["With tensions near a breaking point between the U.S. and Russia ... Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is calling for a "reset 2.0". (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER, SERGEI LAVROV, SAYING: "We are absolutely interested in our relations normalizing, but it wasn't us who destroyed them. And now, there needs to probably be, like a, I don't know whether Americans would call it a 'reset'." He's referring to efforts made in U.S. President Barack Obama's first term to improve ties with Moscow... ...when then Secretary of State Hilary Clinton presented Lavrov with a red "reset" button, intended to signal a fresh start. But relations have only deteriorated. Both Washington and Brussels accuse Moscow of supporting a pro-Russian rebellion in east Ukraine -- and have imposed sanctions. Lavrov denies the charge, but predicts relations will eventually improve. (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER, SERGEI LAVROV, SAYING: "I don't think you can guess when - which day, which month, which year...I don't think it will be very lengthy, but it will take some time. The most important thing is that our partners realize the pointlessness of ultimatums and threats." But with Russia and the U.S. at loggerheads over major issues, including Ukraine and Syria, ...the "restart 2.0" is unlikely to happen anytime soon." (Source: <http://www.reuters.com/video/2014/09/28/russias-lavrov-calls-for-reset-20-with-u?videoId=345785392>.)]
I/III. http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/russia-s-lavrov-says-ties-with-washington-need-reset-2-0/507932.html Russia's Lavrov Says Ties With Washington Need 'Reset 2.0' Reuters Sep. 28 2014 14:09 Last edited 14:09 Eduardo Munoz / Reuters Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov addressing the 69th United Nations General Assembly in New York on Saturday. Moscow called on Sunday for a new "reset 2.0" in relations with Washington, saying the situation in Ukraine that had led to Western sanctions against Russia was now improving thanks to Kremlin peace initiatives. Washington and Brussels accuse Moscow of supporting a pro-Russian rebellion in eastern Ukraine and have imposed financial sanctions, which they have repeatedly tightened since Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimea peninsula in March. The conflict has brought relations between Moscow and the West to their lowest level since the end of the Cold War. U.S. President Barack Obama said last week that the sanctions could be lifted if Russia takes the path of peace and diplomacy. In a television interview, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said it was time to repeat the "reset," Washington's name for an attempt to improve ties early in Obama's presidency. "We are absolutely interested in bringing the ties to normal but it was not us who destroyed them. Now they require what the American would probably call a 'reset'," Lavrov said, according to a transcript of the interview on his ministry's website. "The current U.S. administration is destroying today much of the cooperation structure that it created itself along with us. Most likely, something more will come up -- a reset no. 2 or a reset 2.0," he said. Shortly after Obama took office in 2009, his then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton presented Lavrov with a red "reset" button intended to signal a fresh start to relations that had been strained under Obama's predecessor George W. Bush. In a diplomatic gaffe much mocked at the time, the button bore a Russian label that said "overload" instead of "reset;" the two words are similar in Russian. Lavrov said that thanks to "initiatives of the Russian President," the situation was improving on the ground in Ukraine, where a ceasefire has been in place for several weeks. The Sept.5 ceasefire is largely holding though some fighting has continued in places including the rebel stronghold of Donetsk. "The ceasefire is taking shape, though of course not without problems. Monitoring mechanisms have been introduced, talks between Russia, the European Union and Ukraine have started, gas talks have restarted," Lavrov said. Western countries say thousands of Russian troops have fought in Ukraine and accuse Russia of sending weapons, including a surface-to-air missile used to shoot down a Malaysian airliner over rebel-held territory in July. Moscow denies participating in the conflict or arming the rebels. Lavrov also repeated Russian criticism of the U.S.-led air campaign against Islamic State fighters in Syria, saying Washington was guilty of a "double standard" for refusing to cooperate with Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, a Russian ally. Lavrov said that despite the Western sanctions, Russia did not feel isolated on the world stage. Moscow has responded to the sanctions by banning imports of most food from Western countries. "We feel no isolation. But, having said that, I want to emphasize in particular that we do not want to go to extremes and abandon the European and American directions in our foreign economic cooperation," Lavrov said. "We have no desire to continue a sanctions war, trading blows," Lavrov also said. "First of all, it is important that our partners understand the futility of ultimatums and threats." II/III. http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/09/28/us-russia-usa-lavrov-idUSKCN0HN09N20140928 Russia's Lavrov says ties with Washington need 'reset 2.0' By Gabriela Baczynska MOSCOW Sun Sep 28, 2014 3:36pm EDT Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov speaks during a news conference on