Year: 2009

With 20 global leaders meeting in London for the G20 summit Russia Today spoke with Roland Nash, Head of Research at Renaissance Capital about the key issues, and Russia’s proposals.

The main problem with this meeting is that it lasts 10 hours and 20 Leaders. That gives a half hour to each. The odds of much being accomplished are not strong.

Update: The meeting now will last about 4 and a half hours for 20 leaders to speak. HUH!

Windows to Russia!
Kyle and Svet

comments always welcome.

April 1, 2009,
London News:

Press Statements following Meeting with President of the United States Barack Obama:

PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA – BARACK OBAMA: Let me just make a brief comment. I am very grateful to President Medvedev for taking the time to visit with me today. I am particularly gratified because prior to the meeting, our respective teams have worked together, and have developed a series of approaches to areas of common interest that I think present great promise. As I’ve said in the past, I think that over the last several years the relationship between our two countries has been allowed to drift. And what I believe we’ve begun today is a very constructive dialogue that will allow us to work on issues of mutual interest, like the reduction of nuclear weapons and the strengthening of our nonproliferation treaties; our mutual interest in dealing with terrorism and extremism that threatens both countries; our mutual interest in economic stability and restoring growth around the world; our mutual interest in promoting peace and stability in areas like the Middle East.

So I am very encouraged by the leadership of the President. I’m very grateful that he has taken the time to visit. I am especially excited about the fact that the President extended an invitation for me to visit Moscow to build on some of the areas that we discussed on today. And I have agreed to visit Moscow in July, which we both agreed was a better time than January to visit.

And my hope is that given the constructive conversations that we’ve had today, the joint statements that we will be issuing both on reductions of nuclear arsenals, as well as a range of other areas of interest, that what we’re seeing today is the beginning of new progress in the U.S.-Russian relations. And I think that President Medvedev’s leadership is – has been critical in allowing that progress to take place.

So thank you very much.

PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA – DMITRY MEDVEDEV: I would like to thank President Obama most sincerely for this chance to meet, get to know each other, share our views on the current situation in the world, talk about the values that unite us, and discuss how we see the future of Russian-American relations.

I cannot but agree that over these last years, unfortunately, our relations have encountered difficulties and, as the U.S. President just said, they were drifting in the wrong direction. Our relations were worsening, and this was not in the interests of the United States of America, nor the Russian Federation, nor indeed of the planet as a whole.

We have agreed to try to reset our relations and open a new page in our ties. This is important given our joint responsibility for the processes taking place.

Today, we discussed practically all of the issues of concern to our countries: non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, strategic offensive arms reductions, counter-terrorism issues, and the question of building a more stable global economic order, and this demonstrates just how important it is for us to talk, and just how important are the decisions we reach.

This is only the start of our discussions, but I think that today’s meeting has already shown that there are far more issues that unite us than issues that take us in different directions.

I agree with President Obama that our teams have done some good work. The two declarations that we adopted today show progress in the areas we have been talking about. The declaration on strategic offensive weapons and the declaration on the general framework for Russian-U.S. relations reflect our current positions, and it is important that they have been approved.

I will be very pleased to see the U.S. President and his team in Russia this July. July is the warmest month, and I hope that this warmth will extend to the talks that we will have. We have agreed on a number of specific matters that we could work on in preparation for this meeting, and I hope that we will not lose time now and will indeed get this work underway as was discussed today.

We will continue our contacts, all the more so as we discussed today not just important international issues but also bilateral matters. We even talked a bit about legal education, not perhaps everyone’s favourite subject, but it can actually make a very useful contribution to developing our bilateral relations, for it turns out that in our time we studied the same books.

I have an optimistic view of the future of Russian-U.S. relations after this meeting. I would like to thank once again my colleague, President Obama.

Windows to Russia!

Hello,

While drinking my morning cup of coffee, I came across this tidbit of information about Moscow and the new transformation of the city to a more American style!

Moscow has decided that it is time to tear down all the flats that are considered ugly by international standards and to replace them with single family dwellings just like the Americans.

The plans have been in effect for about 10 years and the funding was just approved yesterday by the government. It is said that the financial crises can not stand in the way of Muscovite’s dreams of owning a single family dwelling.

The layout of the plans of the city show how this will be done. (Moscow City Layout Link)

First the Issues:

17,000,000 people live in flats all over Moscow, about 5,000,000 extra immigrants from all over the world live in Moscow also. That makes 22,000,000 people to build single family dwellings for.

The land area of Moscow will have to be increased. This picture shows the plan to get enough room for all the single family dwellings!As you see they have left lots of room for expansion and given themselves lots of ocean front property. They also have included Equator property to allow the elderly to be like the snowbirds in America and go south for the winter. (snowbirds)

Due to the success of the Georgian war. Moscow feels that they can just go ahead and start annexing South Ossetia size parcels of land and soon will have enough to expand Moscow.

