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.
Popularity: 13% [?]
October 19, 2007
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.”
Popularity: 14% [?]
October 15, 2007
After hearing criticism of the US and its foreign policy from his Russian counterpart for months, President Bush praised President Vladimir Putin for his truthfulness and frankness - a move that drew criticism from some Russia experts.
Popularity: 27% [?]
July 3, 2007
Hundreds of ethnic Georgians confronted Russian peacekeeping forces in the breakaway region of South Ossetia Thursday, throwing paint and gasoline on them and forcing them to stop blocking a road project, officials said.
Popularity: 24% [?]
June 29, 2007
Internet sites in Russia should be censored to combat extremist material, a senior legal official says, the business daily Kommersant reported Friday, June 22.
Popularity: 15% [?]
June 22, 2007
Russian Tennis star Anna Kournikova and her longtime boyfriend Enrique Iglesias are awaiting their first child, Kournikova’s unnamed friend was quoted as saying by Russian tabloid Zhizn (Life).
Popularity: 15% [?]
June 20, 2007
Moscow is the world’s most expensive city for the second year in a row, thanks to an appreciating ruble and rising housing costs, a new survey reports.
Popularity: 10% [?]
June 19, 2007
Nearly half of Russia’s working-age men who die are drinking themselves to the grave with almost anything they can get their hands on.
Popularity: 6% [?]
June 17, 2007
The Cognac industry of southwest France yesterday reported record exports, thanks to an explosion of sales to Russia and China.
Popularity: 13% [?]
June 15, 2007
Will Putin run for a third term?
No he just gave himself a new title and still controls Russia. He is a modern day czar.
President Vladimir Putin, who is constitutionally barred from seeking a third term next year, left the door open for a return to the Kremlin in 2012, a Russian daily Kommersant reported Saturday.
Popularity: 14% [?]
June 11, 2007