the sidelines of the the 69th U.N. General Assembly at U.N. Headquarters in New York, September 26, 2014. Credit: Reuters/Brendan McDermid (Reuters) - Moscow called on Sunday for a new "reset 2.0" in relations with Washington, saying the situation in Ukraine that had led to Western sanctions against Russia was improving thanks to Kremlin peace initiatives. Washington and Brussels accuse Moscow of supporting a pro-Russian rebellion in east Ukraine and have imposed sanctions, which they have repeatedly tightened since Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimea peninsula in March. The conflict has brought relations between Moscow and the West to their lowest level since the end of the Cold War. U.S. President Barack Obama said last week that the sanctions could be lifted if Russia takes the path of peace and diplomacy. In television interviews, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said it was time to repeat the "reset", a word Washington used to describe an attempt to mend ties early in Obama's presidency. But he also lashed out at NATO's "Cold War mentality", criticized Washington for excluding Russia's ally Bashar al-Assad from its campaign against Islamic State fighters in Syria, and said Washington "can no longer act as the prosecutor, the judge, and the executioner in every part of the world". "We are absolutely interested in bringing the ties to normal but it was not us who destroyed them. Now they require what the American would probably call a 'reset'," Lavrov said, according to a transcript of one interview on his ministry's website. "The current U.S. administration is destroying today much of the cooperation structure that it created itself along with us. Most likely, something more will come up - a reset no.2 or a reset 2.0," he told Russia's Channel 5 television. Shortly after Obama took office in 2009, his then Secretary of State Hilary Clinton presented Lavrov with a red "reset" button intended to signal a fresh start to relations that had been strained under Obama's predecessor George W. Bush. In a diplomatic gaffe much mocked at the time, the button bore a Russian label that said "overload" instead of "reset"; the two words are similar in Russian. Lavrov said that thanks to "initiatives of the Russian President", the situation was improving on the ground in Ukraine, where a ceasefire has been in place for several weeks. The Sept.5 truce is largely holding though some fighting has continued in places including the rebel stronghold of Donetsk. "The ceasefire is taking shape, though of course not without problems. Monitoring mechanisms have been introduced, talks between Russia, the European Union and Ukraine have started, gas talks have restarted," Lavrov said. Western countries say thousands of Russian troops have fought in Ukraine and accuse Moscow of sending weapons, including a surface-to-air missile used to shoot down a Malaysian airliner over rebel-held territory in July. Moscow denies participating in the conflict or arming the rebels. COLD WAR Speaking to Russia's state-funded international broadcaster, RT, Lavrov said "NATO still has the Cold War mentality", and Moscow needed to modernize its conventional and nuclear arms, though he denied this would lead to "a new arms race". Lavrov also repeated Russian criticism of the U.S.-led air campaign against Islamic State fighters in Syria, accusing Washington of a "double standard" for refusing to cooperate with Syrian president Assad. Washington has repeatedly called for Assad's dismissal and backed some of the rebels fighting to topple him since early 2011. "There's no room for petty grievances in politics," Lavrov told RT. "I very much hope that the United States will finally... realize that they can no longer act as the prosecutor, the judge, and the executioner in every part of the world and that they need to cooperate to resolve issues." Lavrov said that despite the Western sanctions, Russia did not feel isolated on the world stage. Moscow has responded to the sanctions by banning most Western food imports. "We feel no isolation. But, having said that, I want to emphasize in particular that we do not want to go to extremes and abandon the European and American directions in our foreign economic cooperation," Lavrov told Channel 5. "We have no desire to continue a sanctions war, trading blows," Lavrov also said. "First of all, it is important that our partners understand the futility of ultimatums and threats." (Editing by Peter Graff) III. http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/09/28/us-russia-nuclear-idUSKCN0HN0EI20140928 Russia's Lavrov says time has come to upgrade nuclear, conventional arms MOSCOW Sun Sep 28, 2014 6:28am EDT (Reuters) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was quoted on Sunday as saying that the time had come for his country to modernize its nuclear and conventional arsenals. "I don't think we are on the verge of a new arms race. At least, Russia definitely won't be part of it. In our case, it's just that the time has come for us to modernize our nuclear and conventional arsenals," Lavrov said, according to a transcript of an interview with Russia Today television published on its website. "We have a long-term armament program, which takes into account our economic situation and, of course, the need to have efficient and modern defensive capabilities to protect our national interest ... We haven't been doing much in this regard for a number of years," he added. (Reporting by Gabriela Baczynska; Editing by Andrew Heavens) -- Peace Is Doable -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
