Russia 110601 Basic Political Developments

Kremlin says ready for dialog with all Libyan forces, except futureless

http://en.rian.ru/world/20110601/164354763.html
03:24 01/06/2011

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Russia was ready to conduct dialog with all political forces in Libya that have future, the Kremlin press service said on Wednesday.

Late on Tuesday, Medvedev held a phone conversation with his South African counterpart Jacob Zuma, who met with Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi on Monday.

During the conversation, the Russian president "stressed the necessity and readiness to conduct dialog with all forces in Libya that have political future," the Kremlin said.

The two heads of states expressed hope that coordination of mediation efforts by Russia, South Africa and the African Union will contribute to the soonest return of the Libyan state to the path of peaceful and stable development.

When leaving Tripoli on Monday, Zuma said the Libyan leader was still ready for ceasefire and negotiations proposed by the African Union last month and rejected by the rebel government.

A revolution which began in mid-February in Libya against Muammar Gaddafi's forty-year rule has already claimed thousands of lives, with Gaddafi's troops maintaining their combat capabilities despite NATO airstrikes against them.

Libyan government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim said on Tuesday a total of 718 civilians were killed since NATO airstrikes on the country began on March 19. More than four thousand were injured, 433 of them are still in critical condition.

NATO denied civilian casualty reports by the Libyan government, saying its airstrikes are targeted only against military infrastructure and equipment.

MOSCOW, June 1 (RIA Novosti)

Medvedev Says Discussed Libya With Zuma, Need for Talks With ‘All Forces’

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-01/medvedev-says-discussed-libya-with-zuma-need-for-talks-with-all-forces-.html
By Ilya Khrennikov - Jun 1, 2011 6:28 AM GMT+0200

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev discussed the struggle in Libya with his South African counterpart Jacob Zuma after Zuma met with the North African nation’s leader, Muammar Qaddafi.

Medvedev reiterated Russia’s willingess to take part in a dialog with “all forces in Libya that have a political future,” the Kremlin said today in an e-mailed statement, after the presidents talked by phone late yesterday.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ilya Khrennikov in Moscow at [e-mail]

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Torrey Clark at [e-mail]

Russian FM says compromise possible between Tripoli and Benghazi

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-06/01/c_13904092.htm

MOSCOW, May 31 (Xinhua) -- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday said here a compromise is possible between Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and the opposition, because the opposition had recognized the necessity of Gaddafi's representatives' participation in peace talks, according to local media reports.

"Such elements, on which a ceasefire agreement may be reached and peace talks may be launched, are really taking shape today," Lavrov was quoted by Itar-Tass news agency as saying.

In recent days, Russian authorities and Libyan opposition have been in close contact to discuss the situation in the northern African country.

Lavrov urged foreign forces who have interfered in the Libyan conflict not to put up any obstacles to the talks between the two warring parties in Libya and not to go beyond the UN Security Council resolutions on Libya.

Lavrov said Libyan opposition is "open for talks" but insists to negotiate with "neutral personalities or technocrats" from the government.

He said the opposition also agrees to talk with "no blood- stained representatives of the armed forces."

So far, the three-month conflict in Libya seems to have reached a deadlock, as the opposition controls the east part of Libya and some of the west but cannot advance westward further to the capital of Tripoli.

South African President Jacob Zuma on Monday met with Gaddafi in Bab al-Azizia in Tripoli and said later on the day that Gaddafi is ready to carry out an African Union roadmap for solving the crisis in the North African country.

Russia joins West over Libya for interests

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/indepth/2011-06/01/c_13905298.htm

2011-06-01 13:27:03

by Zheng Haoning, Igor Serebryany, Feng Kang

MOSCOW/CARIO, June 1 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Dmitry Medvedev strikingly joined the Western powers in urging Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to give up power at the latest round of the Group of Eight (G8) summit in the northern French seaside town of Deauville.

Experts and analysts believe Russia made the move to protect its own interests in Libya and have a stake in the country's future. Yet they remain skeptical over whether Russia could help make a difference in the Middle East country.

WHY THE MOVE?

Ever since the bloody upheaval began in Libya, Moscow's decision-makers have been busy calculating whether Gaddafi would step down and whether Russia's interests on the ground could be recognized if the opposition rises to power. And the entangling seasaw battle in Libya made Russia's final answers hard to come by.

Feeling too early to pick side, Russia followed a more flexible path, condemning both the NATO-led air campaign and the hostile actions against civilians by Gaddafi's troops.

