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Post by TsarSamuil on Aug 23, 2009 4:54:55 GMT -5
Russian warships escort another convoy in the Gulf of Aden.
VLADIVOSTOK, August 21 (RIA Novosti) - A Russian Pacific Fleet task force is escorting its third convoy of commercial ships in the Gulf of Aden since its arrival in the area in late July, a fleet spokesman said on Friday.
The task force - comprising the Admiral Tributs destroyer with two helicopters, a salvage tug, a tanker, and a naval infantry unit - escorts commercial ships, conducts aerial reconnaissance, and searches suspected pirate vessels.
"A third convoy of commercial ships was formed on Thursday and is moving along the Gulf of Aden under the escort of the Russian warships," the spokesman said.
The Russian Navy joined international anti-piracy efforts off Somali coast in October 2008.
Three Russian warships have so far participated in the mission - the Baltic Fleet's Neustrashimy (Fearless) frigate, and the Pacific Fleet's Admiral Vinogradov and Admiral Panteleyev destroyers.
"The warships from the Pacific Fleet have successfully escorted over 100 Russian and foreign commercial ships since January 2009. They have thwarted several attacks by pirates," the official said.
Around 35 warships from the navies of 16 countries are currently deployed off Somalia's coast to counter frequent pirate attacks on key trade routes.
Pirate attacks on commercial vessels in the Gulf of Aden and off the east coast of Somalia have amounted to 130 since the beginning of the year, with 44 ships captured and at least 270 people held as hostages.
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Post by TsarSamuil on Aug 23, 2009 13:57:37 GMT -5
Mossad behind "Artic Sea" hijacking says Russian press.
Moscow, Aug 21 (DPA) A Russian newspaper claimed Friday that suspected pirates who boarded the freighter Arctic Sea were actually agents of the Israeli secret service trying to stop it from smuggling arms into Iran.
According to Russian media, the Arctic Sea may have been carrying illegal X-55 cruise missiles destined for Iran hidden among its cargo of lumber.
Men acting on behalf of the Israeli Mossad secret service commandeered the ship to divert the weapons away from Israel's regional enemy, the daily Novaya Gazeta said.
Citing Moscow publicist Yulia Latynina, the daily pointed to the surprise visit of Israeli President Shimon Peres Aug 18, a day after the Arctic Sea, which had been missing for three weeks, had been tracked down and liberated by Russian forces off West Africa.
During his visit, Peres, who according to Latynina had no other business in Russia, requested Moscow refrain from supplying weapons or missile defence systems to Iran.
Russian authorities denied that the Arctic Sea had been smuggling weapons.
Russian ambassador to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, Dmitri Rogozin, said earlier Friday that such allegations were a 'fantasy' and 'ridiculous'.
The deployment at great expense of Russian Black Sea fleet to liberate the hijacked ship was undertaken for the sake of the 15 Russian seamen on board and not supposed weapons, Rogozin said.
Russian authorities in Moscow late Friday formally charged the eight alleged hijackers with kidnapping and piracy, the Interfax news agency reported.
The suspects include a Lithuanian, a Russian, three stateless people, and a Spaniard, the report said, adding that the citizenship of the two remaining suspects had yet to be clarified.
According to official reports, the Arctic Sea was liberated from pirates Monday off the coast of West Africa. According to the Russian sources, pirates seized the freighter July 24 off the coast of Sweden.
Victor Matveev, director of Solchart Management, the shipping company that owns the Arctic Sea freighter stated Friday that his company 'still has not received any official information' about the ship or its crew.
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Post by TsarSamuil on Sept 12, 2009 5:50:32 GMT -5
Russia to call tender for foreign helicopter carrier.
KALININGRAD, September 11 (RIA Novosti) - Russia plans to hold an international tender for the purchase of a helicopter carrier, involving France, Spain and the Netherlands, the country's Navy chief said on Friday.
"I can confirm that negotiations are being held, but there is likely to be a tender," Adm. Vladimir Vysotsky said, adding that other countries could also be involved.
He said there were no negotiations with the United States - "for understandable reasons," adding that the U.S. authorities were "highly sensitive" about the transfer of new technology, especially dual-purpose technology.
The admiral stressed, however, that technology transfer was a key condition for buying a helicopter carrier abroad.
He said the Russian Navy needed a new warship to enhance its combat effectiveness.
