The New Arms Race

During his first trip to Kyrgystan on July 31st, President Medvedev pulled off a coup that will have the Pentagon seething, if not in rage, then in frustration.
 
The Presidents of Presidents of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, comprise what is known as the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CTSO). NATO it may not be, and militarily CTSO is a mere shadow of the Warsaw Pact, but between them, these states are major players in the fossil fuels industry, with their major companies being state controlled.

Krasnaya Polyana, a resort near to the Black Sea city of Sochi, will be the venue for the 2014 winter Olympics. It has also been the venue, over the last few days, for a series of meetings of Russian parliamentarians, as President Medvedev has insisted that even during the summer holidays, the politicians should remain in regular contact.
 

Russia’s top general Nikolai Makarov, the chief of the General Staff, announced this week that the Russian navy wants to buy a French helicopter carrier. Marakov also announced that Russia has deployed advanced air defense systems on the border with North Korea and will press ahead in developing the beleaguered Bulava missile.
 

Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev this week reaffirmed his commitment to the idea of a new European security pact.
 
He told an international security conference in the Russian city of Yaroslavl on Monday that the proposal is not directed against any nation, stating that any new agreement should help improve rapport among the European nations.
 

 
President Obama has announced the scrapping of the controversial European Missile Defence Shield. Following a "re-assessment" of Iran's nuclear capability, the shield is no longer deemed necessary. Russia, said the President, has posed no threat, and was not the real reason behind the programmes conception. Defence Secretary Robert Gates speculated that in the future, sanctions may be a more realistic means of influencing Iran.
 

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has issued a strong defence of Iran against the threat of force or new sanctions imposed by the West.

Following President Obama's decision to scrap the proposed European Missile Defence Shield, the Kremlin has reportedly dropped plans to deploy ballistic missiles in the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad.
 

Medvedev's proposed European Security Pact seems to be garnering more interest. During this week's visit to Switzerland, the Russian president won the support of his Swiss counterpart Hans Rudolf Merz. "We value the positive attitude of Swiss colleagues to the idea proposed by Russia to develop a legally binding agreement on European security," Medvedev said.
 

Russia’s initiative on a European Security Pact, topped the agenda of the Russian-French Security Cooperation Council meeting on Thursday. Also discussed were Iran’s nuclear programme, and Russian-US missile defense consultations.