USA and NATO tighten Anaconda loop around Russia

The U.S. and Romania signed an agreement on deployment of the elements of a U.S. missile defense system. Earlier it was reported that some elements of EUROPRO system will appear in Turkey. Everything indicates that the U.S. military machine and NATO are inexorably approaching the Russian borders.
The US-Romanian agreement was signed on September 13 during a visit to Washington of Romanian President Traian Basescu. 

The document was signed by the foreign ministers of two countries - Hillary Clinton and Theodore Baconschi. Later Barack Obama met with the participants of the talks, although initially he was not planning to meet with Basescu.

According to the document, by 2015 elements of a U.S. ground-based missile defense system will appear at the former Romanian Air Force Base in Deveselu. They will include radar (SAR) complex Aegis, an operational control center, and mobile missile batteries with interceptor missiles SM-3 Standart-3. Approximately 200 U.S. military will reside at the base, but if necessary, this number will be increased to 500.

Nothing was said with regard to the fact who the missile base will be directed against. Earlier, U.S. officials and Basescu have repeatedly reiterated that the missile defense is not directed against Russia. However, recently there was another event that made the Russian side doubt that statement.


Some time ago the United States and Turkey announced that the Turkish territory would host an early warning radar system EUROPRO. Spokesman of the Turkish Foreign Ministry Selcuk Unal said that the decision to implement a project system of protection against missile attack of the U.S. and NATO was adopted at the Lisbon summit in 2010. Turkey has actively contributed to these original plans and made a significant contribution to the work. He added that there have been negotiations on the extent of Turkey's participation in this system, which have finally entered into the final stage.

According to the Turkish diplomat, the radar will be located in the southeastern part of the country. This will allow "scanning" the area with a radius of several thousand kilometers. Turkey insists that the new object is not directed against anyone, especially against Russia. This will only allow the country to contribute to the development of a new security system of NATO.


According to the American plans, Turkey will first host a mobile radar detection system AN/TPY-2. By 2015 there will be a new sea-and land-based modification of the SM-3. Subsequently, the system will be improved further so that it successfully reflects the threat against the United States and Europe from missiles of medium and long range.

The appearance of the two similar objects in the immediate proximity of Russian borders could not but worry the leadership of the country. In his statement the Russian Foreign Ministry stressed the need to sign a special agreement clearly stipulating that the elements of a U.S. missile defense are not directed against Russia. "The developments only increase the urgency of the need to obtain solid, legally binding assurances from the U.S. and NATO that missile defense facilities being deployed in Europe are not directed against Russia's strategic nuclear forces," commented MFA.


"The agreement with Romania to deploy a ground-based version of SM-3 missile system and Aegis at the former air base Deveselu, as well as the recent announcement of the impending deployment of the U.S. forward based anti-missile radar AN/TPY-2 in Turkey, suggests that the implementation of U.S. and Europe's missile plans is quick and smooth. This is happening amid a lack of progress in the NATO-Russian and Russian-American dialogue on the subject of missile defense," the Ministry commented.

"Scheduled for deployment in Romania by 2015, regardless of the evolution of the real missile challenges, missile defense base is another link in the strategic infrastructure of the global missile defense system developed by the U.S. NATO-Russia Council needs to develop effective and targeted decisions about the purpose and architecture of the missile defense in the region", stressed the Russian Foreign Ministry.
It may be added that the objects in Romania and Turkey are not the only ones of this kind. The United States and Poland agreed to deploy interceptor missiles Patriot at a Polish base in the town of Morong. The distance from this object to Kaliningrad is no more than 100 kilometers. As in the case of Romania, the Polish authorities also have repeatedly stated that Russian missile defense is not threatened. Initially it was planned to place these missiles near Warsaw, but they were eventually "pushed" to the Russian border.
Finally, further north there is American radar in Norway, in the town of Varde, located near the Russian border.

Although officially its function is to monitor space debris, the Russian military and diplomats suspect that it was placed in violation of the ABM Treaty of 1972. Russia conducts regular talks on the operation of this facility with both the U.S. and Norway.

What does the emergence of a chain of objects of a U.S. missile defense system at the Russian borders mean? Military expert and senior vice president of the Academy of Geopolitical Issues Konstantin Sivkov spoke on this subject in an interview with Pravda.ru:
"The U.S. and NATO continue the policy of encirclement of Russia with their bases in the framework of the project "Loop of Anaconda." Our country is still perceived by the Americans as the main strategic adversary, and they do not even make any secret of it. Their task is to neutralize our nuclear weapons and push us out of the major areas of the world's oceans. In this case - even from the Black Sea.
Turkey, of course, has its own views on the missile defense system, but Romania is a pawn in the hands of the U.S., and its elite exist only because of the American support. The same can be said about Poland. As a result, there is a chain of U.S. missile defense sites along the Russian border, stretching from Turkey through Romania and Poland to Norway."

