NATO

RAF fighters were scrambled to intercept Russian nuclear bombers near British airspace twice in the last week, it has emerged. The alarm was raised after the  Tupolev Tu95 'Bears' were spotted on Monday and Tuesday, flying in a Nato-policed zone close to the UK.
 
Tornados from RAF Leuchars in Fife were despatched to identify and escort the bombers back to international air space.
 
 

The thorny issue of the missile defence shield is still live, and deployments of US patriot missile systems in former Soviet states close to the Russian border are starting to rankle with the Kremlin. Moscow will, of course, be aware of the policy of “encirclement” that it pursued during the Cold War, and the unsettling effect that it had on the west. Indeed, the policy brought the world to the brink of nuclear war when Russian missiles were deployed in Cuba in 1962.

The United States is absolutely right to reject Vladimir Putin's criticism of the proposed missile defence shield. Talk of "maintaining the balance" is misleading: Putin simply does not want his country to lose the one playable card it holds.
 

NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has said that he sees no need for a new security treaty, as proposed by Russia.  This rebuff to the Kremlin’s calls for new defence arrangements in Europe may be seen as a setback for President Medvedev, the architect of the plan, or it may give him a chance to cause a split in Europe’s NATO ranks. Sarkozy and Merkel are known to be highly supportive of the plan.   

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.
 

 
The following press release was issued a few days ago by NATO:
 
"NATO and Ukraine took their relationship to a higher level by the signing of a “Declaration to Complement the Charter on a Distinctive Partnership between NATO and Ukraine” at NATO Headquarters on 21 August. The document was signed by NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen and by Ukrainian Ambassador to NATO Ihor Sagach on behalf of the Ukrainian President.

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.

Ukrainian membership of NATO, much discussed and speculated upon until the Russian invasion of Georgia, is now on hold. It would very likely be better for all concerned if it is postponed indefinitely. Former Ukrainian Parliamentary Speaker Arseniy Yatseniuk has clearly stated that his country's membership of NATO is not currently on the agenda. "No one has proposed us to become a NATO member”, he has said, "Ukraine is not ready to join NATO today, moreover, NATO is not ready to accept Ukraine today ".