Islam Times - “Cold Tension”; US Advocates Tense Russia-Europe Ties

Islam Times - After annexation of Crimea Peninsula to the Russian mainland by Moscow, the collection of developments that took place in the Ukrainian capital Kiev, and rise of a pro-Western government in Ukraine which triggered Russian support for the separatists of eastern Ukraine, the West imposed a series of economic sanctions on Moscow as part of its unified anti-Russian steps.

The Western excuses for sanctions against Moscow were some concerns by Eastern Europe countries which feared same expansionist moves by Russia in their territories.

In fact, some countries like Poland, Czech Republic, and Hungary which formerly were part of the Russian-dominated Eastern Bloc, as well as Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania that were part of the united 15-member Soviet Union, today are members of both the EU and the NATO. Currently, it is these countries that are dragging in NATO military organization towards the Russian borders in a bid to arrange preparations to face the possible dangers posed by Russia.

On the other side, Moscow argues that the US-developed Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System, which Washington claims is set up majorly to address the so-called Iranian missile threats, in fact aims at putting strains on Russia in Eastern Europe.

The Western missile system’s radar installations are set up in Romania and its missile equipment are stationed in Turkey.

After nuclear agreement known as Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action ( JCPA) between Iran and the P5+1, the Russians argued that such threat as Iran missiles no longer made any sense and so the West had to halt pressing ahead with its missile defense system plan. But so far NATO declined to cease development of its missile program. Moscow said that the system posed severe threats to its security as well as national interests.

In recent NATO summit in Warsaw, Poland, the NATO expansion and the setup of missile defense systems presented two major Russian concerns.

The West has taken the Russian moves in Crimea Peninsula as excuses for its anti-Moscow measures and the Russians argue that the very goal of the Western missile systems is to threaten Russia, and they tip the balance of power between Russia and the West especially in Europe. Moreover, the development of NATO towards East, specifically after Ukraine and Georgia joining it, would tighten the Western encirclement of Russia. This is why Moscow has showed a serious opposition to these Western plans. Taking Crimea Peninsula incidents as excuses, the West, on the other side, does not seem to back down on its development programs for NATO.

Additionally, Russia, on the other hand, earlier had threatened that it would set up the modern Iskander missiles in Kaliningrad, the closest Russian city to the Eastern Europe. It also maintained that it would station cutting-edge anti-missile defense systems on its northwestern borders with Europe. These military moves by Russia are sending a message to the opposite side, and could destroy the post-Cold War balance of power on conventional weapons between Moscow and the West. Should it happens, a new period of tense NATO-Russia relations would come to existence that could be considered as the onset of “Cold Tension” period.

The recent events and Russia and NATO exchange of threats is the worst situation the European security could experience, because by no means is in favor of Europe to enter such tense conditions with Russia.

The US, on the other side, is not unwilling to see such competition between Russia and Europe because it would be in favor of Washington if Moscow-Europe ties are not warm. In fact the US takes advantage of rifts between these two sides. So, it appears that in the present conditions, it is Washington that pushes Europe to put further strains on Moscow.