Russia: G20 Summit Takes Center Satge
Now that the US election is over, Russian papers are commenting on the daily issues of concern to Moscow, most notably the G20 summit currently taking place in Washington and the incoming administration of President-elect Barack Obama.
Vgzlyad paper noted one of the first meetings conducted by President-elect Obama's representatives was done with the Russian delegation, represented by the officials from Medvedev's office as well as new Russian Ambassador in the United States, Sergey Kilsyak. The paper also commented on the protests taking place near the summit, as well as citing Venezuelan President Chavez's desire to conduct an alternative summit in his country's capital.
Other papers are actively commenting on the possible makeup of the Obama Administration. Daily Gazeta again reiterated earlier sentiments that Joe Biden will be a hawkish Vice President, reminding its readers that he actively supported "Republican initiative of" Kosovo independence against Russian ally Serbia. The paper also stated that the future Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel is a staunch pro-Israel politician and "an advocate of a harsher line in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict," earning the moniker "aggressive Democrat." The same paper also notes Senator Clinton's good chances of beings chosen as the next Secretary of State, quoting her statements that she would like to be a "good partner to President-elect Obama."
Daily Izvestia wrote about Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's desire to be the mediator in US-Russia relations. It cited his fears that the placement of Russian short-range missile in the Kaliningrad region is a "return to the Cold War fears." The paper quoted Berlusconi's statement that he "advised Obama to stop escalation of negative rhetoric towards Russia - I think that is more important than Iraq." Izvestia then commented that it was not clear what was Obama's reaction to that conversation after the Italian PM called Obama a "young, handsome and well-tanned politician."
Nezavisimaya Gazeta wrote that US General Henry Obering is "provoking" President-elect Obama by stating that US strategic interests will be diminished if Obama "freezes the anti-missile defense initiative in Europe. "Obering called on the Democratic administration to ignore Moscow's protests and to realize the radar deployment in the Czech Republic and the interceptors in Poland. The same paper discussed in a different article an idea that America does not fear Russia because the current financial crisis will hit Russian's military the hardest, thus diminishing Moscow's ability to actively compete with the United States.
However, the paper proposed that the Russian government will not change its budget, even in crisis, because to do so would be to first admit that Moscow did not adequately prepare for global financial upheavals (which Kremlin will never do); and second, Russian government is actively and successfully "exporting the ideal of a besieged fortress ... surrounded on all sides by Western allies and their anti-Russian satellites, Russia is now rising in global prominence. ... In these conditions, it is simply unthinkable not to give adequate share of the budget to the Russian military."
