Word: putin
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...Nevertheless, six pounds of choice Maine lobster and two weekends later, Putin delivered on a long-promised threat. Early Saturday morning, the Kremlin abruptly announced Putin's decree to halt Russia's participation in the CFE treaty due to "extraordinary circumstances ... which affect the security of the Russian Federation and require immediate measures...
...from anyone to cast a shadow over the famous Maine lobster. But even this fabled treat failed to work as a sweetener on Russian President Vladimir Putin. On the way to Kennebunkport, where President George W. Bush's family were receiving "friend Vladimir" earlier his month, Putin had been particularly fretting about the prospective deployment in Europe of the U.S. Anti-Ballistic Missile system (ABM), a shield against missiles that rogue countries, Iran in particular, may be able to launch in future. In addition to ABM, which Putin considers a threat to Russia, NATO failed to ratify the Conventional Forces...
...Putin's "extraordinary circumstances" are clear: first, he says missile shield in Europe will see through entire Russia's defenses all the way to the Urals; Russia seeks to counter that, but the treaty stands very much in the way. Second, NATO countries have failed to ratify the treaty's 1999 amended version - a failure that Putin insists upsets the balance of forces in Europe. For their part, NATO countries hold that the amended version required that Moscow withdraw troops from Moldova and Georgia, which it hasn't completed, and refuse to ratify until Russia fully complies...
...first Independence Day, but Kosovo Albanians' dreams of freedom from Serbia are again being deferred. U.S. and European attempts to pass a U.N. Security Council resolution to clear the way for the province's "supervised independence" are foundering on stiff opposition from Serbia and, more important, Russia. A Bush-Putin summit earlier this month failed to make progress on the issue. U.S. officials now say the U.N. resolution once promised for early 2007 may not come until 2008. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon warned that further delay could "unravel" Kosovo's peace process, but there is no clear path...
President Vladimir Putin has long promised to restore Russian greatness and build an "energy empire." But until now, his empire-building had been confined to taking control of corporations operating on his turf, buying into businesses abroad, and blackmailing former Soviet Republics who dared vote against Moscow-backed candidates, moved to join NATO or acted in otherwise uppity ways. But Putin's imperial ambitions have recently added an element of classic 19th century-style territorial expansion: Late last month, Moscow signaled its intentions to annex the entire North Pole, an area twice the size of France with Belgium and Switzerland...