representative filed his request Sunday.
Russia is likely to grant the asylum, judging by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s response. “Russia never hands over anybody anywhere and has no intention of doing so,” Putin told a news conference in Moscow. However, Putin has one condition, which suggests that he is trying to manage U.S.–Russian differences and avoid escalation.
The BBC reported that Putin, mindful of his summit with President Obama in September, said that if Snowden “wants to remain here there is one condition—he should stop his work aimed at inflicting damage on our American partners no matter how strange this may sound coming from me.”
Putin declared that Snowden “is not our agent and does not cooperate with us” and further noted that the Russian intelligence services “never worked with him and are not working with him now.” Putin’s press conference occurred around the same time President Obama confirmed to reporters that Washington had held “high level” discussions with Russia about Snowden.
If Snowden defects to Russia, he is likely to live out a life of isolation, as did two other young NSA defectors, William Hamilton Martin and Bernon F. Mitchell, who defected in 1960.
Earlier, Nikolai Patrushev, a Putin confidante and secretary of the Russian National Security Council, said that both Presidents Obama and Putin had told the directors of their intelligence services to seek a resolution to the standoff over Snowden. This may explain the unannounced visit by CIA Director John Brennan to Moscow on June 21–22. Patrushev also told Russian media that Russia’s Federal Security Service and the FBI had been told to “keep in contact and find solutions” but warned there was no simple solution to the situation.

Nevertheless, suspicions abound. Snowden himself declared that he went to work for Booz Allen with the intention of gaining evidence of U.S. wrongdoings. Presumably, he had to pass a polygraph test. Presumably, he passed that test. The obvious question therefore arises whether Snowden was trained in beating polygraphs and, if so, by whom.

Initially, when leaving Hong Kong, Snowden had announced that he was travelling to Ecuador. However, he remained in Moscow. Russia has already benefited from the damage that Snowden’s leaks caused to relations between the U.S. and its European allies.

Much will depend on whether the Kremlin answers Snowden’s asylum request positively. But regardless of the answer, the Snowden–Russian connection needs to be explored in depth. Finally, Snowden’s asylum request is complicating already damaged U.S.–Russian relations, proving once and for all that Obama’s much-publicized “reset” policy is DOA.

In other news:

Belarusian eco-socialist political party The Greens called on the country's President Alexander Lukashenko to grant asylum to former CIA intelligence employee Edward Snowden, who is currently believed to be hiding in Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport.

The party said in a statement that granting asylum to Snowden would be a "sincere act of support for a decent and honest man and proof that Belarusian foreign policy rests on principles of ethics".

The Greens claim that if Snowden was granted asylum in Belarus, the country would gain a specialist, "who will help to work out means of protection against penetration of foreign intelligence services into the private lives of Belarusian people".

 Belarusian Foreign Minister Andrei Savinykh said last week Snowden had not requested asylum in Belarus.

Video - "RESET" - Russian politicians Refused to Shake Obama's Hand (July 6-8, 2009).

" Flexibility" - Russian Nuclear Attack Sub Detected In Atlantic, Near East Coast.

" Flexibility" - Russian Nuclear Attack Sub Detected In Atlantic, Near East Coast.(WFB).A Russian nuclear-powered attack submarine cruised within 200 miles of the East Coast recently in the latest sign Russia is continuing to flex its naval and aerial power against the United States, defense officials said. The submarine was identified by its NATO designation as a Russian Seirra-2 class submarine believed to be based with Russia’s Northern Fleet.
It was the first time that class of Russian submarine had been detected near a U.S. coast, said officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of anti-submarine warfare efforts. One defense official said the submarine was believed to have been conducting anti-submarine warfare efforts against U.S. ballistic and cruise missile submarines based at Kings Bay, Georgia. A second official said the submarine did not sail close to Kings Bay and also did not threaten a U.S. aircraft carrier strike group that was conducting exercises in the eastern Atlantic.
Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base, north of Jacksonville, Fla., is homeport for two guided missile submarines and six nuclear missile submarines. The submarines are known to be a target of Russian attack submarines. Meanwhile, the officials also said that a Russian electronic intelligence-gathering vessel was granted safe harbor in the commercial port of Jacksonville, Fla., within listening range of Kings Bay. The Russian AGI ship, or Auxiliary-General Intelligence, was allowed to stay in the port to avoid the superstorm that battered the U.S. East Coast last week. A Jacksonville Port Authority spokeswoman had no immediate comment on the Russian AGI at the port. “A Russian AGI and an SSN in the same geographic area as one of the largest U.S. ballistic missile submarine bases-Kings Bay-is reminiscent of Cold War activities of the Soviet navy tracking the movements of our SSBN’s,” said a third U.S. official, referring to the designation for ballistic missile submarines, SSBN. “While I can’t talk about how we detected it, I can tell you that things worked the way they were supposed to,” the second official said, stating that the Russian submarine “poses no threat whatsoever.”Read the full story here.