"Take, for example, last August, Georgia. Everything that we did in the space of 26 hours at the time, this ship will do within 40 minutes," Vysotsky said.
He said the new warship would require appropriate port infrastructure, which had yet to be built.
The Navy chief also denied reports that Russia had plans to buy submarines in Germany.
"There is no question of buying [German] submarines. Actually, the Germans do not make diesel-electric submarines," he said.
However, he added that Russia might be interested in acquiring advanced submarine engine technology, but it was not necessarily German.
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Post by TsarSamuil on Oct 31, 2009 8:47:47 GMT -5
The Russian Navy Recalibrates its Oceanic Ambitions.
Forbes ^ | 10/30/2009 | Jacob W. Kipp
In early October, the Russian Deputy Minister of Defense Vladimir Popovkin announced the decision to take two heavy nuclear-powered missile cruisers (TAKR) out of conservation and restore them to the active fleet. This decision coming just one year after the Petr Velikii (Peter the Great), the fourth ship of its class and the only one then in service, set out on a long-range cruise that took it from Severomorsk, the home port of the Northern Fleet to the Mediterranean, Caribbean, South Atlantic, and the Indian Oceans. On this voyage, which lasted from September 22, 2008, to March 10, 2009, the Petr Velikii exercised naval presence –taking part in naval maneuvers with friendly powers (Venezuela and India), making port calls and even engaging in antipiracy operations off the coast of Somalia. The arrival of the Petr Velikii at the port of La Guaira, Venezuela, in late November coincided with the state visit by President Dmitry Medvedev shortly afterwards (Interfax, October 2).
This voyage announced the reappearance of Russian naval power on a global scale. Commissioned in 1996 in time for the 300th anniversary of the Russian Navy, Petr Velikii had a sad fate over the next few years. In August 2000, she took part in the naval exercise of the Northern Fleet that led to the explosion and sinking of the nuclear missile-attack submarine Kursk. In March 2004, Admiral Vladimir Kuroyedov the then Commander-in-Chief (C-in-C) of the Russian Navy, declared her unseaworthy because of engineering problems. The ship went into dry-dock for repairs and rejoined the Northern Fleet in August 2004. In 2008-2009, she became the symbol of Russia's naval presence. She and her sister ships are the largest, nuclear-powered non-carrier surface warships in the world and are often classified by the archaic term “battle cruisers.”
The navy judged the cruise to be such a success that the defense ministry unveiled plans to modernize and re-commission two other vessels from this class: Admiral Lazarev and Admiral Nakhimov. The fourth ship in this class, Admiral Ushakov (originally the Kirov, which was the first built in the 1970’s at the Baltic shipyards in Leningrad) has remained at Severodvinsk since 1999 undergoing modernization and may also rejoin the fleet. Deputy Minister Popovkin spoke of deploying the re-commissioned heavy, nuclear-powered, missile cruisers to the east and west to protect Russian maritime commerce.
Andrei Kokoshin, the former First Deputy Minister of Defense, sees a different potential in these ships once they have been modernized. In an interview with Sergei Viktorov for Krasnaya Zvezda, Kokoshin called the measure “necessary, timely, and extremely important.” He made specific reference to the long-range cruise of the Petr Velikii in demonstrating the military capability and political-military influence of such ships in various regions of the globe (Krasnaya Zvezda, October 3). When originally built, the TAKRs were intended to be the flagships for Russian task forces conducting anti-carrier operations during the Cold War. In the 1990’s Kokoshin supported the funding for the completion of the Petr Velikii under very difficult financial and material conditions. The project kept intact key components of the naval ship building capacity in the St. Petersburg area at a time when the Ukrainian shipyards were in decline and those linked to the Northern and Pacific Fleets were overburdened with the decommissioning of nuclear submarines. Preserving this not only maintained the Baltic ship-building base, but it also provided expertise in terms of skilled workers, naval engineers, and architects for the revival of the shipyards of the Northern Fleet.
Under the new financial conditions, Kokoshin now envisions the modernized TAKR’s as “strike cruisers” with super-structures of new materials, modern anti-ship missiles, and “Aegis-quality” anti-aircraft and missile defense systems as well as incorporating the latest Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) and electronic warfare capabilities. Assigned to the Northern and Pacific Fleets, these vessels will be key elements in the restoration of the strategic bastion concept in the Arctic and Sea of Okhotsk, where the Russian navy can protect its nuclear deterrent forces operating on Russian SSBN’s. Similarly, these vessels and their support ships represent “a free naval force to protect Russian national interests in the world’s oceans. Kokoshin particularly highlighted the need for two such large surface combatants in the Asia-Pacific region, where they could contribute to an enhanced political-psychological atmosphere in the Russian Far East and permit a greater naval presence in that region and in the Indian Ocean (Krasnaya Zvezda, October 3).
