Russian warning on Nato warships
ws/-Russian-warning-on-Nato.4439182.jp
Date: 29 August 2008
By Gerri Peev
RUSSIA has issued a stark warning over what it says is a build-up of
Nato ships in the Black Sea, as tensions rise to their highest level
since the outbreak of hostilities in Georgia.
The missile destroyer USS McFaul is already off the coast, with the US
Coastguard ship Dallas docked in Georgia’s port of Batumi, both to show
support for the Caucasus nation. Washington has now ordered the
flagship of its 6th Fleet, the sophisticADVERTISEMENTated command ship
Mount Whitney, into the area, saying it will deliver humanitarian
supplies. But the flotilla has angered the Kremlin.
Dmitry Rogozin, the Russian ambassador to Nato, warned against western
interference in Georgia’s two breakaway regions, saying: "If Nato takes
military actions against Abkhazia and South Ossetia, acting solely in
support of Tbilisi, this will mean a declaration of war on Russia."
Meanwhile, Vladimir Putin, the Russian prime minister, dragged the
United States presidential candidates into the row. He suggested
Georgia might have been pushed by someone in the US into using force to
protect the two separatist states, saying the anti-Moscow rhetoric
would help give a competitive advantage to one of the candidates.
Colonel-General Anatoly Nogovitsyn, Russia’s deputy chief of the
general staff, claimed up to 18 Nato=2
0vessels were in, or expected to be
in, the Black Sea, and he attacked the use of warships to deliver aid
to Georgia as "devilish".
Three frigates ` from Spain, Germany and Poland ` sailed into the Black
Sea eight days ago. They were joined later by a US frigate, the Taylor,
for port visits and exercises off the coasts of Romania and Bulgaria.
Four warships of Nato member Turkey are also in the Black Sea.
Mr Putin’s spokesman said: "The appearance of Nato battleships here in
the Black Sea basin ¦ and the decision to deliver humanitarian aid (to
Georgia] using Nato battleships is something that can hardly be
explained.
"Let us hope that we do not see any direct confrontation."
Russia claims the build-up is contrary to the 1936 Montreux Convention,
which regulates the passage of warships there. But that charge has been
denied by Carmen Romero, a Nato spokeswoman, who said the alliance had
applied for transit into the Black Sea in June and stressed that the
vessels would stay less than 21 days, as required by the convention.
"There is no Nato naval build-up in the Black Sea," she said. "Nato is
conducting a routine and long planned exercise limited to the western
part of the Black Sea. The exercise is not related to the crisis in
Georgia."
Meanwhile, in an interview with CNN, Mr Putin, the former president,
suggested the conflict was orchestrated to give one side in t
he battle
for the White House an advantage. Although he did not single out John
McCain, the Republican candidate has been more strident in his
criticism of Russia than his Democratic rival, Barack Obama.
Mr McCain has said that Nato’s failure to sign up Georgia into the
military alliance had left the country vulnerable. And while Mr Obama
has called for restraint on both sides, he has condemned Russian
aggression.
Mr Putin said he suspected someone in the US had provoked the Georgia
conflict to make the situation more tense and create "a competitive
advantage for one of the candidates fighting for the post of US
president".
He went on: "The fact is that US citizens were, indeed, in the area in
conflict during the hostilities. It should be admitted they would do so
only following direct orders from their leaders."
Mr Putin added that the US had armed and trained Georgia.
But a White House spokeswoman, Dana Perino, said: "To suggest that the
United States orchestrated this on behalf of a political candidate ` it
sounds not rational."
Pressure on Russia will mount on Monday at an emergency summit of
European Union leaders, to be attended by Gordon Brown, the Prime
Minister.
Bernard Kouchner, the French foreign minister, suggested the EU would
consider sanctions against Russia.
As current president of the EU, France said it would aim to get
consensus among all 27 countries of20the bloc if sanctions were
envisaged.
While the EU is not contemplating the most stringent of sanctions, such
as the travel bans and arms embargoes imposed on Iran, it could
postpone talks on a new partnership and co-operation agreement with
Russia scheduled for September. The EU could also scrutinise the
activities of the Russian energy giant Gazprom, which obtains 70 per
cent of its profits from sales to Europe.
Washington said it was considering scrapping a US-Russia civilian
nuclear co-operation pact in response to the conflict.
In a related development, Moscow, which has been incensed by the
proposed US anti-ballistic missile shield in Poland and the Czech
Republic, announced it had successfully tested a long-range Topol-M
intercontinental ballistic missile.
According to the Russians, the missile has been modified to avoid
detection by the anti-missile defence systems.
Meanwhile, after previous tough criticism of Russia, David Miliband,
the Foreign Secretary, yesterday said "there is no question of
launching an all-out war with Russia".
He said: "No-one ever doubted that a Russian army of up to 800,000
people was going to defeat a Georgian army of up to 18,000 people.
Indeed, that has happened over the last two weeks. The question,
though, for Russia is whether it wants to suffer the isolation, the
loss of respect and the loss of trust that comes from that."
A statement signed by Mr Miliband, alo
ng with the foreign ministers of
the US, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan, said they "deplored"
Moscow’s "excessive use of military force" in Georgia.