"The Russian position on the Libyan issue was based on the common BRICS ground of non-involvement in the conflict, of thorough balancing between three parties: the Libyan government, opposition forces and Western powers," said Fedor Lukyanov, chief editor of magazine Russia in Global Politics.

However, as time goes by, the repeated Western outcry to oust Gaddafi and the escalating Western-led air strikes over Tripoli might have helped Russia to make up its mind.

Said Lawendy, expert of international relations at Egypt's Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, told Xinhua in a recent interview that NATO won't halt its interference unless Gaddafi's regime falls.

Moreover, seeking to protect its interests and stay relevant in the post-conflict Libya is perhaps another key reason.

Russia sees Libya an important partner in the region,having poured billions of U.S. dollars of investment in Libya in sectors like oil exploration, railway construction and arms sales.

Already, a chaotic Libya is crippling Russia's investment there. According to a recent report on Russia's RBC daily, the war in Libya could set back Russian oil and gas investment in the country for many years.

Tatneft, a Russian oil firm, has invested heavily in Libya over the past six years, while Gazeprom, Russia's gas giant, spent some 163 billion U.S. dollars this February purchasing part of the shares of Libya's Elephant oil and gas production field project. The two companies were forced to suspend their operations and evacuate their workers in Libya because of the ongoing conflict, said the report.

As NATO air raids are gaining further momentum, it's only natural for Russia to start considering its own role as it cannot afford to stay out of the picture.

Meisant al-Janabi, professor with Russia's Peoples' Friendship University, said the Kremlin is attempting to prevent Libya's future from being shaped only by the West. Medvedev is trying to hedge the risk.

Additionally, some of the Western nations' promises and offers at the G8 summit also prompted Russia to make the turn.

At the summit, the Western countries pledged to facilitate Russia's entry into the World Trade Organization by the end of this year while ahead of the summit, France and Russia reached a deal under which Paris would sell four Mistral-class helicopter carriers to Moscow.

"It's no secret that every world power's politics is based on its own interests....So Medvedev has done nothing extraordinary. He just showed that Russia has calculated its possible benefits and losses," professor al-Janabi said.

LIMITED INFLUENCE

Besides demanding that Gaddafi "must go," Medvedev, who refused to offer shelter to the Libyan leader, also said Russia would like to mediate the crisis, a role Moscow refused to play at the beginning.

But local analysts said Russia has limited influence in Libya, even though Moscow maintains contact with both the government in Tripoli and rebels.

Libya's Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Kaim told a press conference Friday that the Libyan government is not concerned about the events at the G8 meeting. It only supports the proposals of the African Union (AU), he said, adding that "Any decision taken about the political future of Libya belongs to the Libyans, no one else."

Yevgeny Satanovsky, head of the Moscow-based Middle East Institute, expressed his doubt that Gaddafi would agree to leave power. He said Gaddafi would "fight to the end with unpredictable consequences for everyone involved."

The latest statement from the Libyan government also suggested that Gaddafi's departure from power is still distant.

Libyan government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim insisted on Tuesday Gaddafi didn't discuss "any exit strategies" with South African President Jacob Zuma who went to Tripoli for mediation. Ibrahim added that the West is ignoring African Union's peace package.

Meanwhile, Libyan rebels also questioned Russia's effectiveness as a mediator.

Libya's opposition spokesman and Vice Chairman of the National Transitional Council (NTC) Abdel-Hafidh Ghoga said Russia's offer should have come sooner. "It's too late, and it's not a big deal," he told a rally in Benghazi.

However, Moscow has already started to play an honest broker in the troubled country. And the Russian president chose to begin with the rebels as he declined to send diplomats to Tripoli where the situation remained "more complicated."

Before visiting Libyan rebels' stronghold of Benghazi as Medvedev's envoy, Mikhail Margelov, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Federation Council of Russia, said earlier Friday that his mission in Benghazi would be to make certain who the rebels are and what plans they have for Libya's future.

He also admitted that it was impossible to persuade Gaddafi to relinquish power through dialogues.

01:19 01/06/2011Top News

Medvedev to attend ceremonies in Rome, meet Napolitano

http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c32/154949.html

MOSCOW, June 1 (Itar-Tass) — Russian President Dmitry Medvedev travels to Italy on Wednesday upon completing working meetings in Moscow.

At the invitation of President Giorgio Napolitano, President of the Italian Republic, the Russian leader will be present at ceremonies marking the celebration of the 150th anniversary of the establishment of a united Italian state.

A Kremlin press service official has told Itar-Tass that Medvedev's programme provides for only a conversation with Napolitano on Wednesday evening.

