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Russia's New Threats May Endanger President Obama's 'Reset' Policy

IN THIS ISSUE: Russia's new threats may endanger 'reset,' Iran sanctions price may be worth paying, storing nuclear waste, India's 'enrichment capacity enough to fuel nuke subs,' Blix: precondition makes 6-party talks difficult, cesium from Fukushima plant fell all over Japan.

Published on November 29, 2011
 

Russia's New Threats May Endanger Obama's 'Reset' Policy

Fred Weir | Christian Science Monitor

Medvedev and Obama

Russia will target US anti-missile sites in Europe, deploy advanced radars to monitor all missile launches from NATO territory, and might even withdraw from the New START arms reduction treaty that came into force this year unless Washington takes dramatic steps to allay Moscow's concerns over plans to deploy major elements of an anti-missile shield in several European countries, President Dmitry Medvedev warned this week.

In his toughest-ever foreign policy statement, which Russian officials qualified Friday as "a call to dialogue," Mr. Medvedev said he has ordered the Russian military to immediately take measures to restore the strategic balance – as Moscow understands it – to counter US plans to install advanced radars and anti-missile interceptors in countries such as Poland, Romania, and Turkey in the next few years.

"This is an extremely tone deaf statement from Medvedev, which sounds as if it were written to appeal to hardliners in the West in order to draw the most rigid possible response," says Alexei Arbatov.    Full Article



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