Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused the US yesterday of blocking a cooperation program between Moscow and the NATO alliance in a row over a European arms treaty, Russian news agencies reported.
"The fact that an important document that simply set out a large number of spheres of agreement ... has been blocked due to the absolutely ideological position of our American colleagues, who are trying to force us to annul Russia's law on the Conventional Forces in Europe [CFE] treaty, obviously is a cause for regret," Lavrov was quoted by Interfax as saying.
Lavrov was referring to Russia's decision to suspend adherence to the CFE treaty, which sets limits on levels of troops and military hardware on the continent.
Lavrov, who had attended a NATO-Russia meeting at the alliance's headquarters on Friday, said the US was blocking approval of a program setting out cooperation for next year in areas such as combating weapons of mass destruction, narcotics, industrial accidents and air space management.
Last month Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law freezing Moscow's adherence to the CFE starting on Wednesday.
Russia said it had taken the step because of the failure of NATO states to ratify a revised version of the treaty produced in 1999 to take account of the collapse of the independence of countries formerly ruled from Moscow.
NATO states have said they will not ratify the revised treaty until Russia fulfils a related commitment to move military facilities from ex-Soviet Georgia and Moldova.
Meanwhile, Washington said on Friday that it was pushing ahead with a planned missile shield that has angered Russia even as a new US assessment downgraded the nuclear threat from Iran.
Washington has defended plans to build missile defense facilities in the Czech Republic and Poland as necessary to protect European allies from a potential missile strike from "rogue" states, especially Iran.
A new US intelligence community assessment on Iran's nuclear ambitions, however, found that the Islamic republic froze an atomic bomb program in 2003.
But the White House has insisted that the Islamic republic remains a danger, arguing that it could revive the nuclear weapons program anytime. And the US Defense Department says Iran's conventional missiles are still a threat.
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
PLUGGING HOLES: The amendments would bring the legislation in line with systems found in other countries such as Japan and the US, Legislator Chen Kuan-ting said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) has proposed amending national security legislation amid a spate of espionage cases. Potential gaps in security vetting procedures for personnel with access to sensitive information prompted him to propose the amendments, which would introduce changes to Article 14 of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), Chen said yesterday. The proposal, which aims to enhance interagency vetting procedures and reduce the risk of classified information leaks, would establish a comprehensive security clearance system in Taiwan, he said. The amendment would require character and loyalty checks for civil servants and intelligence personnel prior to
RSS