Official ceremonies within the scope of celebrations are to be held on June 2 when the Republic Day -- the national holiday of Italy -- is marked. On that day the President of Russia will be present at a military parade which is to take place in downtown Rome.

Scheduled for Thursday are Medvedev's meeting with Silvio Berlusconi, Chairman of Italy's Council of Ministers, as well as their working luncheon in which US Vice-President Joseph Biden will participate. Mr. Biden is representing the United States at the celebration ceremonies.

Xi Jinping, Vice-President of the People's Republic of China, will be yet another interlocutor of Medvedev on Thursday.

The press service official pointed out, "At Medvedev's scheduled talks with Napolitano and Berlusconi the sides are to have a substantive exchange of views on the themes of current importance that are on the bilateral and international agendas". The Kremlin expects that "Main attention will be devoted to matters concerning cooperation in the trade-and-economic sphere".

"Within the framework of the the current policy course towards diversifying economic contacts, special attention is being given to cooperation in the oil and gas sector, to efforts to deepen industrial co-production arrangements, and broaden the scope of trade turnover and intensify contacts in research-intensive, high-technology sector," the press service official emphasized. He said active joint work is under way to build the South Stream gas pipeline; interaction between Russian companies and the enterprises of the Italian Finmeccanica Company is making headway under a project for the Superjet-100 medium-haul airliner, and in efforts to modernize Russian railways; cooperation is maintained with ENEL on projects in the electric power industry, and in the construction of sports facilities in preparation for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, as wells in the fields of helicoptermaking, automotive industry, information technologies, etc.

The Kremlin also mentions the strengthening of cultural and humanitarian contacts as one of priority subjects to be discussed at the forthcoming talks. This is of current importance also because the implementation of the two countries' reciprocal Year of Culture and Language enters an active phase. Many events of the Year have been already a big success. The forthcoming big events include a Constellation of Russia Festival. Performing groups from Russian regions will take part in this large-scale concert which is to take place in Piazza Navona, one of the main squares of Rome, on June 12 within the framework of festivities marking the Day of Russia.

During talks with the Italian leadership, Medvedev will also touch upon matters relating to cooperation in international affairs. "Russia is ready to carry it (cooperation) on on the basis of identical or similar approaches to most of world problems," Kremlin analysts point out.

"The sides are to discuss the results of the meeting of the Heads of State and Government of G-8 countries in Deauville, as well as prospects for cooperation between Russia and the European Union, with due regard for the preparation of a Russia-EU summit which is due to be held in Nizhny Novgorod from June 9 to 10," the press service official said.

08:01 01/06/2011ALL NEWS

Russia-Italy cross-cultural year helps to boost bilateral ties-envoy.

http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c154/155030.html

1/6 Tass 76

MOSCOW, June 1 (Itar-Tass) — Russia-Italy cross-cultural year helps to strengthen bilateral relations, Russian ambassador to Italy Alexei Meshkov said in an interview with a special supplement of the Rossiyskaya Gazeta daily on Wednesday.

“Italy is one of Russia’s priority trade and economic partners,” he said. “In 2010 the two countries’ reached 36.8 billion dollars, up by 11.5 percent as against the previous year. Italy continues to remain our fourth trade partner in the world and one of the most important partners in Europe.”

“Russia and Italy began to create a mutually advantageous modernization alliance in practice. Russian and Italian companies actively develop cooperation in high technologies and industrial innovations,” the diplomat said.

Meshkov noted that “Italy remains a favourable travel destination for Russian tourists.”

According to the Russian federal state statistics service (Rosstat), in 2010 around 400,000 Russian tourists visited Italy, up by 34 percent as against 2009.

“Abolition of visa rules between Russia and Italy is one of the two countries’ priorities,” he said.

Moreover, he added that “both Russian and Italian citizens demonstrate mutual interest in studying each country’s language and culture.” “This is linked with deeper Russian-Italian political dialogue and stronger trade, economic, scientific, technical and cultural cooperation,” Meshkov said. “In Italy diplomats, entrepreneurs, students who have contacts with Russia or plan to work or study in our country study the Russian language.”

The diplomat noted that within the framework of the cross-cultural year cooperation among universities and youth contacts actively develop.

“Most initiatives within the framework of the cross-cultural year engage children and young people,” Meshkov said.

He paid special attention to the Festival of Young Russian Culture organized by the Foundation for Social and Cultural Initiatives under the aegis of First Lady Svetlana Medvedeva.