soulxtc
September 2nd, 2006, 06:48 AM
Moscow’s mayor warned Friday that Russia would have to brace itself for more tension with the West and that joining the World Trade Organization in the near future could be harmful for the Russian economy, RIA Novosti news agency reports.
Several political disputes have arisen between Russia and Western countries recently. The latest arose this week when the U.S. Senator Richard Lugar branded Russia, along with Iran and Venezuela, “adversarial regimes” using energy supplies as a political instrument, a charge that Vice President Dick Cheney had leveled in May.
“We must be prepared for further complications in relations with the West. Western countries’ attitudes to us have changed dramatically because Russia is regaining power,” Yury Luzhkov said during the meeting with students dedicated to the start of the new academic year.
Russia has improved its financial standing considerably in recent years thanks to high prices for energy resources, its main exports. But its plans to expand presence on European energy markets were met with caution over dependence and reliability apprehensions, especially when the country was criticized for “blackmailing” Ukraine after it briefly cut off gas supplies to the former Soviet neighbor in a price dispute in early January.
http://www.mosnews.com/news/2006/09/01/luzkovattacks.shtml
Several political disputes have arisen between Russia and Western countries recently. The latest arose this week when the U.S. Senator Richard Lugar branded Russia, along with Iran and Venezuela, “adversarial regimes” using energy supplies as a political instrument, a charge that Vice President Dick Cheney had leveled in May.
“We must be prepared for further complications in relations with the West. Western countries’ attitudes to us have changed dramatically because Russia is regaining power,” Yury Luzhkov said during the meeting with students dedicated to the start of the new academic year.
Russia has improved its financial standing considerably in recent years thanks to high prices for energy resources, its main exports. But its plans to expand presence on European energy markets were met with caution over dependence and reliability apprehensions, especially when the country was criticized for “blackmailing” Ukraine after it briefly cut off gas supplies to the former Soviet neighbor in a price dispute in early January.
http://www.mosnews.com/news/2006/09/01/luzkovattacks.shtml