India and USA to protect Vietnam from China

Vietnam is not alone in a festering territorial dispute with China. In the near future Indian warships will arrive into the South China Sea. This is a group of destroyers CMD (controlled missile defense).

But there is more to it: at the end of June there were reports from New Delhi that the Indian Navy intends to settle in the South China Sea for a long time. The Indian side is expected to establish a permanent military presence there.

According to the official government version of India, this will help the Navy of India to play a more prominent role in South-East Asia where strategic shipping lines are located.

By doing this, India, as one of the major competitors of China in the region, intends to prevent the far-reaching plans of China to expand its sphere of influence. It is no secret that China intends to establish full control over all the islands in the South China Sea.

At the moment, it controls the Paracel Islands seized in 1974 from South Vietnam, as well as a smaller part of the Spratly archipelago. The severity of the dispute is explained not only by the importance of shipping lanes from the Pacific into the Indian Ocean, but also the wealth of biological resources of the South China Sea and, most importantly, large deposits of hydrocarbons on the shelf.

In particular, the Vietnamese side provides the entry for the Indian warships and naval bases in Nhatraneg and Halong Bay. In addition, India offers aid to Vietnam to increase its naval power by building ships and training of Vietnamese sailors.

Hanoi is not able to withstand the Chinese pressure at sea. This is clearly demonstrated by the events of 1988 when the Chinese were able to capture the Spratly archipelago and win a landslide victory in the clash with Vietnamese Navy.

Since then, the gap between the Chinese and the Vietnamese Navy has increased many times not in favor of the latter. Several years ago, Vietnam's leadership took steps to reduce it. In particular, they purchased six diesel submarines from Russia. Nevertheless, their presence could not stop the Chinese who have much more powerful navy.

In the last six months, they have been actively demonstrating their muscles not only to the Vietnamese but also Filipinos who are also claiming a part of the Spratly archipelago. The severity of the territorial dispute has reached such a high level that Manila recently asked Washington to interfere, and tried to develop a united front with Vietnam to cope with the "China threat."

However, the Chinese Navy is decisively superior to the battle fleets of Vietnam and the Philippines combined, and in the event of military conflict the chances of Manila and Hanoi at sea are minimal.

Recently, the likelihood of this scenario has markedly increased. In late May, the tension between China - Vietnam and China - the Philippines has increased dramatically. The parties sent additional Navy forces to the problem areas. Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung on June 14 issued a decree in this regard on conscription of sailors in the event of further escalation of the conflict with China.

The latter, based on the balance of power, is clearly not afraid and shows determination and full control over the Spratly archipelago. An additional impetus is given by high world prices on hydrocarbons, on the one hand, and the lack of progress in Chinese-Russian negotiations on gas prices, on the other.

However, the establishment of China's full control over the islands of the South China Sea has created enormous problems for the countries of South and Southeast Asia. Even in Indonesia, not to mention Malaysia and the Philippines, there are growing fears that China might use the Spratly as a springboard to leap into the South Seas countries.

As for India, there is another reason why the growing Chinese expansion in the region has caused such a strong opposition. Recently its opponent Pakistan decided to give the Chinese a naval base on its shores. In case of further strengthening of China in the South China Sea, India is risking to be extremely disadvantaged in terms of strategic position.

However, speaking of the commotion caused by the Chinese activity, we should not forget about "the singer behind the scenes." The United States plays a significant role in building the anti-Chinese alliance with India.

Since December of 2007 the influential American officials, including the chief of the CIA, have been paying regular visits to Vietnam. In the face of rising threats from the Chinese, the parties are demonstrating their intent to forget past grievances. This once again emphasizes that despite the anticipated military demonstrations in India the U.S. warships will arrive to the Vietnamese coast in the near future.

They will not limit themselves with "courtesy calls" and will conduct trainings with the Vietnamese Navy. Of course, it has already provoked a nervous reaction in China that urged the U.S. to "not interfere in the territorial disputes in the South China Sea." Yet, this outcry is unlikely to scare the Americans who will be increasing their activity in the region as China's activities are enhancing. Otherwise they will lose the strategically important in terms of geopolitics territory to the Chinese.