Sergei Lavrov, who attended the meeting of the Quartet of Middle East mediators comprising the United Nations, Russia, the European Union and the United States in Washington Friday, told the press that Moscow will seek cancellation of U.S. sanctions against Russian companies cooperating with Syria and Iran as it deems they are against legal norms.
The U.S. imposed sanctions on three Russian companies and organizations - arms exporter Rosoboronexport, the Tula Instrument-Making Design Bureau, and the Kolomna Machine-Building Design Bureau - for allegedly selling missiles and weapons goods to Iran and Syria.
"Russian companies deliver to Iran products not prohibited by any international treaties or our [Russian] laws. We will be seeking the cancellation of these sanctions, just as we achieved cancellation of sanctions against Sukhoi," Lavrov said.
Last July, Washington accused two Russian companies - combat jet maker Sukhoi and Rosoboronexport, as well as several counterparts from India and North Korea, of violating the U.S. Nonproliferation Act of 2000 by selling weapons to Iran. Russia denied any wrongdoing, saying all its weapons deals are in line with international regulations.
The sanctions against Sukhoi, the manufacturer of advanced Flanker fighters, and Rosoboronexport involved a ban on financial operations and the denial of export licenses.
The United States lifted its sanctions against Sukhoi in mid-November last year.
Speaking about the U.S. plans to deploy elements of an anti-missile defense system in Europe, Lavrov said they are not an adequate response to modern threats and added that the reasons the U.S. cited do not convince Russia.
Washington officially proposed January 20 placing a radar network in the Czech Republic, and two days later announced plans to begin formal talks with Poland on the deployment of anti-ballistic missile systems on its territory.
"What we heard [from the U.S.] does not convince us that it is an adequate response to real threats, which exist today in the sphere of nuclear and missiles proliferation," the Russian foreign minister said.
He said that the talks on the issue will be continued, adding that military experts of both countries were holding consultations in line with bilateral agreements to avoid any possible misunderstanding.
"This is a very important process and we want to continue with it," Lavrov said.
The U.S. has argued that defenses in Europe could intercept possible intercontinental ballistic missiles from 'rogue' regimes, such as Iran and North Korea.
But on Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at an annual news conference with Russian and foreign journalists, televised live from the Kremlin, that Washington's arguments were not convincing and that Russia considered Washington's plans to be a threat to its national security.
He said that should the U.S. proceed with its intentions, Russia would respond decisively.
"We must think, and are thinking, of ways to ensure our national security," Putin said. "All our responses will be asymmetric but highly effective."
The Russian foreign minister said the U.S. could abolish the Jackson-Vanik amendment, which restricted trade with the former Soviet Union and remains in force for Russia, this year.
The 1974 Jackson-Vanik Amendment links U.S. trade benefits, known as Normal Trade Relations (NTR), to the emigration and human rights policies of Communist or formerly Communist countries. The amendment has been lifted for many of Russia's former Communist allies.
Lavrov said that Washington's top officials "...admit that the situation is really incoherent, which is part of their political system, but assured us that they will do everything possible to abolish the amendment this year."
The Russian minister said he discussed the amendment with U.S. President George Bush, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, senators and other top officials, who, he added, all agreed that there were no reasons for preserving this amendment.
Touching upon space exploration, Lavrov said Russia speaks for broader cooperation with the U.S. in the sphere, particularly for military purposes.
"We have a set of coordinated cooperation agreements, which we would like to implement as soon as possible. The agreements concern defense technologies and space [exploration]," Lavrov said.
Lavrov said Russia wants to extend its dialogue with the U.S. on space by including aspects that "could be linked with plans on military use of space."
The U.S. has its own doctrine that concerns these issues, he said, while Russia is advancing its initiative on the transparency and confidence building in space at the UN.
Going over to the international situation, Lavrov said Russia and the U.S. have different views on the resolution of the Kosovo issue.