However, the original TAKR’s were intended to be flagships and command and control platforms for carrier battle groups. And currently, Russia has only one carrier –Admiral Kuznetsov– which operates with the Northern Fleet. Last year, the C-in-C of the Russian Navy Admiral Vladimir Vysotsky outlined a plan to create six such carrier battle groups; three with the Northern Fleet and three with the Pacific Fleet (Interfax, July 27, 2008).
Nonetheless, no shipyards have started the construction of such ships. The Russians are, however, moving forward with the long-delayed conversion of the former Kiev-class heavy aircraft-carrying ship Admiral Gorshkov for the Indian Navy as the INS Vikramaditya. The Vikramaditya will be a radically different ship from the original Kiev class, with her forward armaments removed and replaced by a ski-jump bow, and arresting gear on the rear of its angled deck; which will allow it to conduct short-take-off but arrested recovery (STOBAR) operations. Modernization measures will include new European designed electronic systems and enhanced habitability for the crew. This work is being done at Severodvinsk, which will permit this shipyard to develop the necessary industrial base to support future carrier construction. Last month, test pilots conducted carrier operations off the Admiral Kuznetsov, practicing take-offs and landings with the MiG-29K/KUB, which were ordered by the Indian defense ministry for the Vikramaditya. Commenting on the successful tests, Mikhail Pogosian the CEO of the MiG Corporation said that the Russian defense ministry would find the aircraft attractive because of its advanced avionics, including the Zuk-ME phase-array radar (Izvestiya, October 1).
These developments, taken together, suggest that Russia’s commitment to an oceanic navy built around the Northern and Pacific Fleets is real, and it is making progress along non-traditional lines.
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Post by TsarSamuil on Nov 29, 2009 15:59:32 GMT -5
Russia's naval infantry to be totally re-armed by 2015.
All units of Russia's naval infantry will be fully equipped with advanced weaponry by 2015, the Russian Navy said in a statement on Friday.
"The naval infantry will receive T-90 tanks, BMP-3 infantry fighting vehicles, BTR-82A armored personnel carriers, BRDM-3 armored reconnaissance vehicles, 120-mm 2C31 Vena self-propelled guns, modernized air defense systems and small arms," the statement said.
Russia's naval infantry, which is part of the Navy, consists of three brigades, two independent regiments and two independent battalions totaling about 12,000 personnel.
Naval infantry units from Russia's Northern, Baltic and Black Sea Fleets took part in the Caucasus 2009, Zapad 2009 and Ladoga 2009 strategic exercises, while naval infantry from the Pacific Fleet regularly participates in Russia's anti-piracy missions in the Gulf of Aden.
MOSCOW, November 27 (RIA Novosti)
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Post by TsarSamuil on Dec 2, 2009 18:15:19 GMT -5
Second Russian Stealth Frigate In Works. Aviation Week and Space Technology ^ | 12/1/2009 | Bill Sweetman Maxim Pyadushkin writes: The Severnaya Verf shipyard in St Petersburg officially laid down the second Project 22350 frigate for the Russian Navy on November 26. The ship was named Admiral Flota Kasatonov. The first frigate of the class - Admiral Flota Sovetskogo Soyuza Gorshkov – has been under construction at Severnaya Verf since 2006. The Gorshkov class will be the first fully stealthy Russian frigates, with their superstructures shaped to reduce radar cross-section. The 130 m-long frigates will have a displacement of 4500 tons and a range of more than 4000 miles. According to unofficial information, the Gorshkov class will be fitted with modular vertical missile launchers capable of firing two types of antiship missiles: the P-800 (SSN-N-26) Oniks, a supersonic weapon related to the Russian-Indian BrahMos, and the diverse Club family. The Navy says that the frigates are designed for both littoral and blue-water operations. United Industrial Corporation, the shipyard’s parent company, says that the Gorskhov will enter service in 2011. (Earlier this year, Russian Navy commander Admiral Vladimir Vysotsky promised that the new ship would be at the 2011 Maritime Defense Show in St Petersburg.) The Kasatonov is to follow in 2012. The Navy has discussed plans to acquire 20 Gorshkov frigates, but the production rate will depend on funding. All of the ships are to be built at Severnaya Verf, which is also building the Navy’s Project 20380 stealth corvettes.   |
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Post by TsarSamuil on Jan 4, 2010 8:49:41 GMT -5
Bulgaria Ready to Send 'Intrepid' Frigate to Tackle Somali Pirates.
