Russia to deliver new security proposal in Brussels July 22

(RUSSIA, SECURITY, COUNCIL, ROGOZIN, BETWEEN, AUGUST)

MOSCOW, June 29 (RIA Novosti) - Russia`s proposals for a new National Security Strategy is to be presented at NATO headquarters in Brussels on July 22, Russia`s envoy to NATO said Monday.
"A high-level expert - one of the leaders of Russia`s Security Council - will arrive for that," Dmitry Rogozin said during a video link from Brussels organized by RIA Novosti.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed a decree in May on the National Security Strategy up to 2020.
Rogozin also said that NATO had invited "the Russian envoy to take part on July 7 in a seminar devoted to NATO strategic development issues."
He also said the first meeting between a Russian representative and the newly-appointed NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who takes up the post on August 1, will be held August 11.
"I think at the August 11 meeting he is to outline prospects for his trip to Russia," Rogozin said.
Rogozin said discussions on a Russia`s proposal for a European Security Treaty could start in September during a Russia-NATO Council session.
Saturday`s informal foreign ministerial meeting of the Russia-NATO Council was the first high-level talks since last August`s five-day war between Russia and Georgia, after which contacts were frozen. Russia then recognized Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which was attacked by Tbilisi in an attempt to bring it back under central control.
Relations between Russia and NATO have also been frayed in recent years over the military alliance`s eastern expansion. Ukraine and Georgia, both former Soviet republics, have applied to join, but their U.S.-backed bids were turned down due to pressure from Germany and France at a 2008 NATO summit in Bucharest.
 
Original article

Russia ready for more NATO cargo transits to Afghanistan

(AFGHANISTAN, RUSSIA, TRANSIT, MILITARY, GERMANY, FRANCE)

Facing the Taliban in Afghanistan
UN Secretary General welcomes Russia`s role in restoration of Afghanistan
CORFU (Greece), June 29 (RIA Novosti) - Russia is ready to extend the transit of military cargoes through Russia to other key member nations of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan, a deputy foreign minister has said.
Russia already has bilateral transit deals with Germany, France and Spain, and Moscow also signed an agreement with NATO in 2008 on rail transits of non-lethal supplies to Afghanistan.
"As for military transits, we have signed agreements with Germany, France and Spain. We are also considering a request from Italy," Alexander Grushko told a news conference late on Sunday after an informal meeting of the Russia-NATO Council.
Due to worsening security on the main land route from Pakistan, NATO is seeking alternative routes to supply the U.S.-dominated ISAF in Afghanistan.
There are 62,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan, and U.S. President Barrack Obama has pledged to deploy another 17,000 U.S. military personnel to the war-ravaged country.
The informal foreign ministerial meeting of the Council on Saturday was the first high-level talks since last August`s five-day war between Russia and Georgia, after which contacts were frozen. Russia then recognized Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which was attacked by Tbilisi in an attempt to bring it back under central control.
Relations between Russia and NATO have also been frayed in recent years over the military alliance`s eastern expansion. Ukraine and Georgia, both former Soviet republics, have applied to join, but their U.S.-backed bids were turned down due to pressure from Germany and France at a 2008 NATO summit in Bucharest.
NATO and Russia have recently taken measures to step up cooperation on international security, including anti-piracy efforts in the Gulf of Aden.
 
Original article

Obama seeks to change Muslim perceptions of U.S.

By Ross Colvin and David Alexander
CAIRO (Reuters) - President Barack Obama sought to change Muslim perceptions of the United States on Thursday in a speech that urged Arabs and Israelis to declare in public the realities he said they accept in private.
Addressing the world's more than 1 billion Muslims from Cairo, Obama called for a "new beginning" in ties between Washington and the Islamic world in his speech that also tackled grievances over two U.S.-led wars and tensions over Iran.
Some Muslims welcomed Obama's fresh tone after George W. Bush's departure even as others expressed frustration that he failed to outline specific changes to U.S. policy, reflecting skepticism in the region Obama must still overcome.
In his keynote speech, occasionally interrupted by shouts of "we love you," Obama said he did not want U.S. troops to stay in Iraq or Afghanistan forever and offered mutual respect in seeking to resolve differences with long-time foe, Tehran.
"We meet at a time of tension between the United States and Muslims around the world -- tension rooted in historical forces that go beyond any current policy debate," Obama said in the address that included quotes from Islam's holy book, the Koran.
"I have come here to seek a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world, one based upon mutual interest and mutual respect," he said. "America and Islam are not exclusive, and need not be in competition."
"This cycle of suspicion and discord must end," he said.
Highlighting hostility the U.S. leader faces from some quarters, al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, in a message on a website, warned Muslims against alliance with Christians and Jews, saying it would annul their faith.
The supreme leader of Washington's regional arch foe, Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said before Obama spoke that America was "deeply hated" and only action, not "slogans," could change that.
The choice of Cairo for the speech underscored Obama's focus on the Middle East, where he faces big foreign policy challenges, from trying to restart Israeli-Palestinian peace talks to curbing Iran's nuclear plans that Washington says is to build atomic bombs. Tehran denies any such aims.
His trip included touring a 14th century mosque and the pyramids in the desert on the edge of Cairo. He was seen off at the airport, walking up the red carpet in the t-shirt and trousers he wore while visiting the ancient pharaonic sites.
TWO-STATE SOLUTION
Although the administration tried to lower expectations in recent days about what the speech would accomplish, there were high hopes in the region that he would take a tougher line on Israel and follow up his words with actions.
He offered few specifics on democracy, rule of law and human rights in the Arab world, issues many hoped he would spell out.
"He should have been outspoken about democracy and the universal principles of human rights," said Syrian lawyer Mohannad al-Hassani. Continued...
Source: Reuters