Russia says ties with EU and NATO need "rethink"

[dipsydoodle]

Last edited Mon May 19, 2014, 08:10 AM - Edit history (2)

Source: Reuters

Russia says ties with EU and NATO need "rethink"

(Reuters) - Russia's ties with the European Union and NATO need a "rethink" in light of deep differences over Ukraine, Russian news agencies quoted Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as saying on Monday.

"These relations require a substantial rethink, and together with our partners from the EU and NATO nations we are trying to conduct an analysis in order to better understand where we are, where our assessments coincide and where we disagree," state-run news agency RIA quoted Lavrov as saying at a meeting with Slovak Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajcak.

Read more: http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/05/19/ukraine-crisis-russia-west-idUKL6N0O51VT20140519

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Slovak foreign minister: Normalization in Ukraine is impossible without Russia

The foreign ministers Sergei Lavrov of Russia and Miroslav Lajcak of Slovakia have discussed ways of improving Russia's relations with the European Union and NATO.

"I have come here as the foreign minister of a country that is a member of the EU and NATO, so we spent enough time talking on how to normalize and develop the relations between the EU and Russia and the relations between NATO and Russia," Lajcak told a press conference after negotiations with Lavrov in Moscow on Monday.

"I can say only one thing: this conversation was very useful to me," Lajcak said.

Lajcak said the negotiations had addressed Slovak-Russian relations and the situation in Ukraine.

"We are interested in the normalization of the situation in Ukraine. We are convinced that the situation in Ukraine cannot be resolved and stabilized without active assistance from Russia," Lajcak said.

http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/slovak-foreign-minister-normalization-in-ukraine-is-impossible-without-russia-348419.html

[joshcryer]

1. I love it when empire is tamed.

Now if only the US could be tamed...

[Bosonic]

2. Ukraine Crisis Will Be 'Game Changer' for NATO

Ukraine Crisis Will Be 'Game Changer' for NATO

...

Longer term, the crisis will have a profound impact on NATO's relations with Russia, its strategy and how it deploys, trains and equips its forces, although Europe has no wish to return to a Cold War-style confrontation between huge armies.

The crisis will compel the alliance to refocus on its core mission of defending its members after years in which its main effort has been far away in Afghanistan.

The 28-nation military alliance accuses Russia of tearing up the diplomatic rule book with its annexation of Crimea.

"For 20 years, the security of the Euro-Atlantic region has been based on the premise that we do not face an adversary to our east. This premise is now in doubt," NATO Deputy Secretary General Alexander Vershbow said last month.

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/ukraine-crisis-will-be-game-changer-for-nato/500342.html

[dipsydoodle]

3. I noticed that earlier.

Presumably it means they'll stop playing with themselves in an effort to be noticed. Not that I would see that making much difference - NATO is only important to NATO.

[Bosonic]

4. I'm pretty sure Russia notices NATO

And if 'rate of complaining about' is directly proportional to perceived importance, then...

[AtheistCrusader]

5. Teething problems aside, it would be good if the west, collectively, could get their heads out of

their cold war asses. Russia isn't the Soviet Union anymore.


Russia has a lot of social, civil rights, and economic problems, no doubt.
But they aren't the USSR anymore. And a lot of land disputes at the time of the breakup are still up in the air and need to be resolved. That's just the reality of it.

Quit treating them like soviets and actual soviet relics like Putin will finally go away. Shit on them about everything, make them feel defensive, and they WILL elect hard-liners like Putin.

Just like America re-elected bush over 'midstream' fears. Fear drives elections around the world. Creatures like Putin tap into that fear very effectively.

Time to extend a hand, not shake a fist.

[deacon_sephiroth]

6. are you implying that Putin (or GWB for that matter) were actually ELECTED?

n/t

[AtheistCrusader]

7. Yes.

First time around, no, bush was not, but, second time was more decisive. And yes, I think he WAS elected the second time, as unfortunate as that might be.

This nation really DOES own that legacy, yes.

[pampango]

8. Agree that it is time (for both sides) to extend a hand not shake a fist. It takes 2 to shake hands.

Putin does believe that the "breakup of the Soviet Union was a major geopolitical disaster of the 20th century". (It would be quibbling, I suppose, to suggest that 2 world wars and a global Great Depression might outrank that as geopolitical disasters.) For East and West to 'shake hands' rather than 'fists' both will have to stop living in the Cold War past and its immediate aftermath and concentrate on making the world we have a better place.