The Russia - USA presidential meeting will take place on April 6th in the city of Sochi, on the Black Sea coast of Russia, after the NATO Summit and after George Bush’s visit to Croatia. This story just keeps lingering on and on.
President Bush pointed out only one issue which he said he would discuss with Putin in April … the deployment of the US missile defense system in Europe.

George Bush declined to comment on what he thinks democracy will be like in Russia under Medvedev, Putin’s protégé and hand-picked successor.

The United States and Russia have been deadlocked on missile defense in Europe for many months and we see no quick solution, with the US defense secretary saying the US has gone as far as it can to make Russia happy.

US Defense Secretary Robert Gates’ comments came after Moscow rejected US concessions on its plans for missile interceptors in Poland and a radar in the Czech Republic.
“I guess my view is I think we’ve leaned about as far forward as we can. We’ve offered a lot. And my view is, now I want to see some movement on their part,” Gates told reporters as he flew back from Europe today.

Robert Gates said the USA proposals “represent a very forward-leaning posture in terms of partnering with the Russians.”

“And I think the question is whether the Russians are serious about partnering with us, or whether this is merely a pose to try and stop us from going forward with the Czech Republic and Poland,” he said.

Earlier today Russian Defense Minister Viktor Serdyukov said the US proposals were not enough to satisfy the Russian concerns.

“All that has been proposed to us does not satisfy us, our position remains the same,” the ITAR-TASS and Interfax news agency quoted Serdyukov as saying at a meeting of NATO defense ministers in the Netherlands.

The tougher position by Gates came amid rising US tensions with Iran and a warning by President Bush on Wednesday that missile defenses were urgently needed to defend Europe.
“The need for missile defense in Europe is real, and I believe it is urgent,” Bush said, in a speech at the National Defense University that was interpreted as being at odds with Gates’ softer approach to the Russians.

During a visit to Moscow earlier this month, Gates and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice presented the Russians with ideas for a regional missile defense scheme that would include Russia as well as NATO.

They proposed posting Russian liaison officers at US missile defense sites as well as at the radar site in the Czech Republic if Prague agreed. The Czech leader said: “No comment” when asked if it would be okay to have Russian soldiers in the Czech Republic. There are old tensions between Russia and the Czech Republic.

Gates stated during a trip to Prague, the United States would delay making the European site fully operational until there was “definitive proof of the threat.”

He said Russian leaders have made clear that they recognize that Iran poses a security threat, but differ with Washington on how long it will take the Iranians to develop progressively longer range missiles. Russian thinks this time period is much longer than the the US does.

A US defense official, said the US had offered to tie the activation of the system to a agreed upon understanding with the Russians of what would constitute a proven and real Iranian threat.

“What we are saying is we’re prepared to sit down with Russia and discuss what we would both regard as indications of increasing capability” of Iran’s missiles, the official said.

Gates and US defense officials have said Russian President Vladimir Putin was intrigued enough by the proposals to agree to experts meetings and a follow-on round of talks at the level of defense and foreign ministers.

Russia is concerned about the possibility that the missile defense system could be used against Russia at some point in the future.

The United States, which is still negotiating with Poland and the Czech Republic for access to their territory, insists that the planned missile defense system is no match for Russia’s nuclear arsenal and are aimed at a looming Iranian missile threat. This is a difficult concern for Russia to accept and agree to.

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Vladimir Kuznetsov a former Russian UN official, who was sentenced to 4.25 years in prison for money laundering said his lawyers have launched an appeal.

“My lawyers, in line with U.S. procedures, have given official notice of the appeal. The appeal will be presented over a period of one month, as the defense will be putting forward new arguments,” said Vladimir Kuznetsov, who has been under house arrest in New York for the past two years.

Vladimir Kuznetsov was a Russian diplomat who was the head of the United Nations Committee for Administrative and Budgetary Issues.

