The Russia Blog
Russian Deputy PM Dmitry Rogozin announced yesterday a massively ambitious programme to build submarines and aircraft carriers.
At a press conference Rogozin – Russia’s straight-talking former ambassador to NATO – told reporters that by next year “production capacity will allow us to build six submarines and an aircraft carrier every year”.
He went… Read the rest
Vladimir Putin, Russia’s premier pacifist, has racked up yet another global accolade – the world renowned Confucius Peace Prize.
The organisers awarded the prize to Putin for his outstanding contribution to world peace – namely opposing the bombing of Libya. Qiao Damo, a member of the organising committee told reporters that “this April or… Read the rest
Every now and then, someone pops up and says that, for Russia the end is nigh: the oil boom is unsustainable, the population is falling, the Chinese are coming, the vodka will run out – that sort of thing.
But, if Russia actually did collapse, how would it happen? John O’Sullivan has put… Read the rest
For China and India to become involved in a joint military exercise with Russia is a pretty far-fetched idea at the moment, I’d say,, but Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov, in India to observe a joint Russian-Indian military exercise, has been busy talking up the idea.
Russian-Indian-Chinese military exercises could be held in the future
According to RIA Novosti, from tomorrow Chinese tourists will no longer need visas when they visit Russia on an organised tour.
According to Shengeliya, 1.7 million Russians visited China in 2004, while 800,000 Chinese arrived in Russia, no more than 200,000 of them for tourist purposes. Russia could host up to
A joint Chinese-Russian military exercise is underway in the Russian Far East, the first between the two countries. 10,000 personnel are involved in an operation that is said to be one of humanitarian assistance:
[T]he scenario for these exercises – aid to a state suffering political violence – isn’t aimed against
Liu Jianchao, a spokesman from the Chinese Foreign Ministry, has reportedly said that China will "seriously consider" sending troops to Kyrgyzstan, RIA Novosti reports today. The same report though goes on to say that the Chinese Foreign Ministry has issued no official comment.
The Chinese comment follows a statement from Kurmanbek Bakiyev, Kyrgyzstan’s acting… Read the rest
Following the passing of an anti-secession law by China directed at Taiwan, Russia has come out firmly on the side of China.
"The law outlines the key priority of the
Chinese government – peaceful methods of the country’s unification
within the framework of the ‘one state – two systems’ policy and
While there is much hype about the increasingly close relationship between Russia and China, media coverage of Russo-Japanese relations tend to focus almost exclusively on the lack of a post-WW2 peace treaty between the two and the future of the Kurile Islands, which Russia currently controls but both states claim.
This NYT article, however, shows… Read the rest