Problems:

There is two problems and and after you study the map carefully you will see the first problem that they do not annex USA land. (Well not much!) Russia has after consulting there military have decided that America gets rather touchy when you try to take their land and they have lots of Nuclear weapons. So the Kremlin decided that they would not play in that area very much. Notice the short line on the map ending at Alert!

Second problem is the Metro. It is undecided on how they are going to get the lines deep enough to go under the Oceans. But knowing Russians the way I do, they will solve those problems with out any worry!

Time line:

About 6 months from April 1st 2009.

Well that does not leave much time and I have really gotten use to these flats in Moscow. They are warm and comfy. But I understand that we get to turn in our plans for the single family dwelling we want and due to the fact that we have lots of room to spare we are limited to 5000 square feet.

So we have turned in our plan for our house:

We think that it is a nice home….

Kyle and Svet

comments always welcome.

PS: April Fools Day!

Hello,

Today on Windows to Russia, we will make a simple Vinaigrette the way they do it in Russia! Or at least one of the million ways they do it in Russia. This is a popular winter salad as it uses pickled and storage type food items. But do not worry if you make it in the summer because it is good year around…

Simple Vinaigrette Salad Recipe from Russia:

Ingredients Vegetables:

6 beets – cooked, peeled and diced
8 potatoes – cooked, peeled and diced
4 carrots – cooked, peeled and diced
3 dill pickles – diced
1 medium onion – diced

Ingredients Dressing:

1/3 cup salad oil
1/3 cup lemon juice (from real lemons)
2 tablespoons salt
1 teaspoon dill weed
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper (if brave, crushed red pepper)

How to prepare Veggies:

Wash and scrub – beets, potatoes and carrots and boil together. (With Peeling on.)

Check after 15 minutes and remove potatoes and carrots as they finished, letting beets continue cooking (about 10 more minutes) until done.

Cool and peel.

Dice the beets, carrots and potatoes into tiny size and combine in mixing bowl.

Dice onion and pickles and blend in mixing bowl.

You now have a mixture of carrots, potatoes, beets, pickles and onions. (Remember diced not chunk is very important.)

Lets Prepare Dressing:

Combine fresh lemon juice and oil with dill weed, add salt and pepper (adjust amounts to your taste.)

Pour over salad vegetables and stir (everything will turn even more purple).

Chill at least two hours before serving. (Even better all night!)

Eat! (Yummy)

Serves 10-12.

Kyle and Svet

comments always welcome.

Hello,

Today in Russia is April Fools’ Day, apart from being an international day of practical jokes, this year also marks the 200th birthday of Encyclopedia Britannica’s ‘Father of modern Russian realism’– Nikolay Gogol. (Link to all about Gogol!)

Have a nice April Fool’s Day and do not forget that other things happened on today also!

Kyle and Svet

Building Russian-U.S. Bonds
March 31, 2009
Article by Dmitry Medvedev published in “Washington Post”

It is hard to dispute the pessimistic assessments of the Russian-American relationship that prevailed at the end of last year. Unfortunately, relations soured because of the previous U.S. administration’s plans – specifically, deployment of the U.S. global missile defense system in Eastern Europe, efforts to push NATO’s borders eastward and refusal to ratify the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe. All of these positions undermined Russia’s interests and, if implemented, would inevitably require a response on our part.

I believe that removing such obstacles to good relations would be beneficial to our countries – essentially removing “toxic assets” to make good a negative balance sheet – and beneficial to the world.

This will require joint efforts. The exchange of letters between myself and President Obama this year showed mutual readiness to build mature bilateral relations in a pragmatic and businesslike manner. For that we have a “road map” – the Strategic Framework Declaration our countries signed in Sochi in 2008. It is essential that the positive ideas in that declaration be brought to life. We are ready for that.

Possible areas of cooperation abound. For instance, I agree with President Obama that resuming the disarmament process should become our immediate priority. The wish to ensure absolute security in a unilateral way is a dangerous illusion. I am encouraged that our new partners in Washington realize this.

It also appears that we all understand the need to search for collective solutions to the problems facing Afghanistan, with the involvement of all influential players. In this spirit, Moscow hosted a broad-based conference on Afghanistan under the auspices of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. We welcome the U.S. initiative to convene a United Nations conference in the Netherlands. It is critical that Russia and the United States view these conferences as mutually reinforcing rather than competitive.

