Western Media: Are Americans Unfair to Russia?

American Free Press reports, according to the Russian press, that Russia will deliver 20 MiG-29 fighter jets to Myanmar’s ruling military junta. The contract was signed a few weeks ago and Russia will receive about $570 million. The agency reminds us that while the West has imposed sanctions on Myanmar, India, China and Russia regularly supply arms to the ruling junta. The AFP reports that the Russian proposal “shattered” that of the Chinese — China intended to sell them super-modern J-10 and FC-1 fighters on favorable terms. In 2007, Russia supplied Algeria with three MiGs, but some of the planes were returned, with the Algerians citing their poor quality.

The Christian Science Monitor: Kremlin and Washington Disagree Again

The Christian Science Monitor assesses the outlook of talks between the U.S. and Russia on the START treaty with skepticism. The publication states that the two sides have not only missed the first deadline for signing a new agreement (Dec. 5), but will surely miss the second as well, and believes they will not sign a new treaty until the beginning of next year. Talks in Geneva are halted temporarily for the Christmas holiday. The two parties have only agreed to abide by the provisions of the previous treaty until the new one is signed.

Questions about verifications and inspections appear to be the main problem, writes the CSM. In particular, Russia believes that the norms for verification established in the previous treaty are too onerous and are irrelevant. The Russian military considers the treaty unfair to Russia. Henry Sokolski, executive director of Washington’s Nonproliferation Policy Education Center, considers the idea of a deadline a poor mechanism when it comes to diplomacy.

Reuters reports that Russian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Alexander Saltanov announced, while in Jordan, that Russia intends to actively participate in the peace process in the Middle East. According to Saltanov, the possibility of a quartet consisting of Russia, the U.N., the E.U. and the U.S. has not been exhausted. Reuters also reports that Russia is not disputing Washington’s leading role in the settlement process in the Middle East. But at the same time, Moscow is not relinquishing the idea of holding a peace conference in Russia devoted to this issue.