WASHINGTON (AFP) — US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice cast doubt Thursday on whether Russia, "increasingly authoritarian at home and aggressive abroad," will continue to be brought into the global economic fold.

In excerpts of a speech due to be delivered later Thursday, Rice said that because of its August 7 invasion of Georgia and other behavior, "Russia's bid to join the World Trade Organization (WTO) is now in question.

"And so too is its attempt to join the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development," she said according to excerpts released by the State Department ahead of her speech to the transatlantic German Marshall Fund.

No concrete retaliatory measures appeared in the excerpts of the speech. US officials have said Washington is reviewing "other options" beyond its suspension of civilian nuclear and military cooperation with Russia.

Appearing to underscore his point, Rice spoke directly to the leadership in Moscow represented by President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

"Our strategic goal now is to make it clear to Russia's leaders that their choices are putting Russia on a one-way path to self-imposed isolation and international irrelevance," Rice said.

Such a goal will be achieved, she said, with help from the European Union.

"To reach its full potential, Russia needs to be fully integrated into the international political and economic order," Rice said.

Rice said Russia's leaders will fail to "accomplish their primary war aim of removing Georgia's government." Rice earlier this month announced one billion dollars in economic and other aid for Georgia.

Rice, an academic who specialized in Russia and the former Soviet Union, said that Russian actions toward Georgia fit into "a worsening pattern of behavior over several years."

She cited Russia's "use of oil and gas as a political weapon, its unilateral suspension of the CFE (Conventional Forces in Europe) Treaty, its threat to target peaceful nations with nuclear weapons, its arms sales to states and groups that threaten international security, and its persecution, and worse of Russian journalists, and dissidents, and others," according to the excerpts.

"The picture emerging from this pattern of behavior is that of a Russia increasingly authoritarian at home and aggressive abroad," Rice said.

She said that the United States and its allies Russia's "attack on Georgia has crystallized the course that Russia's leaders are taking -- and brought us to a critical moment for Russia and the world."

Rice said Russia was finding an excuse for its behavior in blaming NATO's eastward expansion to include former soviet territory. Washington has supported efforts by Georgia and Ukraine to join the western alliance.

"With the end of the Cold War, we and our allies have worked to transform NATO -- from an alliance that manned the ramparts of a divided Europe -- to a means for nurturing the growth of a Europe whole, free, and at peace -- and for confronting dangers, like terrorism, that also threaten Russia," she said.

BERLIN: Relations between Russia and the West deteriorated further Thursday, with a warning by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that the Kremlin's attempt to rebuild the country had taken a "dark turn" and that a "paranoid, aggressive impulse" from the Russian past was reappearing.

In a speech in Washington on U.S.-Russia relations, Rice also criticized Moscow for using its role as a major energy supplier "as a political weapon against some of its neighbors." She castigated Russia for threatening "journalists, dissidents and others."

"What has become clear is that the legitimate goal of rebuilding Russia has taken a dark turn with the rollback of personal freedoms, the arbitrary enforcement of the law, the pervasive corruption at various levels of Russian society and the paranoid, aggressive impulse which has manifested itself before in Russian history," she said.

Israeli military and naval commanders were taken by surprise by Rear Adm. Andrei Baranov's disclosure that 10 Russian warships are already anchored at the Syrian port of Tartus, DEBKAfile’s military sources report.

Moscow and Damascus have worked fast to put in place the agreement reached in Moscow on Sept. 12 by Russian navy commander, Adm. Vladimir Wysotsky and Syrian naval commander Gen. Taleb al-Barri to provide the Russian fleet with a long-term base at Syrian ports. Israel was not aware that this many vessels were involved in the deal.

What most worries Israeli military leaders is an earlier announcement by Adm. Wysotsky that Russia’s Mediterranean assets would subjected to its Black Sea fleet command, thereby placing Russia’s warships near Israel’s shores at the service of Moscow’s contest against the US and NATO in the Caucasian. It is feared that Israel will be dragged into another cold war.

Rear Adm. Baranov disclosed that the warships in Tartus had brought engineering crews to widen and dredge the harbor to accommodate additional, fleet vessels. The crews were also working on expanding Latakia, another Syrian port, possibly for aircraft carriers or guided missile cruisers.

The Russians are making no secret of their intention of using their naval presence in Syrian ports as a deterrent to a possible Israeli air strike against Syria.

With NATO divided over how to respond to a newly assertive Russia, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said Thursday that he would urge alliance ministers meeting here to adopt a cautious and deliberate approach that would reassure newer members along the Russian border without provoking hostilities.

Members of a United Nations commission inspected damage in Tskhinvali, in Georgia’s South Ossetia region, on Thursday.
Mr. Gates has said he does not anticipate any armed Russian incursions into the territory of NATO member countries, but said Moscow was more likely to pursue strategies of “pressure and intimidation,” including restricting its supplies of oil and gas, on which Europe depends.

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Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Friday that his country will do everything possible to restore friendly relations with Georgia, Russian news agencies reported.

Russia and Georgia have maintained fraternal relations for centuries, Medvedev said, noting that over 1 million Georgians live in Russia and regard Russia as their homeland.

"We ... will do everything possible to restore regular, friendly relations," he said at a meeting with representatives of public organizations.

Meanwhile, Medvedev accused NATO of provoking the conflict in Georgia last month, and called for new pan-European security arrangements.

"What did NATO ensure? It only provoked the conflict, nothing else," he said.

Despite tensions with the West, Medvedev said Russia would not be pushed behind a new Iron Curtain.

"We are in fact being pushed onto the development track which is not based on sound, normal and civilized cooperation with other countries, but rests on autonomous development behind thick walls and an Iron Curtain," he said.

"This is not our track. There is no use in returning to the past. We have made our choice," said the president.

