Russia against political contacts with extremists in and outside

UNITED NATIONS, November 14 (Itar-Tass) -- Russia is "seriously
worried" by growing terrorist activities and influence of the Taleban and
their extremist ideas both in Afghanistan and outside it, Russian
Permanent Representative to the U.N. Vitaly Churkin said.

Moscow considers "unrealistic arguments that the bond between the
Taleban and Al-Qaeda is weakening and that 'flexible' sanctions can drive
a wedge between them and isolate intransigent Taleban forces," the
ambassador said at a joint briefing for the chairman of the Security
Council's auxiliary counter-terrorist committees.
He described as "improper and dangerous" attempts to establish
political contacts with extremists' leaders, especially in violation of
sanctions.
Churkin urged all states to "strictly use measures against those on
the sanctions list in accordance with the appropriate U.N. Security
Council resolutions".
He stressed the need for all states to comply with U.N. Security
Council Resolution 1540 and subsequent resolutions 1673 and 1810 aimed at
preventing non-state entities, primarily terrorists, from obtaining
weapons of mass destruction, their delivery means and related materials.
"The tasks set by Resolution 1540 remain relevant. The 'terrorism-WMD'
tandem will have catastrophic consequences, and the international
community should do everything possible to prevent such a scenario from
happening," Churkin said.

.Medvedev, Hu to discuss anti-crisis policy issues.

MOSCOW, November 14 (Itar-Tass) -- Russian President Dmitry Medvedev
and Chinese President Hu Jintao will meet in Singapore on the sidelines of
the APEC summit on Saturday to discuss anti-crisis issues.
Presidential aide Sergei Prikhodko said the Russian leader would be
interested to learn more of China's experience of dealing with the crisis.
"I believe that a great deal of attention at the meeting will be given
to joint efforts to overcome the crisis. It is particularly important for
us to discuss this with China because it has been virtually unaffected by
the crisis. On the contrary, they have used the current situation in order
to improve their performance indicators," Prikhodko said.
"It would be useful for us to talk about that," he added.
"We will also continue discussing the modernisation of the world
financial and credit system. This does not mean that we have ready
proposals, but this should be discussed at all times," he said.
Medvedev and Hu will also analyse the current state of bilateral
interaction and joint efforts in the international arena.
The dialoguer between Russia and China is continuous. "The leaders
have a separate meeting practically at all international forums, such as
G8, G20, SCO or APEC," the Kremlin aide said.
He does not rule out that the Russian president may have other
bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the APEC summit, including those
with the president of Vietnam and the prime minister of Canada.
He may also meet with Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama. The two
leaders agreed to meet when they attended the U.N. General Assembly in New
York in September.
Prior to this trip to Singapore, Hatomaya said he was prepared to
discuss the full range of bilateral relations with Medvedev, including the
territorial issue.

.US does its best to accelerate drafting of new START - State
Department official.

WASHINGTON, November 14 (Itar-Tass) -- Washington is doing its best to
accelerate the drafting of a new offensive strategic arms reduction
treaty, Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs Philip Crowley
said.
He admitted that from the very start the U.S. administration had not
expected to complete this work by December 5, 2009, when current START
expires.
The official noted that American and Russian disarmament experts had
begun a new round of talks in Geneva on November 9.
U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev have
set a clear goal of reaching an agreement in December. Crowley said the
two presidents would have a chance to meet and discuss this issue at the
APEC summit in Singapore this weekend.

.Modernised submarine Karelia begins at-sea testing.

ARKHANGELSK, November 14 (Itar-Tass) --The strategic submarine K-18
Karelia of the Russian Northern Fleet has begun at-sea testing after
upgrading at the Zvyozdochka ship repair centre in Severodvinsk.
The submarine will be handed over to the Navy and moved to its
permanent base in the Arctic before the end of the year, the plant press
service told Itar-Tass.
The Karelia was relaunched after repairs in November 2008. Its service
life has been extended by another ten years.
According to the Zvyozdochka press service, about 100 improvements
were made to the Karelia. It is armed with new RSM-54 Sineva missiles that
were put into service in July 2007.
The Karelia was built at the Sevmash shipyard in Severodvinsk and
handed over to the Russian Navy in 1989. In 1994, the submarine made a
trip to the North Pole where the national flag and the Navy flag were
hoisted for the first time in the history of the Russian Navy.
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