Russia has been repeatedly saying that a decision on independence of Serbia's predominantly Albanian Kosovo region should satisfy both Kosovar and Serbian authorities and must be made through negotiations, while the U.S. has been pushing for the resolution of the issue through the UN Security Council saying the region should be granted some form of independence.
"Kosovo is the issue, which in comparison with Iran, Iraq and the Middle East [issues], has principled differences in our positions. So far we have had no common vision on the resolution of this issue," Lavrov told the press.
The Russian minister said an acceptable variant of the resolution should satisfy both Pristina and Belgrade but the U.S. has a different view of the issue saying that it would be wrong to linger and resolve the issue within the UN Security Council, which is expected to vote on a final draft resolution on Kosovo in March.
On Friday UN envoy Martti Ahtisaari met with Serbian President Boris Tadic to discuss plans for Serbia and Kosovo, which were interpreted by both sides as suggesting a division of the territories, and foreseeing eventual independence for Kosovo. Following the meeting Tadic said Serbia will never recognize Kosovo's independence.
Russia, a veto-wielding member of the UN Security Council and a traditional ally of Belgrade, has repeatedly said that sovereignty for the UN-administered Serbian province of Kosovo could have negative consequences for unresolved conflicts in the former Soviet Union that erupted in the early 1990s.
Last November, thousands of Kosovar Albanians attacked the UN headquarters in the capital, Pristina, over a delayed decision on their demand for independence. The region has been a UN protectorate since NATO's military campaign against Belgrade to end a war between Serb forces and Albanian separatists in 1999.
Speaking about U.S. relations with Iran, Sergei Lavrov said the United States has no military plans against the country and that Washington will cooperate with Moscow on bringing Iran back to negotiations.
Iran has been at the center of international concerns since January 2006 over its nuclear program, which some countries, particularly the United States, suspect is geared toward nuclear weapons development. Tehran has consistently denied the claims, and says it needs nuclear power for civilian purposes.
"The U.S. assured us [Russia] that it has no plans to wage war against Iran and the presence of supplementary [military] forces in the Persian Gulf region helps to stabilize the situation in the region," the Russian minister said.
"We have agreed to continue working within the UN Security Council to bring Iran back to the negotiating table using diplomatic measures of influence on Tehran," Lavrov said.
Russia, a key economic partner of Iran, has consistently supported the country's right to nuclear power under the Non-Proliferation Treaty, despite international accusations that the Islamic Republic aims to direct its nuclear program toward building weapons.
In response to Iran's unwillingness to give up its nuclear ambitions, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 1737 last December, which provided for sanctions against Iran banning activities involving uranium enrichment, chemical reprocessing, heavy water-based projects, and the production of nuclear weapons delivery systems.
Tehran responded to the resolution by saying it would review its cooperation with the IAEA and on January 23 barred 38 IAEA experts from inspecting Iran's nuclear facilities. The IAEA is expected to file a new report on Iran's nuclear program February 23.
Speaking about the Middle East situation, Lavrov said the establishment of a permanent mechanism on economic and political contribution to the Middle East crisis settlement will bring the mediators Quartet's work to a new level.
He said the necessity of regular meetings with both parties to the conflict - Israelis and Palestinians - was discussed at the Quartet's meeting in Washington, as well as involving regional states in this process.
"I mean first of all Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan," Lavrov said.
He said a statement, adopted by the Quartet Friday, contains the expediency of creating an international support mechanism.
"This mechanism will comprise support of the political process and support in resolution of economic problems on Palestinian territories," the Russian minister said.
Lavrov said Friday the statement fully reflects Russia's position.
The statement of the quartet voiced deep concern over the latest surge of violence in the Gaza Strip, which left more than 20 Palestinians dead and over 200 wounded since shooting began between gunmen of Hamas opposition Fatah.
The Russian minister said the statement "confirms all the fundamental principles on which we are striving to achieve a long-term, stable, comprehensive settlement to the Middle East conflict."
