Να και που έγκειται και η "φιλία" ....

Dmitry Medvedev, left, and Hu Jintao signed a $1bn nuclear contract in Beijing [AFP]

Πυρηνικό συμβόλαιο υπέγραψε σήμερα η Ρωσία με την Κίνα ύψους 1 δισ. δολ. για την επέκταση εργοστασίου εμπλουτισμού ουρανίου και την προμήθεια πυρηνικού καυσίμου, ανακοίνωσε Ρώσος αξιωματούχος στο Πεκίνο.

Η συμφωνία αυτή υπεγράφη κατά την πρώτη ημέρα της επίσκεψης του νέου προέδρου της Ρωσίας Ντμίτρι Μεντβέντεφ στο Πεκίνο.

Ο Σεργκέϊ Κιριγένκο, επικεφαλής της ρωσικής υπηρεσίας ατομικής ενέργειας Rosatom, διευκρίνισε στους δημοσιογράφους πως προβλέπει την κατασκευή μιας τέταρτης μονάδας σ' έναν ήδη υφιστάμενο σταθμό στην Κίνα και «παραδόσεις ασθενώς εμπλουτισμένου ρωσικού ουρανίου».
«Το κόστος του συμβολαίου αντιστοιχεί σε πάνω από ένα δισεκατομμύριο δολάρια, εκ των οποίων περίπου 500 εκατομμύρια δολάρια για την κατασκευή και περίπου 500 εκατομμύρια δολάρια για την προμήθεια ουρανίου», πρόσθεσε ο Κιριγένκο.

Πηγή: Ημερησία

Russia and China condemn US shield

China and Russia have condemned a plan by the United States to set up a missile defence system in eastern Europe that Washington says is crucial to protecting its security and that of its allies.

A joint statement on the plan was signed in Beijing by Hu Jintao, China's president, and Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian leader, who is visiting China.

The statement said: "Both sides believe that creating a global missile defence system, including deploying such systems in certain regions of the world ... do not help support strategic balance and stability, and harm international efforts to control arms and the non-proliferation process.

"It harms the strengthening of trust between states and regional stability. In this respect (the two sides) express their concern."

Human rights

The plan to deploy parts of the missile shield in eastern Europe to counter possible rocket launches by "rogue" states such as Iran has unnerved Moscow, which sees the project as a threat to its security.

The defence system fits into what Moscow sees as Western attempts to contain its ambitions to reassert itself as a world power and keep Russian companies out of lucrative markets.

Moscow is therefore keen to shore up support in China, which it sees as a potential ally against Western power.

Medvedev and Hu also found common ground on human rights, which both countries frequently say the US uses as political leverage to criticise them.

The presidents' statement said: "Both sides are concerned about the universal nature of the principle of respecting human rights, but believe that every state has a right to encourage and protect them based on its own specific features and characters.

"On the issue of human rights ... (we should) oppose politicising the issue and using double standards, and should oppose using human rights to interfere with other countries' affairs."

Nuclear deal

China and Russia have also worked together to water down sanctions against Iran over its nuclear programme by using their permanent membership on the UN Security Council.

Both countries are also involved in multilateral talks to rein in North Korea's nuclear programme and have proposed a treaty to ban weapons in space.

Despite their co-operation, the new Russian president knows that he has to address concerns at home about China's growing military and economic clout and its rivalry for influence in resource-rich Central Asia.

Medvedev arrived a day after visiting neighbouring Kazakhstan, a country seen as key to Moscow's strategy of keeping Central Asia's gas out of Western hands and a rival supplier for China's prodigious energy appetite.

Earlier on Friday, Russia's nuclear chief said Moscow would build and supply a $1bn uranium enrichment plant in China.

Sergei Kiriyenko, the head of Rosatom, the state nuclear corporation, said: "The Chinese market is very attractive and we are trying to enter it in two ways, not only by supplying fuel but also investing in local production."

Source: Al Jazeera

Russia, China against deployment of weapons in space

BEIJING, May 23 (Source: RIA Novosti) - Russia and China want an international agreement to be drafted banning the deployment of weapons in space, the countries' leaders said on Friday in a joint declaration after talks in Beijing.

"The sides are in favor of the peaceful use of space, but are against the deployment of weapons in space or a space arms race," the declaration said.

In February Russia and China presented at a United Nations conference in Geneva a joint draft of a new international treaty to prevent an arms race in space. The document relates to all weapons, not only nuclear.

The draft proposed by Moscow and Beijing bans the deployment of any arms in space, as well as the use of force against satellites. It also relates to space property, overall security, and arms control.

The Russian and Chinese proposals have been approved by most partners except the United States, which is currently developing a new generation of a national missile defense that is widely seen as a revival of the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) program drawn up in the 1980s, nicknamed 'Star Wars'.

Under the SDI, ground and space-based forces were to protect the U.S. from a nuclear missile attack.

The Russian-Chinese declaration also touched on nuclear non-proliferation, saying that these issues must be addressed using political and diplomatic methods.

"The parties believe that problems relating to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and means of their delivery must be resolved through political and diplomatic methods within the bounds of international law and in the interest of strengthening international security," the declaration said.