Russia, US will soon complete joint analysts of current threats -

MOSCOW, October 1 (Itar-Tass) -- Russia and the United States will
soon be through with a joint analysis of the current challenges and
threats and will draft a relevant document, as has been agreed by the two
presidents, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told the Rossiiskaya
Gazeta daily.
"It is a very serious process, since the challenges and threat are not
petty - terrorism, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, organized
crime, drug trafficking, etc.," the daily's Friday issue cites Lavrov as
saying. "This analysis requires a professional approach. It proceeds
normally."
According to the Russian foreign minister, "special attention is paid
to the challenges in the area of missile proliferation, since such issues
are directly linked with problems of anti-missile defence, a subject of
the most controversy."
"We insist on honest implementation of the agreements between the
Russian and U.S. presidents," he said. "Let me remind that they have
agreed to carry out a joint expert review to reach common grounds on where
missile proliferation risks are stemming from and where they are directed
at."
According to the Russian diplomat, this document will soon be ready.
"I hope that based on this document we will be able to consider a next
step and seek jointly, including with Europeans, ways of repulsing such
risks, starting from diplomatic, political steps, and imposing economic
measures against those who might pose such risks, not excluding possible
use of military resources to be ready in case of a real threat. Our
position is based exactly on what the presidents have agreed upon," he
added.

.Russia serious about Russia-NATO summit proposal - Lavrov.

MOSCOW, October 1 (Itar-Tass) -- Russia takes the proposal to hold a
Russia-NATO summit in Lisbon this November seriously, Russian Foreign
Minister Sergei Lavrov told the Rossiiskaya Gazeta daily.
"We never ignored any formats of work within the Russia-NATO Council,"
the daily's Friday issue cites Lavrov as saying. "Specifics of the current
situation are that NATO is preparing for its summit in Lisbon, where the
alliance's strategic concept is to be discussed. And it has been suggested
that a Russia-NATO Council summit be timed to co-inside with it."
"At an informal meeting of Russia-NATO foreign ministers in New York
we said we wanted to get a more clear picture of where this strategic
concept will target at, how it will outline attitudes to Russia, NATO's
views on international laws," Lavrov said. "There are voices, which are
not rare, that NATO should spell out its right to use force in any world
region if the alliance sees any threat from there. Moreover, to use force
without a U.N. Security Council sanction. It will run counter to the
United Nations Charter, to the principle of supremacy of law in
international affairs. That is why we want to know the context the
alliance summit will be held in."

.Russia's Molnia-M booster successfully orbits military satellite.

PLESETSK SPACE CENTRE, Arkhangelsk region, October 1 (Itar-Tass) -- A
Molnia-M carrier rocket successfully orbited a military-purpose satellite
on Thursday, the commander of Russia's space forces said.
"The work proceeded perfectly, as usual," Lieutenant-General Oleg
Ostapenko said after the launch. "I express thanks to the entire Plesetsk
personnel and representatives of the industry. The work was
well-coordinated, well-thought and well-organized. This is who it should
be in servicing rocket complexes. A slightest error might lead to
deplorable results."
The rocket blasted off from the Pletesk space centre in northern
Russia at 21:01 Moscow time.
General Ostapenko reiterated that the Molnia-M carrier rocket will be
replaced by the Soyuz-2. In his words, there have been seven launches of
Soyuz-2 rocket carriers, three from the Baikonur space center, and four
from the space center in Plesetsk. "Further on, we will work with more
state-of-the-art rockets capable of orbiting bigger loads," he said.

.New-generation GLONASS-K satellite to be orbited in December.

PLESETSK SPACE CENTRE, Arkhangelsk region, October 1 (Itar-Tass) --
The first launch of the Soyuz-2 rocket carrier with the new generation
GLONASS-K satellite will be made from the Plesetsk space centre in
northern Russia this December, the commander of Russia's space forces said
on Friday.
"As far as the GLONASS grouping is concerned, we plan to expand it.
Specifically, the first new-generation spacecraft GLONASS-K will be
launched in December on the Soyuz-2 carrier rocket from the Plesetsk space
centre," Lieutenant-General Oleg Ostapenko said.
According to General Ostapenko, the new spacecraft has a longer (up to
7 years) life on orbit and meets all the current requirements to this
category of spacecraft. "It is in no way inferior to spacecraft of other
states," he said.
In addition, he said, a Proton carrier rocket with three GLONASS-M
satellites will be launched from the Baikonur space centre in Kazakhstan
by the year end.
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