Russia to Sever Cooperation with NATO?

[Saxman]

The latest wrinkle in the recent increase in tensions between Russia and the West:

OSLO (Reuters) - Doubts surfaced over the future of military cooperation between NATO and Russia on Wednesday after Norway said Moscow had informed it of a decision to freeze all joint work with the alliance in the row over Georgia.

However Russia's ambassador to NATO played down any future steps, saying the decisions were "of temporary character, of regional character, not global character." A NATO spokeswoman said it had no notification of a Russian move.

"Norway has noted that Russia has decided for the time being to 'freeze' all military cooperation with NATO and allied countries," Norway's Defence Ministry said on its website.

A defence ministry spokeswoman told Reuters that Moscow had sent "a message" to Oslo -- with which it has had warm relations -- about the freeze but declined to provide further details.

On Tuesday NATO countries agreed after U.S. pressure on to freeze regular contacts with Russia until Moscow had withdrawn its troops from Georgia in line with a peace deal.

NATO spokeswoman Carmen Romero said the alliance had heard nothing from Moscow on military cooperation. "NATO has not received any notification from the Russians saying they are going to cut military cooperation activities," she said.

Russian envoy Dmitry Rogozin said curtailing contacts was "in nobody's interest." "Temporary decisions are being taken on current cooperation and not about cooperation in general," he told Reuters in English.

Asked which areas these involved, he said: "Military naval exercises in the Far East, the Mediterranean, in the Baltic."

NO DECISION

However he said no decision had been taken to end cooperation with the alliance's big operation against Islamist militancy in Afghanistan, under which Moscow allows the transit of non-lethal equipment for NATO via its territory.

"This is not going to happen. If Afghanistan is the new Vietnam for the Americans then it will be a problem for Russia itself ... We are not interested in the alliance's failure in Afghanistan."

Months of tension between Georgia and Russia erupted on August 7, when Tbilisi sought to regain control of the breakaway South Ossetia region. Russia launched a massive counter-offensive that extended into the Georgian heartland.

Russia has been incensed by NATO's promise of membership to Georgia. This would take NATO right up to Russia's southern border and many analysts believe a similar promise of membership for Ukraine was behind this month's fighting.

Washington responded to Russian intervention in Georgia by excluding Moscow from discussions among the Group of Eight nations and making clear that Russia's membership of bodies like the World Trade Organization could be in jeopardy.

NATO has also barred a Russian ship from joining an anti-terrorism exercise and did not agree to a Russian request for an emergency meeting on the crisis in the Caucasus.

Norwegian Deputy Defence Minister Espen Barth Eide told the online version of newspaper Aftenposten that Oslo's relations with Russia had "cooled off."

"We wish to continue the cooperation with Russia as far as possible but now the conflict with Russia has escalated further. It's a quite demanding security policy landscape that's developing," Eide was quoted as saying.

Norway and Russia share a border in the Arctic and have good working relations in areas ranging from fishing rights to the exploitation of natural resources. A large swathe of the Barents Sea has overlapping claims by both Oslo and Moscow, however..

(Reporting by Wojciech Moskwa and Richard Solem in Oslo, Amie Ferris-Rotman in Moscow and David Brunnstrom in Brussels; Editing by Giles Elgood)

[Hangtime]

Yea!

Screw Russia.... the CV Intercepts in the pacific with the Bears have resumed, the probes and patrols off the Alaska coast have resumed. Missing for a coupla decades were the 'Russian Trawler' shadows on our fleet elements; now they're back too.

These moves are not the moves of a friendly power.. NATO cooperation should have ended the day after the first probe of US airspace occured last fall.

It's past time to re-cycle SAC. It's more than past time to upgrade the boomer fleet; and get the Triad re-established.

[Maniac]

Now we only need a couple of Russian Defectors and everything is back to normal.

[Saxman]

Could there be a career revival?

[Masherbrum]

At least we know the Annual Russian Ejection Seat Demonstrations will always be around.   

[Elfie]

Now we only need a couple of Russian Defectors and everything is back to normal.

Another Victor Belenko for sure. Things sure are shaping up for Cold War part deux.

[Elfie]

(Image removed from quote.)

Could there be a career revival?

That guy was hilarious.

[Captain Virgil Hilts]

Not at all surprising. Expected in fact. It'll get worse. Much worse. Russia will make problems for the rest of the world. Both overtly and covertly. I keep hearing how Russia is "paranoid, and rightly so". I don't think so. Russia has been bringing trouble upon itself for almost a century. They're pissed because countries they owned for a few decades have no desire to have the Russian combat boot on their necks again, and they desire to regain their old empire.

Expect Russia to instigate a great deal of trouble in the Middle East, again, both overtly and covertly. The same for Eastern Europe.

The ONLY question here is how much will the free world tolerate, will we have leaders with enough spine to stand up to Russia, and people with enough brains and spine to back them? Or will people screw this up, and let Russia run wild, then complain when it REALLY costs EVERYONE?

[sprattjack]

http://article.wn.com/view/2008/08/20/New_world_order_The_week_Russia_flexed_its_military_muscle/

[Elfie]

This is a good read. Follows the timeline from August 1st when a roadside bomb injured 5 Georgian police.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24196062-26040,00.html

Late that day, ethnically Georgian villages "came under tremendous bombardment from the South Ossetians", said William Dunbar, who was a correspondent for Russia Today, a Kremlin-funded television channel that promotes pro-Russian views. He visited the next day and says he tried to file a report on the shelling but his editors were not interested. He soon resigned.

[Maniac]

Sever cooperation with Nato, and they are strenghtening their Cooperation with Syria.

[BaDkaRmA158Th]

And correct me if i am wrong, but isn't Syria allied with iran and such?

[bj229r]

And correct me if i am wrong, but isn't Syria allied with iran and such?

Russia is the one helping Iran to nukedom

[FrodeMk3]

Russia is the one helping Iran to nukedom

They'll probably just accelerate it with these latest events. They might possibly provide them with delivery systems, too. The whole world scene just went 3 decades' back in time.

[Yeager]

dont be surprised to see a mutual security alliance between Moscow and Tehran.  Its gonna happen, you know it is.