Putin says Russia will stand firm in standoff with West

[mick silver]

Putin says Russia will stand firm in standoff with Westhttp://l.yimg.com/os/152/2012/04/21/image001-png_162613.png (http://www.ap.org/) By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV 8 minutes ago





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MOSCOW (AP) — President Vladimir Putin on Thursday voiced confidence that Russia will come out as a winner in its standoff with the West if it firmly stands its ground.
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Speaking before senior officials of the Federal Security Service, the main successor to the KGB agency, Putin said "the situation around our country will change for the better, but not because we will make concessions, bend down or trifle with someone."
"It will change for the better only if we become stronger," he said.
The Russian leader accused the West of using "attempts at political isolation, economic pressure, large-scale information war and instruments of special services" to weaken Russia.
He named the deployment of NATO's forces near Russian borders, the development of the alliance's U.S.-led missile defense program, and a U.S. program of developing high-precision long-range conventional weapons among the top threats.
"No one has succeeded in scaring our country or pressuring it and no one will," he added.
Russia's relations with the West have plunged to the lowest point since the Cold War over the Ukrainian crisis. The United States and the European Union have slapped painful economic sanctions against Russia over its annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula and support for insurgents in eastern Ukraine.
Putin, a KGB veteran, praised the agency, known under its Russian acronym FSB, for its efforts to catch foreign spies, saying it exposed 52 foreign intelligence officers and 290 of their agents last year alone.
He added that a top priority for the FSB now should be tracking Russian citizens who have left to fight alongside the Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria.
"Later they could be used against us, against Russia and its neighbors," Putin said. "So it's important to take additional measures to cut international links and resource base of the terrorists, block avenues for their entry and exit from Russia."


President Vladimir Putin
Russia
Federal Security Service


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[mick silver]

China asserts its clout as diplomatic heavyweighthttp://l.yimg.com/os/publish-images/news/2013-08-26/d19448d6-6aaa-4359-a768-eadacf5fbca9_afp-gif_new.gif (http://www.afp.com/) By Kelly Olsen March 8, 2015 6:40 AM











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Beijing (AFP) - China asserted its place on the global diplomatic stage Sunday, pledging to steadfastly support Russia in the face of Western sanctions, scolding regional rival Japan, and making clear it sees the US as an equal.



Foreign minister Wang Yi, speaking to reporters at a packed annual press conference, staunchly defended China's national interests, while proclaiming that its rise is no threat to the international order.
He stressed that Beijing would not abandon old friends and allies such as Moscow, which is beleaguered under sanctions and international opprobrium, and Pyongyang, in recent years more often than not a headache for China's leaders rather than an asset.
Chinese President Xi Jinping is due to visit the US, the world's only superpower, later this year and Wang emphasised that the two countries are equals that must work to overcome tensions.
The two presidents were expected to "inject new momentum into efforts to build a new model of major country relations between China and the United States", Wang said, using Beijing's favoured description of their ties, suggesting they are on the same footing.
"China and the United States are two large countries," he added. "It's impossible for there not to be any disagreements between us."
Wang vowed to deepen economic and diplomatic cooperation with Russia, even as it faces Western sanctions over the annexation of Crimea and the conflict in Ukraine.
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(http://news.yahoo.com/photos/chinese-foreign-minister-wang-yi-speaks-during-press-photo-104039751--finance.html)Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi speaks during a press conference as part of the National People' …

Beijing and Moscow have regularly used their veto power on the UN Security Council to thwart Western initiatives such as on Syria's civil war, and Wang said they would "continue to carry out strategic coordination and cooperation to maintain international peace and security".
Sino-Russian relations were based on "mutual need", he said, and they would work to increase trade to an annual $100 billion a year while intensifying cooperation in sectors including finance and energy.
Oil and gas are crucial to Russia, which has suffered from the plunge in global crude prices, and Wang's comments suggest President Vladimir Putin -- with whom Xi has a strong personal relationship -- can count on Beijing's support.
- Weight of history -
Wang stuck largely to Beijing's script, reserving his theatrics for traditional bete noire Japan, which received a finger-wagging denunciation over what Beijing sees as its recalcitrance over World War II history.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will only be welcome at commemorations Beijing plans for the 70th anniversary of the war's end if he is "sincere" about history, Wang said.
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(http://news.yahoo.com/photos/abe-nationalist-feels-japan-apologised-enough-seven-decades-photo-104039999.html)Abe is a nationalist who feels Japan has apologised enough and that after seven decades of peace has …

China-Japan relations have plunged over issues including territorial disputes and Japan's 19th- and 20th-century invasions, while China's Communist Party regularly stokes nationalism as part of its claim to a right to rule.
Abe is a nationalist who feels Japan has apologised enough and that after seven decades of peace has earned a right to be more assertive of its interests, including defence and sovereignty, as well as how it sees its own history.
"This issue has been haunting the China-Japan relationship," Wang said, pointing his index finger in the air and referring to the conflict, in which China says more than 20 million of its citizens died.
"Those in power in Japan should first ask themselves, what they have done on this score," he said.
He was also defiant over Beijing's interests in the South China Sea, almost of all which it regards as its territory amid disputes with Southeast Asian countries.
Asked about reports Beijing was reclaiming land in the area, he said China was "carrying out necessary construction on its own islands and reefs".
"We have every right to do things that are lawful and justified," he added.
A career diplomat and expert on Japan, Wang assumed his position in March 2013 and is the face of Chinese foreign policy, the counterpart of officials such as US Secretary of State John Kerry.
He was speaking on the sidelines of the National People's Congress, China's Communist-controlled parliament.
China's most influential foreign policy official, however, is Yang Jiechi, a member of the State Council, or Cabinet, who was Wang's predecessor as foreign minister.
Wang also stressed Beijing's close historical ties with Pyongyang, which go back to the Korean War when Chinese forces guaranteed its survival.
But he also illustrated the challenge of dealing with the nuclear-armed neighbour and its youthful, often unpredictable leader Kim Jong-Un, the third generation in his family to helm the country.
Three years after coming to power Kim has yet to meet Xi, but Moscow said in January that the North Korean leader would be among those attending ceremonies to mark the 70th anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany.
"As to when our leaders will meet it will have to suit the schedule of both sides," he said, implicitly acknowledging that no such encounter was likely soon.


Foreign Policy
Politics & Government
Japan
China
Beijing


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