Posts Tagged ‘U.S. Congress’

09
May 2012

Putin Signs Decree Seeking Closer U.S. Ties, ‘Firm Guarantees’ On Missile Shield

Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty

May 07, 2012

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree stating that Moscow will seek closer ties with Washington, but will not tolerate interference in its affairs.

The document, signed on May 7, hours after Putin was sworn in for a third term as president, also says that Moscow wants “firm guarantees” that a planned U.S.-led NATO missile shield is not aimed against Russia.

It says Moscow aims to bring cooperation with Washington “to a truly strategic level” but relations must be based on equality and mutual respect.

The decree serves to send a message to U.S. President Barack Obama ahead of a meeting between the leaders later this month at G8 and NATO summits in the United States.

Washington maintains that the missile shield, which is due to be completed by about 2020, is meant to counter a potential threat from rogue states, including Iran. Russia says the system could gain the capability to intercept Russian missiles by about 2018. 

Russia’s Chief of General Staff Nikolai Makarov on May 3 repeated warnings that Russia might opt to station short-range missiles in its Kaliningrad exclave to counter the shield.

He was also quoted as saying that Russia may consider a preemptive strike on the system in Europe if the project continues as planned.

U.S. State Department  responded by insisting that the shield would not alter the strategic balance between the countries.

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21
April 2012

Updated Magnitsky Act Introduced in U.S. Congress

Ria Novosti

An updated bill imposing a visa ban and asset freeze on Russian officials allegedly linked to the death in custody of Russian tax lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, as well as on “individuals responsible for other gross violations of human rights” in Russia has been introduced in the U.S. Congress.

Magnitsky, who worked for Hermitage Capital, a British investment fund, died in the Matrosskaya Tishina pre-trial detention center in Moscow in November 2009, almost a year after being arrested on tax evasion charges. He suffered from untreated pancreatitis and gallstones. Two former prison doctors have been charged with negligence in connection with his death, but a criminal case against one of them was recently dropped.

Just days before his arrest, Magnitsky claimed to have uncovered a massive fraud in which Moscow tax and police officials had allegedly embezzled $230 million in tax rebates by taking over Hermitage subsidiaries and using them to claim tax rebates. His supporters say the legal case investigators launched against him was a means for the same security officials he had accused to muzzle him and stop his activities.

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