February 20, 2008

Kosovo's Break From Serbia Splinters World Community

Russia's foreign minister has declared an EU mission to Kosovo illegal days after the Balkan state declared its independence from Serbia.

"To put it mildly, it is a bitter irony that this mission to ensure the supremacy of the law in Kosovo is being sent in breach of the highest international law," Sergei Lavrov said in a press briefing.

Russia and Serbia are in disagreement with the West's interpretation of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1244, adopted in 1999 at the end of the Balkan conflict. The resolution reaffirms "the commitment of all Member States to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia," but it also reaffirms "the call in previous resolutions for substantial autonomy and meaningful self-administration for Kosovo."

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Posted at 12:09 PM
Posted to: Bush Administration, Chechnya, EU, Europe, Russia
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September 26, 2007

U.N. General Assembly: Like Last Year, Only Worse

The astute Brits at the Economist called it.

By granting so many interviews to curious American journalists and agreeing to take questions from college students at Columbia, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made sure that this year's meeting of the U.N. General Assembly would revolve around him. It helps that his BFF in these parts, Venezuelan firebrand Hugo Chavez, sat this one out, which means Ahmadinejad's "no gays in Iran" statement remains the craziest (and most sinister) thing said all week.

Ahmadinejad put on his "serious" face (no smiling) yesterday when he delivered his U.S.-centric speech before the General Assembly. The American delegation didn't bother to stick around for its entirety, such was its predictability. If this scenario reminds you of last year's meeting at the U.N., it should. The bottom line for the Security Council has been no nuclear material for Iran, period. Yesterday, Ahmadinejad ensured that the U.N. will act to shut him down, one way or another.

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Posted at 1:15 PM
Posted to: Asia, Bush Administration, Chechnya, China, Condoleezza Rice, Hugo Chavez, IAEA, Iran, Iraq, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Middle East, North Korea, Nuclear Weapons, President Bush, Russia, Terrorism, U.N.
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June 04, 2007

Putin's Russia: The Other Frontier

Russian President Vladimir Putin appears to be laughing his way to the G-8 summit this week, as U.S. and European leaders scramble to make sense of his newest tough talk on security in the region.

Invoking the bad old days of the Cold War, Putin told reporters that Russia would retaliate against a planned U.S. missile defense shield in Poland and the Czech Republic by aiming its own defenses against targets in Europe. "If the U.S. nuclear potential extends across the European territory and threatens Russia, we will be obliged to take countermeasures,'' Putin said, according to a transcript on the Kremlin's Web site (currently available only in Russian). "Of course, we'll have to select new targets in Europe.''

Putin scoffed at Washington's stated rationale for the new defense shield, seconding Iran's and North Korea's claims that they simply aren't capable of lobbing missiles that would reach Europe.

"We are being told the anti-missile defense system is targeted against something that does not exist. Doesn't it seem funny to you?" he said.

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Posted at 2:35 PM
Posted to: Chechnya, Russia, Vladimir Putin
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