Interfax
March 16, 2008
Interfax's Interview
U.S. is Russia's friend despite disagreements - David Kramer, U.S. diplomat
The United States is concerned about growing anti-American sentiment in Russia, David Kramer, deputy assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, said in an interview with Interfax.
"We are aware of the growing anti-Western, but in particular anti-American, sentiment. I think it is much more directed at the United States than at the West in general. It's a serious cause of concern. And it is not something we want to see continued," the diplomat said.
"The United States is certainly a friend of Russia. We certainly can have disagreements and differences between our two governments, but that should not be the justification for calling for anti-American rhetoric," said Kramer, who is responsible for relations with Russia and countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States, and for nonproliferation issues.
"We work very well together in many areas and we worked together to pass the third resolution on Iran," he said.
"But we also have differences. Those include Kosovo. Those include the Conventional Armed Forces in Europe Treaty. We hope to bridge the differences we have on missile defense, where we can and should be working together. There are also differences on some other issues, including policy toward some of Russia's neighbors, and we also have our concerns about some of the domestic trends in Russia," Kramer said. "But none of that, we hope, would provide the basis for anti-American views or anti-American sentiment, and we hope in particular that we see on media that is controlled by the state less of that kind of rhetoric," he added. Kramer said the U.S. does not intend to impose an American development model on Russia, aware that Russia will develop its own way.
"We are not at all suggesting that there is just one path to follow, that it's the American model. It will be Russia's model for sure. But it is our view that there are some common features in these democracies in the world, particularly the countries of the G8. And that's why we are expressing our concerns," the U.S. diplomat said.
Speaking about Iran's nuclear problem, Kramer said that Russia and the United States have moved much closer in their positions on the issue over the past three years.
"We are concerned not only about the development of possible weapons of mass destruction but also about missile capability. And here too, I think, this should be an issue where Russia and the United States have common interest. We agree on the overall objective, which is to ensure that Iran not become a nuclear weapon state," he said.
The United States opposes weakening the political aspect of the OSCE's activities, the deputy assistant secretary of state said.
"As to reform in the [Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe] OSCE as a whole, I think we can have constructive discussions on that and we have had this kind of constructive discussions on that issue. But I think there is also some concern that some countries are trying to weaken the political basket of the OSCE, putting more emphasis on security and economic baskets," Kramer said. "I think it is important that we maintain the integrity of the political basket, as well. And that includes promoting reforms, election observation. That's an area where I think we can certainly have plenty of discussions in Vienna and look at ways that we can make OSCE a stronger institution," the U.S. diplomat added.
"The OSCE is an issue where we [Russia and the U.S.] have had some differences," the U.S. assistant secretary of state said.
"We regret that the OSCE election monitoring arm, ODIHR, felt it was not able to send observer missions both to the [Russian State] Duma elections in December and the presidential election in March, because of restrictions that the authorities imposed on the terms: the size of the mission, as well as the timing of the mission," Kramer said. "We hope that in the future the ODIHR will be able to decide those things, as it does elsewhere, in other countries where it sends observer missions," the U.S. diplomat said.
Washington backs the idea of establishing Russian non-governmental organizations (NGO) in the United States and expects that U.S. NGOs will receive a similar treatment in Russia, he said.
"I know that Russia has plans to set up an Institute for Democracy. We welcome that. It is critically important to promote understanding between our two countries," he said.
It was reported earlier that Russia's Institute for Democracy was opening offices in the United States and France to monitor the human rights situation in the West.
"We want to welcome Russia's efforts to establish an NGO presence in the United States, just as we would hope we would receive similar treatment in Russia," the U.S. diplomat said.
Speaking about the U.S. reaction to the Russian Institute for Democracy opening an office in New York, Kramer said: "Let's give it a chance to do its job." And "it is up to them to decide what kind of mission they want to carry out," the diplomat added.
Kramer expressed regrets that "some NGOs have been targeted unfairly" in Russia. "And I have in mind in particular the unfortunate situation with the British Council, which is not quite a NGO," he said, adding that he believes "Internews has done a terrific job, promoting the training and development of journalism in Russia and has also ran into problems." On Russian-Ukrainian relations the diplomat said that that gas controversies would be sorted out The United States does not think Russia should subsidize the Ukrainian economy, but it fears that Ukraine could be destabilized, Kramer said.
"We also know that gas controversies have been a problem between Ukraine and Russia. We hope that this will be sorted out in a way that leads to greater transparency that leads to elimination of middleman companies which tend to make transparency more difficult," Kramer said.
"We do not support continued subsidization by Russia of Ukraine for energy," the diplomat said. On the other hand, the U.S. is "also wary that [] subsidies could run a risk of destabilizing the Ukrainian economy," Kramer said.
"So we hope there will be a way to work out a more equitable energy relationship for both Russia and Ukraine," the U.S. assistant secretary of state said, adding that "It is not in Russia's interests to continue subsidizing Ukraine."
Speaking about Ukraine's NATO aspirations, Kramer said: "The United States does not want to push Ukraine in any direction."
Washington believes that "that closer relations between the United States and Ukraine need not come at Russia's expense. No one should view relations in zero sum terms," Kramer said. "We want to deepen relations between our two countries [the U.S. and Ukraine], but we also want to maintain the strongest ties with Russia," the diplomat said.