Lordy - My headline of the day.

Moscow Optimistic about America’s New Beginning

With this tidbit:

SPIEGEL: You like to speak of principles. One of the principles of the OSCE is that: There can be no use of force to change national borders. This principle was very much endorsed by Russia in the case of Kosovo, which broke away from Serbia. In the case of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, which broke away from Georgia, Russia is applying other principles. It wants to annex these areas. There are more troops stationed there than agreed and there are even plans to build Russian military bases.

Lavrov: We fully embrace the principle of territorial integrity. But there is worldwide disagreement over how compatible this is with peoples’ rights to self-determination. Up until now, there has only been one document that addresses the conflict of objectives — the UN passed it in 1970. This affirms that every state should respect the territorial integrity of every other state, as long as no acts of violence are being carried out against national minorities in this region.

Gees, never heard that one before.