RA’s Daily Russian News Blast – August 6, 2009
TODAY: Submarine activity deemed routine. Russia will not amass troops in Georgia; suggests non-violence treaty for Saakashvili’s regime. Georgia denies rearming. Politkovskaya trial re-opens, and is adjourned.
A high-ranking Russian general has told reporters that the presence of Russian submarines off the US coast is ‘normal’. The General says Russia has no intention of returning U.S. Humvees that were seized during last year’s conflict, but will keep them as war trophies. An op-ed piece in the New York Times, written by journalists who ‘know firsthand about the difficulties confronting democratic development‘ in Georgia, suggests Washington needs to clarify its stance on the state and underline the necessity for democratic reforms. Russian fear of losing clout with the West? Georgian frailty? The New York Times also reports on what both sides perceive as the reasons why the other is unlikely to go to war again. Russia has urged the international community to halt arms supplies to Georgia; the state has denied Russia’s claims that it is on a rearmament drive.
A high-ranking Russian general has told reporters that the presence of Russian submarines off the US coast is ‘normal’. The General says Russia has no intention of returning U.S. Humvees that were seized during last year’s conflict, but will keep them as war trophies. An op-ed piece in the New York Times, written by journalists who ‘know firsthand about the difficulties confronting democratic development‘ in Georgia, suggests Washington needs to clarify its stance on the state and underline the necessity for democratic reforms. Russian fear of losing clout with the West? Georgian frailty? The New York Times also reports on what both sides perceive as the reasons why the other is unlikely to go to war again. Russia has urged the international community to halt arms supplies to Georgia; the state has denied Russia’s claims that it is on a rearmament drive.