Russia 111005 Basic Political Developments

The peacekeeping Slavic shield

http://rt.com/politics/press/nezavisimaya/peacekeeping-military-russia-ukraine/en/
Published: 5 October, 2011, 05:01
Edited: 5 October, 2011, 05:05
The warming of relations between Moscow and Kiev is also being manifested in the military sphere Sergey Konovalov

The recent warming in relations between Moscow and Kiev is being manifested in the military sphere as well. The active phase of the Ukrainian-Belarusian-Russian military exercises on the Shiroky Lan training field in Nikolaev began yesterday. According to the Defense Ministry of Ukraine, the battalion formed from the sub-units of the armed forces of the three states will spend a week (until October 8) practising the actions of “the joint mechanized brigade in peacekeeping operations.”

Russia’s co-director of the exercises, First Deputy Commander of the Seventh Guards Airborne Assault Division, Colonel Dmitry Ovcharov, has already dubbed this a historic event, because Ukraine has not hosted military exercises with Russian paratroopers and the Belarusian troops since 1991.

The spokesman for the Russian Airborne Troops, Colonel Aleksandr Cherednik, said that about 250 troops from the three states are taking part in the maneuvers. Russia’s military contingent was transported from Novorossiysk to Nikolaev by Il-76 military transport aircraft. “Russian paratroopers arrived at the exercise without arms and were yesterday allowed to borrow Ukraine’s military equipment and firearms.” This speaks of the confidence and openness of the current Ukrainian leadership, which has organized these maneuvers.

In the post-Soviet period, Moscow and Kiev have mainly conducted joint military training on the Black Sea, as well as working together on issues concerning the establishment of joint missile defense. Belarus, meanwhile, had only worked together with Russia. Now, Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian soldiers are beginning a new stage of military cooperation between the three Slavic states.

This stage of active military cooperation began relatively recently when Russia and Ukraine resumed joint naval exercises “Fairway of the World 2011” in the summer of this year and, when in September this year, a squadron of the 25th Separate Airborne Brigade of the 6th Army Corps of Ukraine participated in the “Union Shield 2011” strategic tactical exercises at the Ashuluk training grounds in Russia. This development has a simple explanation based on global military experience; establishing defenses with allied forces is more effective. Moreover, the threat of terrorism is becoming a lot more relevant for all three Slavic states. In order to parry it, it is necessary to utilize armed forces, including multinational sub-units. Russia and Ukraine already have similar peacekeeping experience.

The troops of the two countries have taken part in UN and NATO peacekeeping missions in the former Yugoslavia, as well as some African states. But this is the first time this type of cooperation has been organized on their own territory.

Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko, who currently chairs the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), has already mentioned the possibility of using the CSTO Collective Rapid Reaction Forces (CRRF) for the prevention of insurrections in the organization’s member states. Meanwhile, according to Ukraine’s defense minister, Mikhail Ezhel, Ukraine’s decision to take part in international anti-terrorism training operations, including on its territory as well as on the territory of the RF, was made during the trilateral meeting of the defense ministers of Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine, which took place in June 2011.    

Ukraine’s decision to participate in the joint events of the Russian-Belarusian military alliance was, according to the president of the Academy of Geopolitical Studies, Col.-Gen. Leonid Ivashov, made due to the existence of common threats to the Slavic states. “We should acknowledge that it is no longer possible to ensure the security of our countries alone. The socio-political and economic situation in Ukraine is such that, under certain circumstances, the country’s breaking up into several states is possible. In these conditions, there is a high possibility of NATO troops being deployed in the country to allegedly stabilize the situation. And, as has already been the case with the former Yugoslavia and Iraq, NATO troops will secure the status quo of these new states. The current Ukrainian leadership understands that only Russia and its geo-political allies are able to prevent this process – hence the rapprochement with Moscow and Minsk in the military and military-technical spheres. And this rapprochement should only be welcomed,” he says.