In March 2007, he was convicted in New York City of one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. Kuznetsov was indicted in September 2005 following a guilty plea and immediate cooperation by the former UN official Alexander Yakovlev, who is facing 19 years in jail on a conspiracy to commit money laundering charge and has not yet been sentenced. Yakovlev’s lawyer, Arkady Bukh, has stated that he expects Mr. Yakovlev’s sentence to be reduced in exchange for Yakovlev’s testimony at trial. There is no official agreement on his sentence yet.

Kuznetsov, 49, was sentenced earlier this month by a district court and ordered to pay a total of $73,000 in fines. He denies the charges against him.

“The defense team’s additional arguments will relate to infringements of my constitutional rights, including the right to diplomatic immunity,” he said.

The ex-diplomat, who worked as a Russian expert in the United Nations Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions, was arrested in September 2005 after borrowing $300,000 from a Russian colleague, knowing that the funds had been acquired by criminal efforts.

He was found guilty by a jury of his peers in March.

Kuznetsov previously held diplomatic immunity as a UN employee, but after former secretary general Kofi Annan revoked the status, the FBI was allowed to arrest and have him prosecuted.

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Israeli Prime Minister Olmert held a three hour and four minute meeting with President Vladimir Putin on Thursday, discussing a range of regional issues, including Israel’s security as a key element in Russia’s Mideast policy and long term planning. The prospects for an Israeli-Palestinian settlement and Russia’s military involvement with Syria and Iran.

“The prime minister expressed satisfaction with the meeting,” Miri Eisen, the premier’s press secretary, said. Russia showed that it “considers Israel’s security interests as a substantial component of its policy in the region.”

U.S. State Secretary Condoleezza Rice had just completed her visit to Israel to discuss with leaders regarding a peace conference planned for December in Annapolis, Maryland.
The Annapolis conference is expected to result in a framework agreement on peace efforts. The Israelis want to set out broad settlement principles, while the Palestinians are seeking very specific terms and conditions.

The United States would like other Arab states to attend the conference, but Arab nations are skeptical and have demanded more details. We think the odds are low they will attend. It is import to keep trying to convince them to attend.

Israel has urged Russia to use its influence to help solve the international standoff surrounding the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program. Tehran insists its program is for energy production purposes only.

Russia is building a nuclear power plant in Iran, and has long been criticized for assisting in the country’s nuclear activities. China and Russia have been opposed to tougher sanctions on Tehran in the UN Security Council.

It has been 15 years since the two countries restored diplomatic ties, Olmert secured Kremlin assurances that Russia would step up control over arms exports in order to prevent them from being sold on to third countries. These have been long ongoing concerns and disputes.

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By Bill Kirk.

Some Russian news reports say President Vladimir Putin has been advised of an Iranian plot to assassinate him when he visits Iran this week. This is a debatable report, please read details below.

The Interfax news sgency said Sunday that suicide bombers have been training to attack Mr. Putin.

However the Kremlin has not made any comment on this story. A member of Russia’s parliamentary security committee stated to Russian TV sations, that the information came from intelligence sources which could be considered highly reliable.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry calls the reports totally baseless and says they are aimed at undermining Russian-Iranian relations. As of now we are not sure which side of this story are correct.

Mr. Putin is scheduled to arrive in Tehran Monday and plans to meet with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. They plan to attend a summit of nations bordering the Caspian Sea.

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Other Russian Headlines

U.S. officials Condoleezza Rice and Robert Gates are in Moscow visiting President Putin.

Russia may opt out of a Cold War-era treaty limiting intermediate range missiles unless it was extended to countries beyond the United States and Russia, which are now the only signatories.

Addressing U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Putin appeared to make fun of the U.S. missile defense plan, which is at the center of a tangle of arms control and diplomatic disputes between the USA and Russia.

“Of course we can sometime in the future decide that some anti-missile defense system should be established somewhere on the moon,” Putin said, according to an English translation. “But before we reach such arrangements we will lose the opportunity for fixing some particular arrangements between us.”

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