Novinite.com
Defense | January 4, 2010, Monday
Bulgaria’s frigate “Drazki” (i.e. “Intrepid”) could participate in operations against Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden.
This has been stated Monday in Varna by Rear Admiral Plamen Manushev, Chief of Staff of the Bulgarian Navy as cited by BGNES. His statement comes days after two UK ships – St. James Park and Asian Glory – were hijacked by Somali pirates with a total of 13 Bulgarian sailors on board.
According to Rear Admiral Manushev, the Bulgarian frigate, which was recently acquired from Belgium, is completely ready to participate in naval operations off the coast of Somalia.
The only issue is the financing of the operations since the participation of Drazki would cost about BGN 2-3 M, and maybe up to BGN 6 M for a two-month period depending on what missions it would be required to accomplish.
Manushev said the question about the arming of commercial ships was a hard one since there was no uniform international position on that. He believes that the best way to tackle the Somali pirates issues is organizing international convoys guarded by naval vessels.
One more difficulty, in his view, is the fact that the international community defends the human rights of the pirates.
“Hanging of captured pirates is in the past, plus in this region it is very hard to distinguish regular fishing boats from those of pirates,” Manushev is quoted as saying.
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Post by TsarSamuil on Jan 10, 2010 9:58:37 GMT -5
Russia's Nerpa sub passes final trials. Russia's Nerpa nuclear attack submarine, damaged in a fatal accident during tests in November last year, has successfully passed final trials, a Pacific Fleet spokesman said on Monday. On November 8, 2008, while the Nerpa was undergoing sea trials, its onboard fire suppression system activated, releasing a deadly gas into the sleeping quarters. Three crewmembers and 17 shipyard workers were killed. There were 208 people, 81 of them submariners, onboard the vessel at the time. Following repairs, which cost an estimated 1.9 billion rubles ($65 million), the submarine has been cleared for final sea trials. "A state commission has concluded that judging by the results of all trials, the Nerpa nuclear submarine is ready to enter service with the Russian Navy," the source said. The submarine will be officially commissioned with the Russian Navy later on Monday in the town of Bolshoy Kamen in the Primorye Territory, home to the Amur shipyard Vostok repair facility which carried out the repairs. The submarine will be subsequently leased to the Indian Navy under the name INS Chakra. India reportedly paid $650 million for a 10-year lease of the 12,000-ton K-152 Nerpa, an Akula II class nuclear-powered attack submarine. Akula II class vessels are considered the quietest and deadliest of all Russian nuclear-powered attack submarines. VLADIVOSTOK, December 28 (RIA Novosti)  |
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Post by TsarSamuil on Jan 11, 2010 8:51:26 GMT -5
Russia to float out last 2 frigates for Indian Navy by yearend.
A Russian shipyard will float out the last two of three frigates for India's Navy by the end of the year, a Yantar spokesman said on Monday.
The first of three Project 11356 frigates was taken out of dry dock at the end of November.
The warships will become modified Krivak III class (also known as Talwar class) guided missile frigates for the Indian Navy under a $1.6 billion contract signed in July 2006.
Indian President Pratibha Patil has named the new ships the Teg (Hindi for Saber), the Tarkash (Quiver), and the Trikand (Bow).
The new frigates will be armed with eight BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles.
They will be also equipped with a 100-mm gun, a Shtil surface-to-air missile system, two Kashtan air-defense gun/missile systems, two twin 533-mm torpedo launchers, and an anti-submarine warfare helicopter.
In an interview with RIA Novosti last year, Yantar director Igor Orlov said the shipyard was in talks with Russia's Vnesheconombank on "a $60 million loan to complete the construction of the three frigates for the Indian Navy."
Russia has previously built three Talwar-class frigates for India - INS Talwar (Sword), INS Trishul (Trident), and INS Tabar (Axe).
