The Standard

UN Head: Melting Glaciers "Emergency Situation"

Secretary General Calls For Action

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has called on world leaders to take "emergency action" to prevent further melting of the Antarctic polar ice caps.

Mr. Ban was speaking from Antarctica where he is gathering information to present at a UN conference next month in Bali.

The Secretary General plans to use the Bali meetings to begin talks about replacing the Kyoto accord, which expires in 2012.

In June, G8 leaders pledged to forge a framework for a new accord by 2008.

Bold US Involvement Needed For Success

EU diplomats remain doubtful as to the overall effectiveness of the US climate change proposals.

President Bush has proposed voluntary emissions reductions but has opposed mandatory restrictions similar to the ones in the current Kyoto agreement.

UN diplomats consider these the engine for any effective accord.

EU diplomats have also expressed concerns that Mr. Bush's less ambitious proposals will draw public attention away from the more comprehensive efforts by the UN to reduce the world's carbon output.

Week In Review

****The US, France and Germany are separately taking steps to regulate investments by sovereign wealth funds. Sovereign wealth funds are huge investment funds controlled by foreign governments. Their current value is estimated to be between $1.5 and $2.5 trillion.

****Russian President Putin and Iranian President Ahmadinejad met in Tehran on Tuesday. Their call for diplomatic unity among Caspian nations was widely seen as a geopolitical rebuff to France and the US, who have publicly considered military action as a last ditch means of solving the Iranian nuclear dispute.

****The EU and Russia announced they would jointly appoint a panel of experts to discuss EU energy market reforms proposed by the European commission. The reforms would block out Russia's politically combative natural gas monopoly GazProm from investing deeper into the EU market.

****Russian President Putin announced on state-run television that Russia is planning to substantially upgrade its conventional and nuclear military arsenals. His remarks came on the same day Russia test fired and inter-continental ballistic missile.

Putin: "Grandiose" Plans for Russian Military

Russian Military Test Fires Missile

Russian President Putin has declared that he has "grandiose" plans for the Russian military including "new" nuclear capabilities and a new fleet of fighter jets that should go on active duty between 2012 and 2015.

Mr. Putin made his announcement on a phone-in interview program broadcast nationally on state-run television.

He referred specifically to strengthening the Russian "nuclear triad" of missiles, submarines and bombers.

His announcements have come on the same day that Russia test fired an intercontinental ballistic missile from the Plesetsk cosmodrome, a military facility 800 km (500 miles) north of Moscow.

The RS-12M Topol' hit a target at a test range in Kamchatka on the Russian Pacific coast.

The Topol' has a range of 10,000 km (6,215 mi) and can carry one 550-kiloton nuclear warhead.

Russia-West Disagreements

Mr. Putin's words have come as Russia and the West appear to be growing more distant on key several international disputes.

Russia has blocked efforts by the US, France and the UK to bring tougher UN sanctions against Iran for enriching uranium despite a UN resolution calling for a halt.

President Putin has also strongly opposed the US placement of defensive missile systems in the Czech Republic and Poland.

The US has claimed the systems are solely defensive and are intended to intercept a missile from "rogue" state such as North Korea or Iran.

Mr. Putin earlier proposed a compromise missile site in Azerbaijan where US and Russian military officials would work jointly to prevent such attacks.

US military officials have evaluated the site and deemed it hopelessly out of date.

Mr. Putin said on Thursday,"If a decision [about the sites] is made without taking Russia's opinion into account, then we will certainly take steps in response to ensure the security of Russian citizens.”

Russia already announced this summer that it will withdraw from the Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty (CFE).

Mr. Putin has also hinted that Russia will nix missile treaties if the US goes ahead with missile bases as planned.

Experts suggest he has his sights on the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF).

Washington has offered no considerable public response to Mr. Putin's remarks.

Strong Words From Russia and Iran

Putin and Ahmadinejad Meet in Iran

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad met at a summit of Caspian nations on Tuesday in Tehran.

The five-nation summit also included leaders from Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan.

The summit has been watched closely for signs from Russia regarding the debate in the UN Security Council over tougher sanctions against Iran.

Western members of the UN Security council plus Germany favor stronger UN sanctions to deter the Iranian nuclear enrichment program.

China and Russia have delayed a council decision by wielding veto threats over tougher proposals.

Caspian Security

Ahmadinejad and Putin called for stronger political unity among Caspian countries.

The Russian president urged publicly that no Caspian state should aid outsider nations in staging military strikes on another state in the region.

This was widely regarded as a direct response to speculation that the US may launch a military strike on Iran from military bases in Azerbaijan.

The European Card

Mr. Putin's remarks are also a response to France.

Both the French president and French foreign minister have suggested publicly that France would pursue military solutions against Iran if negotiations over its nuclear enrichment program ultimately broke down.

France also recently urged that the EU enact a set of tougher sanctions against Iran outside of the UN framework.

On Monday EU foreign ministers instructed experts to draft reports on new sanctions.

Officials have stayed mum on whether these reports are intended for independent EU sanctions or whether they will inform negotiation at the UN after Iran has reported (late) on its nuclear activities to the IAEA later this year.

France May Re-Join NATO

France Proposes Broader Cooperation

The French government has submitted papers to the NATO political headquarters in Belgium that propose new ways of sharing information between NATO and EU foreign policy makers.

NATO is the world's largest military alliance. It includes 26 countries from North America and Europe.

France was a founding member in 1949 before French President Charles De Gaulle pulled out his country abruptly in 1966.

The formal paperwork in Brussels is widely seen as a prelude to more serious discussions about a France re-join.

It also reveals French President Nicolas Sarkozy's desire to include France in a strong, unified Europe that works on more cooperative diplomatic footing with the United States.

