Russia threatening Europe

Russia will pull out of the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) treaty if ex-Soviet Ukraine and Georgia are set on the path to NATO membership, Interfax news agency quoted a government official as saying on Friday.
"If Ukraine and Georgia are granted NATO Membership Action Plans (MAP), then the revised CFE treaty will be doomed," Interfax quoted the unnamed official, whom it described as a senior military diplomat.
"If MAP starts being implemented for Ukraine and Georgia, Russia will not only continue the moratorium it imposed on the CFE, but will ultimately pull out of it."
Georgia and Ukraine are seeking action plans, which are seen as road maps to eventual membership of NATO, at an alliance summit in December, though diplomats say it is unlikely either will be granted MAP.
Russia, which is fiercely opposed to NATO's expansion toward its borders, suspended its compliance with the CFE treaty last December but remains a signatory.
Moscow says the treaty, designed to limit battlefield weapons, such as tanks and armoured vehicles, on either side of the old Iron Curtain, is a Cold War relic which gives too much scope for an enlarged NATO to beef up its forces.
Russia's biggest grievance with the CFE pact is the limit on deployments west of the Ural mountains, while armaments are not capped in new NATO members in eastern Europe.
NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said at talks in the Estonian capital on Thursday that Ukraine should press ahead with defense and security reforms to gain membership to the alliance.

Putin says term-extension bill not meant for him

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that a bill that would extend the Russian president's term to six years was not tailored for him and would be a boost for democracy in the country.
The measure could pave the way for a new 12-year presidency for Putin if he decides to seek Russia's highest office again. Lawmakers are moving to fast-track the constitutional change that President Dmitry Medvedev submitted to parliament Tuesday.
Putin said the change "has no personal dimension" and cast it as aiding democracy — which critics say was rolled back dramatically during his two four-year presidential terms.
"We are seeking instruments that would enable us to guarantee sovereignty, to implement our long-term plans, and that would not only not damage but would foster the development of democracy in this country," he said in televised comments at a meeting with the Finnish prime minister.
"As far as I know, the president of the Finnish Republic is elected for six years," Putin said, adding that for decades, France's presidential term was seven years. "In this sense, Mr. Medvedev has not proposed anything unusual."
Putin wouldn't say whether he would seek to return to office.
"As for who will run for office and when, it's too early to talk about that now," Russian news agencies quoted him as saying.
The widely popular Putin — who was barred constitutionally from seeking a third straight term as president — tapped longtime protege Medvedev as his favored successor, ensuring his election in March.
Putin then became prime minister and leader of the United Russia party, which dominates the Duma, and is still widely seen as the man calling the shots in Russia.
He is not barred from running again after a break, and Medvedev's move to extend the presidential term sparked speculation that Putin might not wait until scheduled elections in 2012 to seek a return to the office.