Biddho.com Eritrea - Rising To The Challenges! - Russia to work with US against Somalia piracy

Africa News

Opinion

Horn Of Africa

Russia to work with US against Somalia piracy

Written by Administrator

Sunday, 23 November 2008

LIMA: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said he had agreed with US counterpart Condoleezza Rice on the need to step up the fight against piracy around Somalia, Russian news agencies reported.

"We agreed on the need for greater efforts, in the framework of the UN Security Council, in the fight against piracy. It's necessary to think what steps the Council could take," said Lavrov on Saturday.

"It's necessary to do everything to fight this evil not only in open waters but to try to bring order on the coast of Somalia, in coordination with the legitimate government of that country.

"We agreed to think about what steps could be worked out in this regard," Lavrov said on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Peru, where he met Rice.

His comments came as Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and US President George W Bush were to meet in a possibly tense last encounter before Bush steps down.

Numerous Russian sailors have fallen foul of piracy off Somalia.

On Thursday, Moscow announced it was sending more naval ships to the region in addition to the frigate Neustrashimy (Fearless), which has engaged pirates in the area in coordination with other navies.

Russia, U.S. agree to continue cooperation despite disagreements

LIMA, November 23 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian and U.S. leaders have agreed to continue cooperation despite existing disagreements, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Sunday.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and his U.S. counterpart George W. Bush met in the Peruvian capital on Saturday as part of a two-day summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum.

"Both presidents said that disagreements persisted in relations between the two countries but there was unanimous desire to deal with the solution of practical issues important for both countries and for the entire international community," Lavrov said.

Lavrov said consultations between Russia and the United States on the U.S. plans to deploy missile shield elements in Central Europe would be held in December.

"We discussed the missile shield issue with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Consultations will be held in December," Lavrov said.

Moscow has fiercely opposed the planned deployment of 10 interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar in the Czech Republic saying they will pose a threat to its security. Washington has said the bases are needed to counter possible strikes from "rogue" states like Iran.

The two countries have held a series of talks on the issue, but failed to reach a compromise.

The Russian president earlier threatened to deploy Iskander-M short-range missiles in the country's Kaliningrad exclave, which borders NATO members Poland and Lithuania, if the U.S. missile defense system was deployed in Central Europe.

Lavrov also said the Russian and U.S. leaders would come out with proposals to jointly fight pirate attacks on merchant vessels off Somalia.

Pirates are increasingly active in the waters off Somalia, where more than 60 ships have been attacked so far this year resulting in the seizure of around 30 vessels. The East African nation has been without a functioning government since 1991 and has no navy to police its coastline.

International concern over shipping safety in the region has risen since a huge tanker carrying up to 2 million barrels of Saudi oil was seized last week.

Comments

Add New

RSS

Only registered users can write comments!