


	Remember me on this computer
	Forgot your password?
	Register

MT news

First Video Added to Moscow Times Web Site

The video, a 3 1/2-minute interview with Rose Gottemoeller, director of the Carnegie Moscow Center, examines the informal summit between Presidents Vladimir Putin and George W. Bush in Sochi on April 6. The video can be found on The Moscow Times' homepage, www.themoscowtimes.com.

Testimonials

"Intel established its presence in Russia in 1992 and since that moment onward we've been reading The Moscow Times as a source of unbiassed information we trust. Over the last years we have had positive experience of information sharing at the conferences held by The Moscow Times team. We appreciate the development of both these sources of valuable information for Intel and the entire business community in Russia."

-Steve Chase, President
Intel Russia

Market Matters : Oil Tax Pledge Buoys Markets
Markets surged after the swearing-in of Dmitry Medvedev as president in a pomp-filled ceremony Wednesday and a tax-cutting speech by Vladimir Putin the day after, when he was approved as prime minister.

Russia Investment Roadshow : Scenes From Last Year's Forum



Tuesday, May 13, 2008 Updated at 13 May 2008 0:36 Moscow Time

The Moscow Times » Issue 3898 » News

Unknown/Reuters

Jaruzelski

West Told Not to Antagonize Russia

08 May 2008By Gareth Jones and Gabriela Baczynska / ReutersWARSAW -- The West should avoid antagonizing Moscow by rushing to let former Soviet republics such as Ukraine join NATO or by installing an anti-missile shield in Central Europe, Poland's last communist leader said Wednesday.

General Wojciech Jaruzelski, who says he averted a Soviet invasion of Poland in 1981 by declaring martial law, said the West must show greater understanding of Russia's historic fear of encirclement by hostile powers.

"It is in the interests of the West ... to have a stable Russia. Russia's history and some of its complexes must therefore be taken into account," Jaruzelski, 84, said in an interview. As he spoke, Dmitry Medvedev was being sworn in as president.

Describing Russia's new leaders as "cold pragmatists and patriots," Jaruzelski said Moscow regarded the prospect of NATO expanding into former Soviet territory as "provocative" and said Europe should seek security arrangements that embraced, rather than excluded, Russia.

"Poland must be really careful not to be a troublemaker in this field," Jaruzelski said.

Poland, a NATO member since 1999, has irked Russia with its strong support for Ukraine to join the alliance and also with its offer to host missile interceptors on its soil as part of U.S. plans to counter possible attacks from Iran.

Jaruzelski said he did not see the relevance of the proposed missile shield for Poland's security needs.

"I think Russia and Russians see all such installations -- not only in Poland or the Czech Republic, but also in Turkey, for example -- as another attempt to surround, entrap it," he said.

U.S. negotiators were in Warsaw on Wednesday for talks on the shield. Warsaw has set tough conditions for its agreement, including billions of dollars in U.S. investment to upgrade Polish air defenses.

Jaruzelski remains a controversial figure in Poland. He is still on trial for his decision as Polish Communist Party chief to impose martial law in 1981, a move that led to the deaths of dozens of peoples and the jailing of hundreds more.

Wearing his trademark dark glasses, Jaruzelski repeated his view that martial law was "the lesser evil" that spared Poland from Soviet military intervention and the bloody fate that befell Hungary in 1956 and Czechoslovakia in 1968.