"FLEXEBILITY" - Russia On Target To Float Out Five Warships Each Year.

"FLEXEBILITY" - Russia On Target To Float Out Five Warships Each Year.(RN).Russian shipyards will float out five combat and auxiliary ships for the Russian Navy each year in line with the existing shipbuilding program, Navy chief Adm. Viktor Chirkov said on Wednesday. “I think that we will be able to float out up to five warships and auxiliary ships every year,” Chirkov told reporters in St. Petersburg at the launch of the Igor Belousov sea-rescue ship, which is expected to be commissioned in 2014. The construction of the Igor Belousov started in 2005 at the Admiralty Shipyards in St. Petersburg but has faced a series of setbacks. The ship is designed to perform a variety of missions, including the search, rescue and salvage of submarines in distress. It is equipped with advanced deep-sea search-and-rescue equipment, including a deep-sea diving system produced by the Scottish firm DIVEX. Igor Belousov is the first rescue ship built in post-Soviet Russia. The vessel is vital for the Russian Navy as it still lacks reliable means to rescue submarines in distress. According to Chirkov, the ships of this type will be put in service with all Russian fleets. Russian President Vladimir Putin said last year that the procurement of new ships and submarines for the Navy would be a priority over the next decade. The Russian government has allocated five trillion rubles ($156 bln) or a quarter of the entire armament procurement budget until 2020 for this purpose. In addition to at least eight Borey class nuclear subs, the Navy will receive 14 frigates, 35 corvettes, six Buyan class small artillery ships and six Ivan Gren Class landing ships.Read the full story here.

"FLEXIBILITY" - Putin flexes muscle in big test of Russia's nuclear arsenal.(Yahoo).

"FLEXIBILITY" - Putin flexes muscle in big test of Russia's nuclear arsenal.(Yahoo).MOSCOW (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin took a leading role in the latest tests of Russia's strategic nuclear arsenal, the most comprehensive since the 1991 Soviet collapse, the Kremlin said on Saturday. The exercises, held mostly on Friday, featured prominently in news reports on state television which seemed aimed to show Russians and the world that Putin is the hands-on chief of a resurgent power. Tests involving command systems and all three components of the nuclear "triad" - land and sea-launched long-range nuclear missiles and strategic bombers - were conducted "under the personal leadership of Vladimir Putin", the Kremlin said.

An RS-12M Topol Intercontinental Ballistic Missile was launched from the Plesetsk site in northern Russia, and a submarine test-launched another ICBM from the Sea of Okhotsk, the Defence Ministry said. Long-range Tu-95 and Tu-160 bombers fired four guided missiles that hit their targets on a testing range in the northwestern Komi region, it said. 

"Exercises of the strategic nuclear forces were conducted on such a scale for the first time in the modern history of Russia," the Kremlin statement said. "Vladimir Putin gave a high evaluation to the combat units and crews and the work of the Armed Forces General Staff, which fulfilled the tasks before them and affirmed the reliability and effectiveness of Russia's nuclear forces." The exercises included tests of communications systems and "new algorithms" for command and control, it said. Russia says it is modernizing a nuclear arsenal that was largely created during the Cold War and will continue to use nuclear weapons as a key deterrent. In the 2010 New START treaty, Russia and the United States set lower numerical ceilings on the weapons tested in the exercise.Read the full story here.