A Palestinian delegation will discuss inter-Palestinian reconciliation in Moscow ahead of a Middle East Quartet meeting, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said on Wednesday. “In the next few days we expect contacts with a Palestinian delegation in Moscow,” Lukashevich said. “We intend to synchronize our actions.” “We, for our part, will use all opportunities [...]
Tag: Middle East
June 29, 2011
June 29, 2011
Renaissance Capital Weighs Cairo Office
An Egyptian walking by the Cairo stock market Sunday. The U.S. flag marked the visit of a U.S. trade delegation. Renaissance Capital, the Russian brokerage half-owned by billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov, may open an office in Cairo to tap markets in the Middle East and North Africa four months after Egypt’s autocratic leader was toppled in a popular uprising. “We see big opportunities, and we [...]
June 29, 2011
Kremlin Envoy Calls for End to Syria Violence
Mikhail Margelov, left, welcoming a Syrian opposition delegation headed by Radwan Ziadeh, second left. A Kremlin envoy told Syrian opposition members on Monday that “leaders come and go,” an apparent signal to President Bashar Assad that he cannot count on Russia’s unconditional support as he struggles to contain more than three months of protests demanding [...]
June 28, 2011
OIC top diplomats to discuss new name and emblem of organization
Participants of a session of foreign ministers of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) member states in Kazakhstan will discuss a new name and an emblem of the organization among the other issues. The top diplomats and other high-ranking officials are set to discuss policies and changes in the Middle East and Africa, the [...]
June 28, 2011
Kiev hopes details of gas deal with Russia to be revised in July
Kiev hopes that the details of the current deal with Moscow on the Russian natural gas deliveries will be revised and finalized in July, Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said. Russia’s natural gas price for Ukraine currently equals $295.6 per 1,000 cu m and is expected to rise to $350 in the third quarter and [...]
June 26, 2011
Russia Blocks Release of Iran Report
UNITED NATIONS — Russia has blocked the publication of a UN report detailing Iran’s alleged sanctions violations despite U.S., British and French calls for its release. The report, submitted to the Security Council’s Iran sanctions committee by an independent panel of experts, says Tehran has been breaking a UN arms embargo by shipping weapons to [...]
June 25, 2011
Russia Watches The Arab Spring
Russian policy toward Libya over the past few months has been a study in ambivalence. Earlier this month, Kremlin emissary Mikhail Margelov met with the Libyan opposition and declared them “serious and responsible people.” He also held talks with Qaddafi government officials about the dictator’s possible exit. Meanwhile, with striking inconsistency, Moscow dispatched chess champion [...]
June 24, 2011
Russia questions new U.S. sanctions against Iranian companies
Unilateral U.S. sanctions against a major Iranian port operator and the country’s national airline raise serious questions, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Friday. The ministry said in a statement that the sanctions had a negative effect on the authority of the UN Security Council. The Foreign Ministry also said that the U.S. move had [...]
June 24, 2011
June 21, 2011
The Ghost of Goebbels: Historical Revisionism and World War II
This story by Wayne Madsen, political scientist (USA), Strategic Culture Foundation expert, was published in International Affairs magazine. An expected outgrowth of the world’s steady descent into total and extreme capitalist control is the increasing tendency by some historians and their accomplices in the media to re-invent certain aspects of history. Although the history of [...]
June 21, 2011
Hotels Scrambling to Find Room for Conferences
Floors, walls and even ceilings gleaming in this computer image of the Baltschug’s upgraded lobby. Competition for conference bookings is on the rise. When a hotel that hosts 600 business conferences a year has to turn down potential customers for lack of space, it’s clear that Moscow’s market for conference venues has room to grow. And when that same major hotel is [...]
June 21, 2011
Central Asia in stagnation
Russia can no longer afford to pay for its nominal allies with tax-payer money. Libya, Algeria, Syria, and Egypt all owed money to the Soviet Union, but what did we receive in return? And what do we expect to receive from Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko? Russia has finally stopped lending large sums of money to [...]
June 20, 2011
China-Russia Treaty: a powerful political tool
The China-Russia Treaty of Good-Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation celebrates its tenth anniversary this year. This indicates qualitative improvement in Russian-Chinese relations, primarily in political cooperation. The treaty opens up broader cooperation prospects in North-East Asia, South-East Asia, Central Asia and other regions where the two countries have interests big or small. At the same time, [...]
June 17, 2011
The new, aging face of al Qaeda
Ayman al-Zawahiri, al Qaeda’s longtime No. 2, has been chosen as the new leader of the global terrorist organization, according to postings on Jihadist websites. Zawahiri, a former doctor from Egypt, has been hiding from U.S. special services for nearly a decade. He will turn 60 on June 19. Islamists are not known to make [...]