Russia and Georgia fought a brief war last month following the Caucasus state's offensive to retake its breakaway region of South Ossetia. Moscow subsequently recognized the republic along with breakaway Abkhazia as independent states, which led Georgia to sever diplomatic ties with Russia.

Many Western powers have criticized Russia for its counterattack against Georgia and recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and sided with Tbilisi, which aspires for NATO membership.

WASHINGTON, September 19 (RIA Novosti) - NATO defense ministers considered at a meeting in London the creation of a rapid-response force to be sent into a country that feels threatened by Russia, the Los Angeles Times said.

The United States and other Western powers have criticized Russia for what they called an invasion of Georgia. Moscow said it was a response to Georgia's offensive to retake breakaway South Ossetia in early August. Tbilisi claimed Russian troops were sent to topple President Mikheil Saakashvili.

"The deployment force being considered would be small, light and defensive in nature," the newspaper said Friday citing an unidentified senior U.S. defense official.

Though the plan is widely supported by NATO member states, it is still unclear who would staff and equip the force, as well as who would have the authority to deploy it and under which circumstances, the paper said.

The project, pushed by the Bush administration, is intended both to reassure European allies and pacify Russia, the paper said.

The majority of Western powers sided with Tbilisi over the South Ossetia crisis, criticizing Russia's military response to Georgia's attack as excessive and also condemning Moscow's August 26 recognition of South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states.

Russia said it was its moral duty to protect civilians and peacekeepers in the region and blamed the United States and other NATO countries for encouraging Georgian aggression by backing President Mikheil Saakashvili and supplying arms and training the ex-Soviet republic's military.

MOSCOW, September 8 (RIA Novosti) - A Russian naval task force departed Monday on a tour of duty in the Atlantic Ocean, including joint naval drills with the Venezuelan navy in November, a Navy spokesman said. (Russian Navy modernized - Image gallery)

"A naval task force from the Northern Fleet, comprising the nuclear-powered missile cruiser Pyotr Velikiy, the large ASW ship Admiral Chabanenko, and support ships, left the Severomorsk base early Monday to conduct training exercises in the Atlantic," Capt. 1st Rank Igor Dygalo said.

Pyotr Velikiy is a Kirov (Orlan) class nuclear-powered guided missile heavy cruiser, which has practically unlimited operational range and carries 20 SS-N-19 Shipwreck surface-to-surface missiles with either nuclear or high-explosive warheads and about 500 surface-to-air missiles of different types, supplemented by a large number of other weaponry.

Dygalo said that during the tour of duty the Russian warships would participate in joint naval exercises with the Venezuelan navy on November 10-14, in line with the 2008 training program and in order to expand military cooperation with foreign navies.

"During the exercise, ships and naval aircraft will practice coordinated maneuvering, search-and-rescue, and communications," Dygalo said.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez earlier confirmed that Venezuela would hold joint naval exercises with Russian warships in the Caribbean and said the Russian navy would receive a warm welcome in the Latin American country.

Russia announced last year that its Navy had resumed and would build up a constant presence in different regions of the world's oceans.

A task force from the Northern Fleet, consisting of the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier, the Udaloy-Class large AWS ships Admiral Levchenko and Admiral Chabanenko, as well as auxiliary vessels, conducted from December 2007 to February 2008 a two-month tour of duty in the Mediterranean Sea and North Atlantic.

The Georgian military has shot down a Russian reconnaissance drone that was flying over Georgian territory, Georgia's government says.

The drone was downed near the town of Gori, south of the de facto border with breakaway South Ossetia, the interior ministry says.

Russia made no comment on the claim, and Georgia provided no evidence.

Russia recognised the independence of South Ossetia after a short war broke out over the territory last month.

Russia has been withdrawing from Georgia proper under a ceasefire deal.

Russia has announced that it will not participate in a meeting with the United States this week to discuss Iran's nuclear program, the most significant indication yet of how Russia's war with Georgia has spoiled relations regarding other security issues.

Moscow's move apparently scuttled the meeting. The Foreign Ministry issued a biting statement Tuesday that criticized remarks last week by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who declared that Russia had taken "a dark turn" away from democracy and respect for international norms.

A former U.S. ambassador to Moscow, Jack Matlock, and other former U.S. envoys have decried the poor state of ties with Russia and said NATO membership for Georgia and Ukraine was not in Washington's or the alliance's interest, Reuters reported from Washington.

At a gathering of five former U.S. and Russian ambassadors, Matlock questioned a central tenet of Bush administration policy: Its firm support for the NATO membership bids of both nations.

Some European countries have doubts about the policy, and some U.S. analysts have blamed it for helping provoke the brief war last month between Russia and Georgia over the breakaway region of South Ossetia.

Ruslan Yamadayev, a former member of the Russian parliament's lower house, the State Duma, was gunned down in central Moscow on Wednesday, an Interior Ministry official said.

Earlier reports said that the victim of the attack was Ruslan's brother Sulim Yamadayev, a former commander of the Russian Defense Ministry's Vostok battalion in Chechnya.

Yamadayev was driving his Mercedes car in downtown Moscow, when he was attacked by unknown gunmen at 5:20 pm Moscow time (13:20 GMT). The attackers shot his car and then fled the scene in an Audi 80 car, sources said.

"At 5:20 p.m. on the Smolenskaya embankment a man approached a Mercedes car, which had stopped at a red traffic light, and shot former member of the State Duma Ruslan Yamadayev, who was behind the driver's wheel at the time," said Valery Gribakin, a spokesman for the Russian Interior Ministry.

Meanwhile, a law enforcement source said Yamadayev was riding in a car with former commandant of Chechnya Lt. Gen. Sergei Kizyun. The source added that Kizyun was seriously wounded and taken to a hospital.