Russian and Armenian Presidents meet in St. Petersburg; Russian Parliament ratifies the military transit deal with the USA; Reports: Russia launches navigation system satellite, India to benefit; Russia backs UNSC sanctions against Libya;
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  • Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and his Armenian counterpart Serzh Sarkisian met in St. Petersburg to discuss a range of regional issues which included the dispute over the breakaway Azerbaijani region of Nagorno-Karabakh.1 Discussions on the economic agenda figured prominently in the talks with Russia’s involvement in Yerevan’s ambitious plan to build a new nuclear power plant. The two leaders also discussed the Russia’s oil major Gazprom’s intentions to further raise the price of its natural gas for Armenia this year. Medvedev is due to host fresh talks between the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan in the southern Russian city of Sochi on March 5, in an attempt to solve their long standing regional dispute.2

    Meanwhile, Russia's parliament has approved a deal with the United States to allow transit for military equipment and personnel across Russia to the NATO force in Afghanistan. This will help to reduce the over-dependence of NATO on Pakistan as a transit route. The transit agreement was signed during a trip by President Barack Obama to Russia in 2009 in an effort to 'reset' bilateral relations that had been strained the Russia-Georgia conflict of 2008. The Duma voted 347-95 in favour of the 2009 deal, which has already been implemented pending ratification.3

    At present about 80 percent of NATO's supplies cross through Pakistan. But NATO has been trying to reduce its dependence on convoy routes through Pakistan where they are routinely subjected to Islamist militant attacks. Russian officials had said last year the deal could also be expanded to allow vehicles in need of repair and refurbishment to be sent back to NATO countries. However, the transit deal does not allow the Russian route to be used for transporting weapons for the NATO mission in Afghanistan. Russia's NATO envoy has said the deal would not allow NATO to ship tanks or combat-ready armored personnel carriers through Russian territory.4 It would be worth noting that Russia has struck similar deals with Germany, France and Spain and has touted them as a key contribution to the international effort to stabilize Afghanistan.5

    Reports noted that Russia has launched one of the last set of satellites needed to complete a space-based navigation system, which Moscow hopes will compete with the American Global Positioning System (GPS), a global market leader. After the embarrassing loss of three satellites last year, two more are expected to be launched in 2011 to complete the $2 billion project that according to Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, will give Russia "satellite navigation sovereignty”. However, under a 2007 agreement signed between India and Russia, India will be the only country to have access to the military segment of the Glonass system, which will enable the Indian military to greatly improve the accuracy of its land-, sea-, air and space-launched weapon systems. In September 2010, the two countries signed a deal to jointly manufacture Glonass/GPS twin system receivers and other navigational equipment.6

    Meanwhile, Russia has backed a stringent United Nations Security Council Resolution sanction against the incumbent regime of Libya even though the financial ramifications for the Russian economy will be immense.7 Russia will have to forfeit arms sales worth 4 billion US$ once the resolution comes into effect. Russia has termed the use of military force by the ruling regime on unarmed civilians as totally unacceptable and called for a solution to the problem through political means. Libya had placed orders worth $2 billion and negotiations were under way for contracts worth another $1.8 billion. Moreover, Tatneft which is Tatarstan’s main oil company and the sixth largest in Russia will lose around 200 million US$ oil-related equipment that it exports to Libya and unfulfilled contracts signed between the Russian republic's Tatneft company and the Libyan government.8

    In other developments, reports noted that in an apparent sign of united Russia flexing its teeth in Chechnya, the incumbent ruler of Chechnya, Kadyrov has been nominated by the ruling party for a second five year term. Although it is not mandatory for the Russian President Medvedev to accept the nomination, analysts believe that his signature is a mere formality and till the time Kadyrov is able to control all armed formations in the country, his rule in Chechnya will continue. Kadyrov’s strength was challenged last year when rebels staged two high-profile attacks in the republic.9

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