From: Miroslav Antic <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Greece, Russia pledge closer defense ties HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------- Greece, Russia pledge closer defense ties ATHENS - Greek and Russian defense officials pledged to strengthen military cooperation on Thursday, ahead of an official visit to Athens by Russian President Vladimir Putin. "Russia offers very good (military) products, so there are opportunities to develop our relationship," Defense Minister Yannos Papantoniou told reporters. Papantoniou met Mikhail Dmitriev, Russia's deputy defense minister. Russia supplies Greece with anti-aircraft missiles, including the long-range S-300s which are based on the southern island of Crete. Putin is due in Greece on Dec. 6-8. Russia is currently the world's fourth largest arms exporter, behind the United States, Britain and France. -AP 2001-11-23 03:26 MSK - NATO's Robertson says Taliban not yet defeated MOSCOW - Afghanistan's Taliban are not yet defeated, but they will be overcome eventually, NATO Secretary-General George Robertson said on Thursday. Robertson was in Moscow to discuss a radically new framework of closer ties between the alliance and Russia in the wake of the September 11 attacks on the United States. "The Taliban is in retreat, but is not yet defeated. But they will be defeated and al Qaeda and (Saudi-born militant Osama) bin Laden will face justice for what they did in New York and elsewhere," Robertson told reporters after talks with Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov. Ivanov also said the Taliban "is not destroyed", adding that the Afghan militia still controls about 20 percent of the country. -Reuters _________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ____________________
