November 27:
The New York Times reports that Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez have capped Medvedev's very public two-day visit to Caracas by signing a preliminary agreement on nuclear cooperation. The deal, inked ahead of wargames between the Russian and Venezuelan militaries, involves assistance from the Kremlin in the construction of a nuclear program for the Latin American state.
Fresh off his high-profile visit to Hugo Chavez' Venezuela, Russian president Dmitry Medvedev has traveled to Cuba in what the Agence France Presse terms is an effort to revive Cold War era ties with the Soviet Union's one-time ally in America's backyard. Medvedev is slated to meet with Cuban president Raoul Castro to discuss closer strategic cooperation and economic interaction between Havana and Moscow.
November 28:
Admiral Michael Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has briefed President Bush on a massive new cyberattack against the U.S. military - an attack which Pentagon planners say may have originated in Russia. The Los Angeles Times reports that the attack targeted networks at the U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM) in Tampa, Florida, and affected U.S. military computers in Iraq and Afghanistan, combat zones which are in CENTCOM's "area of responsibility." "This one was significant," one Defense Department official has confirmed to the Times, "this one got our attention." The cyber-strike, which is suspected of having been launched from Russia, comes amid growing tensions between Moscow and Washington over the Bush administration's plans to deploy a "third site" to its missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic.
November 29:
The Kremlin is applauding the Bush administration's decision to slow down plans to bring Ukraine and Georgia into NATO in the wake of Russia's August war with the former Soviet republic. Speaking to reporters during his visit to Cuba, Russian president Dmitry Medvedev expressed satisfaction that "common sense prevailed" and that U.S. officials are no longer pushing for the inclusion of Kyiv and Tbilisi into the Atlantic Alliance "with their previous ferociousness and senselessness.” Pakistan's Daily Times reports that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has announced that the U.S. will stop short of offering Georgia and Ukraine a formal "roadmap" for NATO accession at the Alliance's next meeting, slated to take place December 2-3 in Brussels.
The head of Russia's Communist party has launched a scathing critique of the Kremlin's domestic policies. "The ruling grouping has not achieved any noticeable success, nor does it have any action plan. It has been guided by the sole goal - to stay in power at any cost," RIA Novosti reports Communist leader Gennadi Zyuganov as telling a congress of his party. Zyuganov's answer to current domestic malaise and the global economic downturn? A return to communism in Russia. "It is increasingly obvious that socialism is not a product of propaganda, but a natural and unavoidable phase of development. The collapse of the speculative financial market is a turning point," he said.
December 1:
Moscow is making progress in its efforts to modernize the country's strategic arsenal. In the wake of the successful Nov. 27th test of a "Bulava" intercontinental ballistic missile, a top Kremlin official has confirmed that his government has begun serial production of the submarine-launched missile, which is capable of delivering nuclear warheads more than 5,000 miles. "By the end of the year another test of Bulava is planned," Reuters reports Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov as telling a cabinet meeting. "At the same time our defense enterprises have started mass production" of the next-generation missile. The "Bulava" has been cited by Russian officials as part of their strategic response to the deployment of U.S. missile defenses in Europe.
Want these sent to your inbox?
Subscribe
