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Russia and Nato plan joint initiative in Afghanistan
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/afghanistan/8089149/Russia-and-Nato-plan-joint-initiative-in-Afghanistan.html
Russian forces could return to Afghanistan for the first time since they were forced out by mujahideen fighters in 1989, under a joint initiative with Nato.
By Damien McElroy in Brussels
Published: 12:25AM BST 27 Oct 2010
A Nato summit next month will be attended by Russia's president, Dmitry Medvedev, to discuss the plans. Nato officials said Russia had agreed to sell helicopters to Afghanistan and provide training.
Moscow will allow Nato forces to withdraw equipment from Afghanistan overland for the first time, in proposals expected to be agreed in Lisbon.
"The summit can mark a new start in the relationship between Nato and Russia," said Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the Nato secretary-general.
"We will hopefully agree on a broad range of areas in which we can develop practical co-operation on Afghanistan, counter-terrorism, counter-narcotics."
He also said that British and US troops would remain on Afghanistan's front lines for years under an open-ended agreement to be signed at the summit. Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president, has demanded that his forces take over the fight against the Taliban by 2014.
While his call has been embraced by Western leaders, including Prime Minister David Cameron who set a five-year deadline on the Army's combat role, Mr Rasmussen said troops would not be withdrawn immediately.
Under a blueprint drawn up by Gen David Petraeus, Nato commander in Afghanistan, foreign troops would "thin out" but not leave disputed territory.
Russia against politicizing nuclear energy use for peaceful purposes
http://english.ruvr.ru/2010/10/27/28710387.html
Oct 27, 2010 10:18 Moscow Time
Russia is opposed to politicizing the right to the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.
This kind of stand on the issue whips up tension in international relations, says Deputy Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov in an interview with the VIP-Premier magazine.
He pointed out that a number of Non-Aligned Movement member-states are concerned about the double standards in the area.
This is the reason why some Latin American nations support Iran’s position on the nuclear problem, Ryabkov said.
IAEA head hails Russia's efforts in nuclear medicine
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20101027/161097808.html
00:48 27/10/2010
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency praised on Tuesday Russia's achievements in fighting cancer using nuclear technology and said the IAEA will continue cooperating with Russian experts in the sphere.
In an interview with Russia 24 TV channel, Yukiya Amano, who visited the Russian Federal Medical-Biological Agency earlier in the day, said Russian authorities paid much attention to the development of advanced nuclear technologies used in the medical sphere.
Russia also takes a great interest in cooperation with the IAEA on the issue, he said, adding that this cooperation would continue.
More that 60 countries have been seeking to develop atomic energy, and 30 countries who already have nuclear technology would like to extend its use, Amano said.
The IAEA can help those countries in creating a reliable nuclear infrastructure, and Russia, which has a "systematic" approach to nuclear technology, may play a "very important role" in this process, he added.
Earlier this week, Amano, who is paying his first visit to Russia, met with the head of Russian state-run nuclear corporation Rosatom and a number of Russian top officials, including Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
MOSCOW, October 27 (RIA Novosti)
Russia ready for row as Stockholm seizes trade mission
http://themoscownews.com/business/20101027/188156038.html?referfrommn
by Evgeniya Chaykovskaya at 27/10/2010 11:00
Russia and Sweden are heading for a diplomatic row over the seizure of a trade mission near Stockholm.
A Swedish court has ordered the six-storey building in Lidingo to be handed to the bailiffs in a bid to settle a claim from a German businessman who claims he was ripped off in Russia’s wild rush to capitalism.
Franz Sedelmeier claims he was swindled of about 5 million Euros during his efforts to establish a joint-venture in 1990s St. Petersburg.
But Russia is pleading diplomatic immunity and arguing that the Sedelmeier’s case has yet to be properly resolved by a court.
Protecting their assets
Stockholm also stands accused of pulling a clandestine stunt to keep track of the German’s activities in Sweden, RIA Novosti reported.
Viktor Khrekov, press spokesman for the presidential property management team, said the decision had been issued under a special decree “used in Sweden for individuals that the state is afraid may hide and withdraw their funds abroad”.
“This state building has a diplomatic immunity according to international norms,” Khrekov added. “Moreover, it cannot be seized also because the legal procedures are ongoing.
“The battle goes on in the legal field, and the president’s property management administration will use every opportunity to protect the interests of Russian Federation,” Khrekov said, adding that Sedelmeier’s claims were “illegitimate”.
Normally trade missions are seen as part of the country’s diplomatic corpus and have diplomatic immunity. Sedelmeier, however, claims that the building in Stockholm is used as commercial property and that office space there is available for rent.
Sedelmeier’s claim
Like many investors who braved the Wild East of 1990s Russian commerce, Sedelmeier got his fingers burned.
He invested in a joint venture with Russian police in 1991 in St. Petersburg, but the building provided to the stock capital by the police was then passed to the government, and Sedelmeier demanded building renovation expenses were refunded.
A Stockholm court ruled on the seizure of Russian property in Sweden worth “about $4,730,608, including expenses and interest that might be covered after seizing the property.”
Russia appealed this decision, but on Oct. 22 Stockholm court ruled that the decision for Sedelmeier is valid and must be executed. Krekov is sure that this decision was based on a 1998 International arbitration court decision
The court in Stockholm ruled that Russia owed the businessman $2.35 million in 1998. Russia did not comply with the decision, and Sedelmeier started looking for Russian property to use as payment.
At the same time Russia has more than five counter-lawsuits against Sedelmeier pending in several German courts “regarding compensation for damage, inflicted by Sedelmeier during his so-called “investment activity” in Russia,” Khrekov told Kommersant, adding that there are justified claims for nearly 70 million euros.
The Russian trade mission and Russian embassy in Sweden are not commenting on the issue.
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