Hugo Chavez is being snatched out of Moscow’s hands

http://rt.com/politics/press/kommersant/venezuela-caracas-minsk-oil/en/
Published: 5 October, 2011, 07:03
Edited: 5 October, 2011, 07:05
Belarus deepens its expansion into Venezuela Pavel Tarasenko, Movsun Gadzhiev (Minsk)

Minsk is stepping up its economic expansion into Venezuela. At the end of a Belarusian delegation’s trip to Caracas, led by presidential assistant, Viktor Sheiman, contracts were signed for the construction of homes in Venezuela and development of the country’s gas transport system. Experts say that Minsk has, in essence, snatched these contracts away from Moscow, and based on the pace of real co-operation with Caracas, in some sectors it is already ahead of Russia. Unlike Russian firms, Belarusians are already producing oil, building factories, railroads, and pipelines in Venezuela.

The Belarusian delegation spent about a week in Venezuela. On Monday, it was greeted by the Venezuelan leader, Hugo Chavez. “Our friendship is very important,” he assured his guests. The delegation left Venezuela not only with assurances of friendship, but also with new contracts.

An agreement for the construction of 20,000 panel homes and a brick factory has been signed. Minsk has agreed to contribute to the development of a railroad network. Moreover, agreements on the joint development of two gas fields near Lake Maracaibo (Zulia State) and construction of a pipeline from Barquisimeto to Barinas State have been signed. And finally, Minsk and Caracas have decided to put into operation the joint venture Petrolera BeloVenezolana. The company holds licenses for the development of five oil fields, but production is currently taking place at only one of the fields. For now, 20,000 barrels of oil are being produced daily, which is a drop in the ocean compared to Venezuela’s total production volume of 2.97 million barrels a day.

Thus, Belarus is gradually becoming one of Venezuela’s key partners – the countries are working together in the fields of transportation, construction, infrastructure, and energy. Meanwhile, the bilateral trade volume could amount to $2 billion by the end of the year. At the same time, experts are confident that Belarus and Venezuela are co-operating on a wider range of issues. Belarusian expert Yury Khashchevatsky suggested to Kommersant that Minsk and Caracas are not disclosing all aspects of their co-operation. The expert recalled that, earlier, the Spanish daily El Mundo reported that Belarus is engaged in arms trafficking to the Columbian terrorist group FARC, using Venezuela as an intermediary.

Experts note that one of the main reasons for Minsk’s sudden rise in activity in Venezuela is its concern about the future of its projects in the country. These fears are particularly relevant due to Hugo Chavez’s illness. It’s no secret that most of the joint projects are tied personally to the Venezuelan leader. Colonel Chavez has already announced that the Belarusian president will visit him before the end of the year.  

Russian experts are seeing another reason for Belarus’s expansion in Venezuela. “Aleksandr Lukashenko is trying to show Moscow that he is not politically isolated and that the relationship model between society and the leadership, which he introduced in Belarus, is successfully developing in a number of other countries as well,” Vladimir Semago, deputy head of the Russian-Venezuelan Business Council, told Kommersant.

Russia, meanwhile, says Mr Semago, has lost the initiative in the development of the Venezuelan market. “In the period 2003-2005, a strong impetus had been given to the relations between Moscow and Caracas. Eventually, however, the business sector was expelled from this relationship due to excessive government regulation,” explained the expert. He noted that “the deputy prime minister, Igor Sechin’s, program for the development of relations with Venezuela failed. Occupied as he was with Russian affairs, he was unable to get involved in the process of deepening co-operation with Caracas”. The National Oil Consortium, which had been created at Mr Sechin’s suggestion, has not yet produced a single barrel of oil, and the fields offered by Caracas to Lukoil and Gazprom turned out to be not particularly promising. In the end, the main sector of co-operation continues to be the trade in arms, which, according to OPEC, the holder of the world’s largest oil reserves is purchasing on credit.