Moscow was offered one supportive comment, however. Alexander
Lukashenko, the president of Belarus, Russia’s closest ex-Soviet ally,
said the Kremlin "had no other moral choice" but to recognise the
Georgian regions.
The crisis flared early this month when Georgian forces tried to retake
South Ossetia and Russia launched an overwhelming counter-attack.
Russian forces swept the Georgian army out of the rebel region and are
still occupying some areas of Georgia proper.
PROFILE
THE USS Mount Whitney, a Blue Ridge class command ship, is the flagship
of the United States navy’s 6th Fleet.
It is also the command and control ship for Nato’s southern European
strike force.
It is currently based out of Gaeta, Italy.
Considered by some to be the most sophisticated command, control,
communications, computer and intelligence (C4I) ship ever commissioned,
Mount Whitney incorporates various elements of the most advanced C4I
electronic equipment and gives the embarked joint task-force commander
the capability to control all other US naval sea units.
Mount Whitney can receive and transmit large amounts of secure data
from anywhere through HF, UHF, VHF, SHF and EHF communications paths.
The vessel carries little in the way of armaments, other than guns for
close-
range defence.
Mount Whitney typically carries enough food to feed the crew of over
300 for 90 days and can transport supplies to support an emergency
evacuation of 3,000 people.
Its distilling units make over 100,000 gallons of fresh water a day.
Traditional allies of Moscow denounce force
CHINA and several central Asian nations rebuffed Russia’s hopes of
international support for its actions in Georgia, issuing a statement
yesterday denouncing the use of force and calling for respect for every
country’s territorial integrity.
A joint declaration from the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation, or
SCO, also offered some support for Russia’s "active role in promoting
peace" following a ceasefire, but overall it appeared to increase
Moscow’s international isolation.
The Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev, had appealed to the SCO
alliance ` whose members include Russia, China and four central Asian
countries of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan ` for
unanimous support of Moscow’s response to Georgia’s "aggression".
But none of the other alliance members joined Russia in recognising the
independence claims of Georgia’s separatist regions, Abkhazia and South
Ossetia.
Mr Medvedev’s search for support in Asia had raised fears that the
alliance would turn the furore over Georgia into a broader
confrontation between East and West, pitting the United States and
Europe against their two main Cold War foes.=2
0But China has
traditionally been wary of endorsing separatists abroad, mindful of its
own problems with Tibet and Muslims in the western territory of
Xinjiang.
The joint statement, which was unanimously endorsed, made a point of
stressing the sanctity of borders ` two days after Russia sought to
redraw Georgia’s territory.
"The participants¦ underscore the need for respect of the historical
and cultural traditions of each country and each people, and for
efforts aimed at preserving the unity of the state and its territorial
integrity," the declaration said.
Internet maps ‘are wiping out’ British landmarks
THE internet is wiping thousands of British landmarks off the map, a
leading geographical society warned yesterday.
Churches, ancient woodlands and stately homes are in danger of being
forgotten as internet maps fail to include the traditional landmarks,
said Mary Spence, the president of the British Cartographic Society.
In recent years, web applications such as Google Earth have become a
popular way for people to search for maps and satellite images.
Speaking yesterday at a Royal Geographic Society conference, Ms Spence
said: "Corporate cartographers are demolishing thousands of years of
history ` not to mention Britain’s remarkable geography ` at a stroke
by not including them on maps which millions of us now use every day.
"We’re in real danger of losing what makes maps so unique;=2
0giving us a
feel for a place even if we’ve never been there."
But Ed Parsons, the geospatial technologist at Google, said the way in
which people used maps was changing. He said: "Internet maps can now be
personalised, allowing people to include landmarks and information that
are of interest to them.
"Anyone can create their own maps, or use experiences to collaborate
with others in charting their local knowledge.
"These traditional landmarks are still on the map, but people need to
search for them," Mr Parsons said.
"Interactive maps will display precisely the information people want,
when they want it.
"You couldn’t possibly have everything already pinpointed."
1936 treaty comes under the spotlight
THE Montreux Convention cited by Nato with regard to Black Sea access
may be regarded by some as an obscure treaty, but amid the current high
level of tension in international politics with Russia, its terms are
coming under close scrutiny.
The agreement, signed on 20 July, 1936, gives Turkey full control over
the Bosphorus Straits and the Dardanelles and regulates military
activity in the region.
It permits Turkey to remilitarise the straits and imposes new
restrictions on the passage of combatant vessels.
The treaty also guarantees the free passage of civilian vessels in
peacetime.
It severely restricts the passage of non-Turkish military vessels and
prohibits some types of warships, such
as aircraft carriers, from
passing through the straits.
The terms of the convention have been a source of controversy over the
years, most notably concerning Russia’s military access to the
Mediterranean.
Under the agreement, Turkey must be notified 15 days before military
ships sail into the Black Sea, and warships cannot remain longer than
21 days. The convention applies limits on individual and aggregate
tonnage and numbers.
These limitations effectively preclude the transit of major "capital"
warships and submarines of non-Black Sea powers through the straits,
unless exempted under Article 17.
That clause permits a naval force of any tonnage or composition to pay
a courtesy visit of limited duration to a port in the straits, at the
invitation of the Turkish government.
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