KALININGRAD, January 11 (RIA Novosti)
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Post by TsarSamuil on Feb 8, 2010 11:50:12 GMT -5
France approves sale of Mistral warship to Russia. France has agreed to sell Russia a Mistral-class amphibious assault ship and received an order to build another three, Radio France Internationale reported Monday. "It's no longer one command ship, but four," Jacques de Lajugie, head of international sales at the French Defense Ministry, was quoted as saying. He added, however, that the new order was being examined "on a technical level" and needed to be "vetted at a political level." Originally it was thought Russia would buy one of the vessels and build up to four more under license. Moscow has yet to officially confirm the agreement. The radio station said the report coincided with the Defense Ministry's announcement earlier on Monday that French arms sales reached 7.95 billion euros in 2009, 21% higher than 2008. Russian industry officials have said it would be "senseless and wrong" to speak of buying weapon systems for the Navy without obtaining appropriate advanced technology for their subsequent production in Russia. Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin said in late November that Russia could build its own helicopter carrier on a par with the Mistral-class warship, and that the Defense Ministry could contract the United Shipbuilding Corporation to build it. The Russian military earlier announced that it was considering buying one of the Mistral-class ships, worth 400-500 million euros (around $600-$750 million), and potentially building three or four vessels of the same class in partnership with the French naval shipbuilder DCNS. A Mistral-class ship is capable of transporting and deploying 16 helicopters, four landing barges, up to 70 vehicles including 13 battle tanks, and 450 soldiers. The vessel is equipped with a 69-bed hospital and can be used as an amphibious command ship. Many Russian military and industry experts have questioned the financial and military sense of the purchase. Russia's current arms procurement program through 2015 does not provide for construction or purchases of large warships, so the acquisition of the French warship is more likely under a new program, through 2020, which has yet to be finalized. PARIS/MOSCOW, February 8 (RIA Novosti) ----------  The French helicopter transport ship Mistral sits docked at a quay on the Neva River in central St. Petersburg on November 23, 2009. Newscom |
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Post by TsarSamuil on Feb 10, 2010 9:52:21 GMT -5
French will do anything for money ;D -------------- France defends decision to sell Russia warship. Tue Feb 9, 2010 2:00am IST By Mattias Blamont and Adam Entous PARIS (Reuters) - France defended on Monday its decision to sell an advanced warship to Russia, shrugging off concerns that the helicopter carrier could threaten Georgia and arguing that Moscow had to be treated with respect. Russia asked to buy the 21,300-tonne, Mistral class warship to modernise hardware that was exposed as outdated during its five-day war against Georgia in 2008. After months of debate, France finally announced on Monday it would sell the vessel to Russia for an undisclosed sum. President Nicolas Sarkozy defended the decision during a meeting with U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who was paying a flying visit to Paris. A French official said Sarkozy had told Gates he did not think the sale posed a military problem. "One cannot expect Russia to behave as a partner if we don't treat it as one," the official, who declined to be named, quoted Sarkozy as telling the U.S. defense secretary. France is a full member of NATO and its willingness to sell Russia advanced technology that could be used in a confrontation against its allies has caused concern among other NATO members. "Our friends and allies in Eastern Europe are clearly nervous about it, especially Georgia. And with good reason," Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said ahead of Gates's meeting with the French president. GIVING RUSSIA MORE OPTIONS "They fear these new warships would give Russia additional capabilities to once again threaten Georgia from the Black Sea," he added, saying Gates had questioned the sale during talks earlier in the day with French Defence Minister Herve Morin. "It is an issue for us and Secretary Gates made that clear to Minister Morin, but it was but one discussion point over a lengthy, productive and amicable working lunch," he added. During the war with Georgia, launched to repel Tbilisi's attempt to retake the rebel province of South Ossetia, Russia tried to control the Black Sea coast where NATO warships appeared. The Russian military has said it could have moved more swiftly if a Mistral-type ship had been in its fleet. The Mistral, marketed by French naval firm DCNS and estimated to cost between 300 million and 500 million euros ($410-$683 million), is an amphibious assault ship able to carry helicopters, troops, armoured vehicles and tanks. Several of Russia's neighbours have expressed worries. Lithuania wrote to France in November asking for clarification of the situation and details of the ship's ammunition. A senior U.S. official travelling with Gates said Washington believed the ship "clearly can be used as a warship for helicopter operations". Despite a peace deal mediated by Sarkozy, tensions remain high in Georgia. The region is viewed by the West as a vital energy transit route from the Caspian to Europe. (Additional reporting by Emmanuel Jarry; writing by Anna Willard and Crispian Balmer; Editing by Jon Boyle) ------------------  A Russian KA-52 Alligator landing on the Mistral in 2009. |