Neither Russia nor the United States can tolerate drift and indifference in our relations. I spoke in Washington last November about the need to put an end to the crisis of confidence. To begin with, we should agree that overcoming our common negative legacy is possible only by ensuring equality and mutual benefit and by taking into account our mutual interests. I am ready for such work with President Obama on the basis of these principles, and I hope to begin as early as tomorrow at our first meeting in London before the Group of 20 summit.

The state of the global economy is a great concern to all. We can ensure the sustainability of the global financial system only by making its architecture mutually complementary and reliant on a diversified system of regional reserve currencies and financial centers. During the summit, Russia and the United States can help lead the effort to establish universal rules and disciplines that would apply to all parties without exception. We should also think together of whether it might be expedient to introduce a world supranational reserve currency, potentially under the aegis of the International Monetary Fund.

In bilateral relations, we need to see more successful investment projects, joint research and development by companies, and increased trade in high-tech products.

The end of the Cold War and subsequent globalization fundamentally altered the geopolitical context of our relations and vastly increased the importance of leadership. Today, effective leadership must be collective, based on the desire and ability to find common denominators for the interests of the international community and major groups of states. The G-20 summits are a major step toward this.

I am convinced that Russia and the United States can offer much to the world while maintaining our special responsibility in world affairs. These opportunities are most visible on the issues of strategic stability and nuclear security. The nature of the Russian-U.S. relationship to a large extent determines transatlantic politics, which could use trilateral cooperation among the European Union, Russia and the United States as its pillar.

The need to restart our cooperation is prompted in part by the history of our relations, which includes a number of highly emotional moments – diplomatic support provided by Russia to the United States at critical points of America’s development, our joint fight against fascism and the era of dйtente.

In his inaugural address, President Obama explicitly expressed his understanding that the United States needed to change together with the rest of the world. His speech deeply impressed me with its unbiased assessment of America’s problems. I agree that greatness is never a given. It must be earned.

Long ago, Alexis de Tocqueville predicted a great future for our two nations. So far, each country has tried to prove the truth of those words to itself and the world by acting on its own. I firmly believe that at this turn of history, we should work together. The world expects Russia and the United States to take energetic steps to establish a climate of trust and goodwill in global politics, not to languish in inaction and disengagement. We cannot fail to meet those expectations.

Dmitry Medvedev

PS:

see – Medvedev has been a busy boy on the world stage. Now he has started on the home front of America.

Russia-EU cooperation deal to be discussed in Moscow on Friday:
A planned round of negotiations on a new Russia-EU bilateral cooperation agreement will be held in Moscow on April 3, European Commission Moscow office chief Marc Franco said on Tuesday.

Ukraine’s Tymoshenko wants better relations with Russia:
Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko has said that she wants to see friendly relations between Kiev and Moscow that take into account the national interests of both countries.

Mars-500 flight simulation experiment starts in Moscow:
A 105-day experiment to simulate a flight to Mars started on Tuesday at the Institute of Medical and Biological Studies in Moscow.

Victory Day parade to include 9,000 personnel, military hardware:
About 9,000 personnel, 110 military vehicles and 70 aircraft will take part in a military procession on Moscow’s Red Square to commemorate the 64th Victory Day, a senior military official said on Tuesday.

Georgian president vows to build strong, modern army:
Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has pledged to build new and stronger armed forces in the light of the recent military conflict with Russia.

Russian, German leaders to meet in Berlin ahead of G20 summit:
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will pay a one-day visit to Germany on Tuesday to meet with Chancellor Angela Merkel ahead of this week’s G20 summit in London, a Kremlin source said.

Boy accidently kills himself in horror game in south Russia:
A seven-year-old boy accidentally killed himself with a knife while pretending to be “a maniac” during a game with his friends in southern Russia’s Rostov Region, investigators said on Tuesday.

Gazprom urges EU to look into causes of gas conflict with Ukraine:
Gazprom has asked the European Union to delve into the causes of January’s gas dispute between Russia and Ukraine that left millions of EU consumers short of gas, a company executive said Tuesday.

Hello,

I was enjoying my cup of coffee here in Moscow Russia. I was doing some research on what China and Russia have planned. There is not a lot about the details but what is known is:

Chinese and Russian leaders both plan to open debate on an SDR-based reserve currency as an alternative to the US dollar at the G20 summit in London this week!

Now I think that this is going to open up a can of worms. Countries like Germany, Britain, Russia, China, Brazil and many more, have a much different outlook on the crises than the USA. While the USA is spouting her mouth about: “We are the greatest!” The rest of the world is planning a “Obama the honeymoon is over party!”

It seems Barack Obama’s honeymoon with Europe is well and truly over. Following cat calls of hypocrisy and American selfishness, Obama heads to the G20 summit in London trying to find harmony amid the economic discord.

The first trip overseas since taking office for the US president comes amid a growing chorus of critics of American financial regulation and fiscal policy.

