Palestinian State is ‘High Priority,’ Says Bush

by Agence France-Presse

U.S. President George W. Bush assured Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas Thursday he was "confident" about reaching an agreement on creating a Palestinian state before he leaves office.

"I assured the president that a Palestinian state’s a high priority, for me and my administration—a viable state, a state that doesn’t look like Swiss cheese, a state that provides hope," said Bush, whose terms ends in January.

Posted on: 04/25/08

Government Releases Images of Syrian Reactor

by David E. Sanger (The New York Times)

The Bush administration released detailed photographic images on Thursday to support its assertion that the building in Syria that Israel destroyed in an airstrike last year was a nuclear reactor constructed with years of help from North Korea.

The administration said it withheld the pictures for seven months out of fear that Syria could retaliate against Israel and start a broader war in the Middle East.

Posted on: 04/25/08

Moscow Mideast Peace Conference to be Held in June or July

by RIA Novosti

Russia’s foreign minister said a Moscow-hosted peace conference on the Middle East will be held in June or July, depending on the schedules of the countries taking part.

Russia, a member of the Quartet of Mideast mediators, has stepped up its role in peace brokering in the region in recent years, and offered to host a conference in its capital as a follow up to last November’s meeting in Annapolis. Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday that Russia and the other quartet members— the UN, the EU and the United States—would coordinate dates for the Moscow conference at a ministerial meeting in May.

Posted on: 04/25/08

Russian Shipment for Iranian Nuclear Plant Blocked

by The Associated Press

Azerbaijan halted a Russian shipment of equipment intended for Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant, demanding more information for fear of violating United Nations sanctions, officials said Monday.

The Russian state-run company Atomstroiexport said one or two trucks carrying the equipment were stopped two weeks ago at the town of Astara, on the Azerbaijani- Iranian border.

Posted on: 04/25/08

Recognize Differences, But Engage

“Washington ought to ignore the inevitable op-ed urgings to ‘explain ourselves better’ to Moscow; or to be careful not to ‘feed the Kremlin’s paranoia’ or ‘push it into the corner’; or to be therapeutic and gentle in light of Russia’s traumatic historic memories; or to constantly reinvent progressively larger and juicier ‘carrots’ for the Kremlin–as if the street-smart and tough-as-nails former KGB men who run Russia today (and sit on its fabulous wealth, to boot) could be ‘induced’ to deviate from their vision of what is good for Russia (and themselves) by Washington’s proffers."
–Leon Aron, director, Russian studies, American Enterprise Institute, Russian Outlook, January 16, 2008

VS.

“Opponents of engagement would prefer that disputes form the basis of U.S.-Russia relations an unstable foundation, upon which sustainable cooperation, peace and security cannot be built. But the proper approach is to recognize these differences, not ignore them, and fully engage Russia. We should abandon incendiary rhetoric, avoid lecturing and move away from personality-driven policies. We can recognize Russia’s shortcomings, but this should not preclude us from strong diplomatic engagement in pursuit of our own interests. We must work together to manage regional conflicts in North Korea and Iran. It’s doubtful we can solve these problems without Russian help.”
–Lee H. Hamilton, director, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars; former chairman, House Foreign Affairs Committee, keynote address at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace event on ”200 Years of U.S.-Russian Diplomatic Relations,” September 24, 2007