President Sarkozy has seized the diplomatic spotlight since coming to office in May.

In the recent months, has urged EU leaders to adopt wider economic sanctions in response to Iran's uranium enrichment program.

He also offered Germany a political stake in the French nuclear stockpile at an informal meeting in September.

Words Not Deeds at Moscow Summit

The moves for increased cooperation between EU and NATO come as President Sarkozy is in Russia for a bi-lateral summit with President Putin.

The summit has been marked by vague words and an absence of concrete results.

On Wednesday, the French president announced that the two countries had moved "closer" on their views of the Iran nuclear dispute.

President Putin, for his part, called France a  "main partner" in Europe.

It is doubtful that these words will do anything more than provide fill for Wendnesday's headlines.

France's moves to re-invigorate NATO are tangible and suggest quite the contrary.

Behind the handshakes and smiles, it seems President Sarkozy senses a world again splitting along the lines of East and West.

France and Russia to Discuss Iran Sanctions

French President Arrives in Moscow

French President Nicolas Sarkozy arrived in Moscow on Tuesday to begin a bi-lateral summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Prominent on their agenda will be UN sanctions against Iran.

Iran has continued enriching uranium in defiance of UN resolution 1696.

France, along with the US and the UK, favor wider UN sanctions against Iran while Russia (along with China) is widely seen to oppose them.

China and Russia both hold veto power on the UN Security Council and thus the power to block any resolution unilaterally.

Most analysts do not expect the summit to change either the French or Russian view.

The French Push

France has recently been in the forefront of pressuring Iran into suspending its nuclear enrichment program.

The French foreign minister stressed in a radio address several weeks ago that war with Iran was a possibility if French attempts at negotiation were exhausted.

France is also pushing hard for the EU to adopt its own set of tougher sanctions that would go into effect apart from any UN action.

German and Italian ministers have publicly opposed this alternative.

France Pushes For Iran Sanctions

Kouchner: Move Quickly

On Wednesday French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner called for EU-wide sanctions in the face of Iranian "nuclear defiance" in a letter to his EU counterparts.

Mr. Kouchner urged ministers to act quickly before Iran mastered nuclear enrichment and reached "de facto military nuclear capacity."

Iran has carried on its nuclear enrichment program in defiance of UN Resolution 1696 since the summer of 2006.

Mr. Kouchner's comments display a further hardening of France's line in the nuclear crisis.

Mr. Kouchner said on French radio two weeks ago that it was "necessary to prepare" for war in France if negotiations with Iran fell through.

He softened his comments the following day, emphasizing war was a worst-case scenario in the event France exhausted all efforts to "negotiate, negotiate, negotiate, and work with our European friends on credible sanctions."

A Strong European Hand?

Mr. Kouchner's calls for action come as the EU foreign policy chief, Javiar Solana, urged the European parliament to move quickly on the issue.

"We can't wait forever, and we have to see those negotiations are moving ahead. … There is a risk of more sanctions and it is a real risk, we have to get that across," Mr. Solana said on Wednesday.

French and EU initiative to deal directly with Iran has come after the US, China, Russia, the UK, France and Germany delayed the decision on UN sanctions until November.

The US, France, and the UK have tended toward a tougher line while China and Russia are generally considered to have weakened proposals and delayed decisive action.

Many who favor a tough diplomatic stance against Iran have seen this delay as a sign that meaningful UN sanctions are next to hopeless.

The EU is Iran's largest trading partner.

EU-wide sanctions would bypass the watering down of sanctions that would most likely be required to avoid a Chinese or Russian veto.

Most analysts see the UK in line with France.

Germany and Italy have expressed reservations.

Week In Review

Climate Change, A French Hard Line on Iran, and Kazakh Oil

**** Former US President Bill Clinton said that bold investment in technologies for combating global warming  would help US growth.

Mr. Clinton called for US companies to mobilize economic resources on a level not seen since World War II.

****Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon opened the UN Conference on Climate Change with calls for world leaders to take responsibility for reducing carbon emissions.

US President George W. Bush was notably absent.

****France reiterated its tough stance on Iran's nuclear program.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy told the UN General Assemnly that the possibility of an Iranian nuclear weapon was an  "unacceptable risk" that threatens international stability.

****Western companies cringed as Kazakhstan looked set to pass a law that gives the government authority to change or break contracts with foreign energy firms unilaterally.

Sarkozy: Nuclear Iran "Unacceptable Risk"

French President: World Must Guard Against Proliferation

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said in an address to the UN General Assembly on Tuesday that a nuclear Iran was an "unacceptable risk" for the "stability of the world."

Mr. Sarkozy's comments came in lead up to a brewing confrontation over how to address Iran's refusal to comply with UN resolutions that require it halt its nuclear research program.

Iran already faces limited sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council in March.

Its continued defiance has lately led to new efforts to impose wider sanctions that would include a blanket arms embargo.

The US, UK and France are in support of this tougher stance.

France Seeks EU-wide Sanctions

China and Russia have urged that Iran be given more time to comply.

Both nations have made a habit out of delaying sanctions aimed at Iran in the past.

Their positions as permanent members of the UN Security Council mean that sanctions could fail to pass due to either country's veto.

There is a growing consensus among the western powers this round of sanctions will not go through and Mr. Sarkozy has urged European nations to support EU-wide sanctions against Iran.

This move would squeeze Iran economically without requiring the support of Russia and China.

Europe is Iran's largest trading partner and there are reports that President Sarkozy has pressured French banks and the oil giant Total to refrain from new business with Iran.

Mr. Ahmadi-Nejad also spoke to the UN on Tuesday.

In what has become his familiar style of radical brinksmanship, he declared that "...the nuclear issue of Iran is now closed."