It seems also that Europe has tried to stifle Russia by putting Russian economy in a list with Mexico and other small fiscal countries. The is list is to give importance to who has more power at the meeting:

“There is a belief that Britain is trying to trivialize Russia’s contribution at the G20 for political reasons as a time when the two countries have found much common ground on economic issues.”

Now let me tell you a little problem with this list idea. Everyone at the G20 has the same pull and power. No games or else it will not work. Now you know why it will not work. The Western world has always considered themselves the “Great Ones!” Funny though they added China to the “Great Ones!”. This is an attempt to separate Russia and China on coordinated issues.

Medvedev has this planned and backup plans are in place. Medvedev does not accept anything less than total equality amongst the participants in meetings like this.

So watch how the G20 goes. It has already been set up for failure. The games behind the scenes have been going strong for a month and everyone has lied to everyone twenty times over…

Windows to Russia!
Kyle and Svet

comments always welcome.

PS: Let the games began…

France Threatens G20 Walkout!
from BBC News
France will walk away from this week’s G20 summit if its demands for stricter financial regulation are not met, the finance minister has told the BBC.

Hello,

I was drinking a cup of coffee here in Moscow, Russia and looking at an interesting picture that tells an interesting story. Have you ever wondered what some of the Presidents of some of the biggest countries make? Well this is a graph that tells about Merkel, Brown, Medvedev, Obama, Cowen and Sarkozy!

Medvedev the president of Russia looks kinda lonely down near the ground with what he makes. He does not have as far to fall though and will not get nose bleeds from being so high up…

I had heard that the president of Russia does not get paid very well. I guess it is true!

Windows to Russia!
Kyle and Svet

comments always welcome.

Hello,

I was drinking a second cup of coffee and thinking about what all was going on here in Russia this weekend. It has been a busy last few weeks all over the city and looks like it is not going to slow down anytime soon.

Spring is here even though Moscow looks like it still is in the heart of winter. What has changed is the days are getting long again. That means no matter what, people are going to get out and move around more. (Link)

Prices seem to have stabilized on food somewhat. Like always going shopping in Moscow is taking your life in your hands with the Babushkas. I have got to remember to stay out of their way when I go shopping for food. They will run you over in a heart beat with their shopping carts. 🙂

Svet and I have tried to get caught up on all the blogs and have done a pretty good job of it. I have started a couple of new ones (yes I am crazy) and have started to write a book. So if you see that I am not posting a hundred posts a week then you know that I am working on a book. (No hints!)

It seems that the Kremlin was in overdrive getting ready for this G20 meeting and Medvedev was burning up the telephone lines talking to leaders all over the world. He made several trips to multiples of countries in the last month and I would assume that he was setting the ground work for his plan to express at the G20 meeting. (Link to Plan) It definably looks like a lawyer has been working on it. 🙂

Russia has had her hands full with a Kiev, Ukraine that seems to be determined to undermine everything that they try to do with Russia. One moment they need to borrow money and the next moment they run around Russia’s back and try to play games with the gas delivery system. They involved Europe and Japan in this last trick or treat game and Russia has shut down virtually, any hope of Ukraine getting any loans for Ukraine’s huge debt. Russia was on her way to giving those loans and Ukraine… (Well – you know, the usual!)

Russia has been trying to get a handle on this North Korea issue with rockets. Japan and the USA has been putting pressure on Moscow to convince North Korea to stop the launch. It really looks like America will most likely shoot down North Korea’s rocket and then it is anyones guess what will happen next…. 🙁

The word coming out of England to the ears in Russia is that the people are on the verge of a full scale, mad at Gordon Brown, riot. Seems that it is more than a few Britain’s that are not happy with “Gordon Brown has spent £20000 for every man, woman and child in the UK. To pay that amount back in a working life time would require an additional 10-15% on every single income tax bill for life, while at the same time cutting back public services.” This is a quote from one on our comments. That echoes very close to the news agency’s reporting from Europe.

That is enough for today. I have about 5000 other things to say, but I will stop before I bore you to death. 😐

I hope everyone had a great weekend and lets see what is going to happen at the G20. If what I hear that Gordon Brown, President of Brazil (Lula) and a few other individuals are doing is true:

“White, blue-eyed bankers are entirely to blame for the world financial crisis that has ended up hitting black and indigenous people disproportionately, the president of Brazil declared while in a press conference with Prime Minister Gordon Brown from Britain.”

Then we are in for a knock down drag out of a meeting. Because Medvedev has his own agenda, Obama has his own agenda, China has their own agenda and on and on and on.

Lets hope they accomplish something…

Windows to Russia!
Kyle & Svet

comments always welcome.