Despite economic crisis, Medvedev pledges military buildup
Published: 17 March, 2009, 20:11
AFP Photo / RIA Novosti / Kremlin Pool / Mikhail Klimentyev
TAGS: Arms, Military, Russia, SciTech, Robert Bridge
It seems that the long-awaited thaw that many observers had expected from an Obama-Medvedev partnership just got doused with a cold glass of reality.
Citing US and NATO military expansion up to its borders, President Dmitry Medvedev announced at a meeting with defense ministry officials on Tuesday that Russia must quickly enact a “large-scale rearmament.”
“Attempts to expand the military infrastructure of NATO near the borders of our country are continuing,” Medvedev told an annual meeting with the Defense Ministry’s top commanders.
“A modern military well trained and well equipped with modern weapons… is a guarantee of our protection from any potential threat or attempts to pressure our country. The transition of all military units to a level of combat readiness is number one on the agenda.”
The Russian president’s tough words show that the Kremlin is taking no chances with its security, despite Washington’s recent declarations of friendship and renewed trust.
Before US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ceremoniously pressed the “reset” button together with her Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, Clinton told a meeting of NATO foreign ministers that Washington wanted “a fresh start” in relations with Moscow.
“We… must find ways to manage our differences with Russia where they persist, and stand firm where our principles or our vital interests are at stake,” Clinton remarked.
It was probably the “vital interests” part of Clinton’s speech that rang some alarm bells in Moscow. Indeed, ‘standing firm on vital interests’ may be loosely interpreted to mean just about anything, including the spread of democracy, acquiring new pools of non-renewable resources and seizing new slabs of geopolitical real estate in Central Asia. Other equally important issues, for example, the possible inclusion of Georgia and Ukraine into the Cold War military organization, continues to rankle the Kremlin.
The Russian president hinted at precisely such a possible future scenario when he said that the US and NATO are beefing up their forces not simply over ideological considerations, as was the case during the Cold War, but in a strategic maneuvering for diminishing natural resources, namely oil and gas, which Russia has in tremendous amounts.
Tiberio Graziano, editor of Eurasia magazine on geopolitical studies, echoed these sentiments in a recent interview with RT.
Asked about the recent gas crisis between Kiev and Moscow, Graziano put the blame on NATO and EU expansion.
“The origin of the gas dispute… is actually a reflection of NATO enlargement in Eastern Europe as well as EU expansion into Eastern European countries,” Graziano said. “This kind of enlargement began in 1989 after the fall of the Berlin Wall. From that moment the United States had decided to manage the whole planet. They chose Western Europe as a starting point to move in the direction of Russia and Central Asia, as it’s known that Central Asia has huge resources of gas and oil.”
Presently, Moscow continues to watch developments in Eastern Europe, specifically in Poland and the Czech Republic where Washington, on the pretense of an Iranian missile threat, plans to install components of its missile defense system. Although US President Barack Obama has sent signals to Moscow that he is prepared to abandon the missile brainchild of the Bush administration, any sort of a deal will probably require that Moscow exert some influence on Tehran, which is suspected of pursuing a nuclear weapons program.
But it is not simply western expansion that prompts Russia to begin a military rearmament, which is to start in 2011.
In an apparent reference to Russia’s last year’s five-day war with Georgia, which was sparked after Tbilisi launched a morning assault that killed hundreds of South Ossetian residents and 12 Russian peacekeepers, Medvedev made reference to “local crises” that also threaten Russia’s peace and prosperity.
“An analysis of the military-political situation… has shown that a serious conflict potential remains in a number of regions; threats are persisting that cause both local conflicts and international terrorism,” the president said.
Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov told RIA Novosti that «70 percent of its weaponry would be modern by 2020.»
Next month, the dialogue will continue as Dmitry Medvedev and Barack Obama meet for the first time in London for the G20 summit.
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There is something like The peoples area, the technology area, the political area and of-course the geopolitical trend area ; as for russia is concerned the people area is weak .This has repurcussions in all the other areas.Only stressing on technological area is not the answer; so, I feel. raaj joshi ( aventinesylla@yahoo.co.in )
I don't think that Russia has to fear NATO. A good strong military is good for Russia, but I do not think that NATO has any desire to invade Russia. The American decision to have war games with Georgia is a stupid one and is more likely to make US foreign policy appear foolish on the world stage. Even though the US is a member of NATO, they often act alone without approval from the rest of NATO allies. NATO and RUSSIA have nothing to fear from eachother. When I was a young boy in school we used to practise hiding from an atomic blast that would come from a Russian missile or bomber. I was afraid of Russia. All those fears have gone away, and my present day view of Russia is very different and without fear. In fact I am planning a trip to Russia in the near future and am very excited about that. I hope Mr. Medvedev uses a lot of caution and dosn't react to much to American foolishness.