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Post by TsarSamuil on Feb 12, 2010 7:13:41 GMT -5
Russia: Submarine forces in the Northern Fleet reorganized. Barentsobserver.com ^ | 02/11/2010 | Barentsobserver.com All nuclear submarines in Russia’s Northern Fleet have been united in one unit – the submarine forces. The forces’ headquartes will be located in the closed town of Gadzhiyevo on the Barents Sea coast. The two squadrons the submarines in the Northern Fleet earlier were organized in have now been merged into one structure, GTRK Murman reports. The forces are organized in four divisions, all under the leadership of Rear Admiral Andrey Volozhinsky. Admiral Volozhinsky said after a ceremony in the closed military town Zaozersk that the Northern Fleet’s submarine forces will have the same tasks as before and that there will be no changes in the number of personnel. According to Chief of Staff in the Northern Fleet Vladmir Korolev solving social issues will be easier under consolidated leadership: - History has shown this. We are now returning to the structure the submarine forces had in the 1950’s and 60’s. The Northern Fleet’s submarine forces will have their headquarters in Gadzhiyevo, and the submarines will be based in Gadzhiyevo, Vidyayevo and Zaozersk. These three towns are all located on the Barents Sea coast between the town of Murmansk and the border to Norway. Murmansk Oblast has seven closed towns – Severomorsk, Vidayevo, Gadzhiyego, Zaozersk, Skalisty, Ostrovnoy and Snezhnogorsk. They either host naval bases or defense related industry like ship repair yards.  .svg/240px-Map_of_Russia_-_Murmansk_Oblast_(2008-03).svg.png) |
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Post by TsarSamuil on Feb 14, 2010 8:44:05 GMT -5
Yanukovych opens door to Russian navy keeping base in Ukraine.
Viktor Yanukovych, the expected next Ukrainian president, says he cannot rule out Russia's Black Sea Fleet remaining in Ukraine after its lease on the Sevastopol naval base expires in 2017.
Preliminary results showed Yanukovych narrowly winning Ukraine's presidential election, and although the official count has not been released he has been congratulated by world leaders including the Russian and U.S. presidents.
The Party of Regions leader is expected to move Ukraine away from the determinedly pro-Western stance of President Viktor Yushchenko, who vowed that Russia would have to find a new main base for its Black Sea Fleet once the current deal expires.
"I do not rule it out," Yanukovych said in an interview with the Russia 24 TV news channel when asked if the Black Sea Fleet could remain in the Crimean port of Sevastopol after 2017.
"We will discuss this issue in the near future. This matter will not be decided at Russia's expense, it will be decided in the national interests of Ukraine. We will find a solution," Yanukovych said, noting that there were many issues involved that needed addressing.
He added that Ukraine's relations with NATO are currently well-defined, and said they would not be expanded. Yushchenko stoked Russia's ire with his pursuit of NATO membership, but despite strong U.S. support many alliance members were lukewarm on the idea.
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen on Friday congratulated Yanukovych on his election as president and said the alliance was "committed to deepening our strategic partnership with Ukraine."
Yanukovych said on Friday that there was "no question of Ukraine joining NATO," telling Russia's Channel One that Ukraine supported Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's proposals for a new European security architecture, and he reiterated the point on Russia 24 on Saturday.
He said the issue of Ukrainian membership of NATO might "emerge at some point, but we will not see it in the immediate future."
"If it does arise, it will be decided by a national referendum," he added.
"I think that the initiative of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on the preparation of a new European security concept...is one in which we are willing to participate," Yanukovych said.
Yanukovych defeated his bitter rival Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko by a mere 3.5% in Sunday's polls, with official results to be announced by February 17.
MOSCOW, February 13 (RIA Novosti)
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Post by White Cossack on Feb 14, 2010 12:52:44 GMT -5
We are already ripping the sows of Yanukovich win.
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Post by pastir on Feb 14, 2010 13:11:47 GMT -5
I read something about the conventional Russian navy lately and it said if the trends continue there will be no point in seeking to renew the lease on Sevastopol naval base because the Black Sea Fleet will be left with so few ships it could just as well park them all in Novorosijsk.
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