RIA: U.S. Patriot missiles in Poland do not strengthen regional security – Russia

RIA: U.S. Patriot missiles in Poland do not strengthen regional security – Russia

The deployment of the U.S. Patriot missiles in Poland does not enhance regional security and cooperation, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday.

Following the U.S. - Polish Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), the United States opened a temporary military base near the northern Polish town of Morag, 80 km (50 miles) from the Russian border. The base, which will become permanent from 2012, will deploy U.S. Patriot missiles and Standard Missile interceptor SM-3s.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said it did not understand the logic behind the deployment of the missiles.

"We asked America and Poland about this, but did not get a concrete or valid answer," the ministry said.

Russia earlier suggested that the U.S. base be moved away from Russia's borders.

"Unfortunately, neither Americans nor Polish accepted our arguments," the ministry said.

The SOFA agreement was signed on December 11, 2009 in Warsaw by the U.S. deputy secretary of state for arms control and international security and the Polish deputy defense minister.

MOSCOW, May 26 (RIA Novosti)

Reuters: Russia says U.S. missiles in Poland "don't help trust"

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia criticized on Wednesday the United States' deployment of Patriot missiles in Poland, saying the move did not help security or trust.

A Foreign Ministry spokesman said: "Such military activity does not help to strengthen our mutual security, to develop relations of trust and predictability in this region."

A Patriot surface-to-air missile battery arrived in Monday in Poland and was to be deployed in the north of the country, close to the border with Russia's enclave of Kaliningrad.

(Reporting by Dmitry Solovyvov, writing by Michael Stott)

Russia Today: US, Russia reach deal for Iran sanctions

26 May, 2010, 02:23

The United States has reached an agreement with Russia to place new sanctions on Iran, which may lift restrictions on the sale of Russian arms to the country.

The US needs Russia to agree to sanctions against Iran in order to push them though UN Security Council and has entered an agreement lifting US sanctions against the Russian military complex and has agreed not to ban the sale of the Russian S-300 air defense system to Iran.

“Russia has a need to consolidate its influence in the former Soviet periphery,” said Reva Bhalla, director of analysis at the Global intelligence firm STRATFOR.

According to Bhalla, the ability for Russia to sell the S-300 to Iran is a huge bargaining chip. This allows Russia to maintain a strategic advantage in the region and balance US influence in Central Asia.

The S-300 missile air defense system could be used by Iran to defend nuclear facilities from possible air strikes. The US remains concerned about the sale of the S-300, partially because Iran could use the system to defend against a possible Israeli attack, and will likely try to convince Russia not to go through with the sale.

“At the same time we’re seeing the United States follow through with its own threat of delivering a battery of Patriot missiles to Poland, which is extremely concerning to the Russians as well. The question is whether Russia is going to give up some of its leverage in the form of the S-300 sale as sort of a tit-for-tat with the United States, or if it can reach some sort of understanding with the United States, which in effect would leave Iran in a very vulnerable position,” said Bhalla.

The US has few good options at this point and the arms agreement may be trying to show Iran that it may not always have a friend in Russia.

“The military option is not very feasibly. The sanctions option is largely meaningless. The draft circulating the UN Security Council is really just more of a symbolic effort for the United States to show that it have more international support, particularly from the Russians and Chinese,” said Bhalla.

26.05.2010, 05.20

WASHINGTON, May 26 (Itar-Tass) - The House of Representatives of the US Congress has prepared a resolution that is to block the Russian-American intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in the sphere of peaceful uses of atomic power. Its co-authors are Democrat Edward Markey (Massachusetts) and Republican Jeff Fortenberry (Nebraska), Markey’ s press secretary Daniel Reilly told Itar-Tass.

According to a related press release, Representative Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), the founder and co-chair of the House Bipartisan Task Force on Nonproliferation, and Representative Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE), founder and co-chair of the House Nuclear Security Caucus, last week introduced a joint resolution of disapproval of the proposed civilian nuclear cooperation agreement between the United States and Russia. The joint resolution (H.J. Res. 85) expresses the disfavour of the Congress regarding the agreement, which is pursuant to the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, Section 123 that allows the President to negotiate and implement civilian nuclear cooperation programs with other countries.

This 123 agreement was originally submitted to Congress by President Bush in 2008, at which time it was opposed by Rep. Markey on the grounds of Russia’s dangerous record of nuclear and missile assistance to Iran. The proposed agreement was withdrawn by the Bush Administration in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Georgia in 2008. On May 10th, the Obama Administration re-submitted the Russia 123 agreement to the Congress.

“Sadly, the reasons for opposition to this agreement have not changed in two years. Russia continues to train Iranian nuclear physicists, supply sensitive nuclear technology to Iran, and give secret instruction on Russian soil to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard on the use of the advanced S-300 interceptor-missile systems,” said Markey.

“Not only does Russia persist with this toxic relationship, but it is actively courting new ones. The same week that this 123 agreement was released, Russian President Medvedev met with both Syrian President Assad to discuss nuclear cooperation, and the exiled Hamas leader Khaled Meshal,” said Markey. “My question is this: Does Russia want cooperation with the United States, or with Iran and Syria? Because it can’t have both.”

“Russia cannot have it both ways. Russia needs to decide who it will be; a nation that stops the spread of nuclear weapons capabilities or accommodates it. Any nuclear agreement with Russia, particularly given its willingness to collaborate with the nuclear activities of Iran and Syria, deserves the closest scrutiny and examination. Congress must assert itself,” said Fortenberry.