#4
Financial Times (UK)
October 22, 2001
Editorial
Pressing Putin
The sight of the leaders of the US and Russia exchanging warm words in China is reassuring in today's troubled world. It is vital to the campaign against terrorism that the globe's three biggest powers deal sensibly with their differences. Presidents George W. Bush and Vladimir Putin may not have announced any deals on the big issues that divide them - missile defence and Nato enlargement. But outlines of possible accords are emerging.
On missile defence, Washington seems ready to make the big cuts in its nuclear arsenal that Moscow has been seeking as a possible trade-off for amending the anti-ballistic missile treaty. Russia might drop its objections to a missile testing programme which it has so far insisted would violate the treaty.
Given that Mr Bush is pressing ahead with the programme, despite the cost and the technological and diplomatic difficulties, it is most welcome that he is doing so in close discussion with Mr Putin. Unilateral action would have been counter-productive to global security even before September 11.
On Nato enlargement, Russia appears to have dropped its outright hostility to the alliance's plans. As before the Kosovo war, it is talking up co-operation with Nato. The US is right to respond positively. But the difficult issue of the Baltic states has yet to be addressed. Nato has yet to decide which new members to admit, if any, at its planned summit in Prague next year. But Moscow must have no veto.
Mr Putin's suggestions that Russia itself might one day join the alliance should also be gently pushed aside. Nato may well be due for another review of its role in a post-cold war world threatened by global terrorism. But it must decide its own future.
There is nothing wrong with the fact that the improvement in US-Russian relations is mainly due to Osama bin Laden. The two nations must seize the opportunities created by the crisis, especially as their actions also benefit others, including the European Union.
But the west must not abandon its principles. Russia remains a country where human rights are abused, notably in Chechnya. An alliance against terrorism born of mutual self-interest must not become an excuse for allowing Russia free rein, either within its own borders or beyond, as in Georgia, where Moscow's policies have contributed to instability.
The west should also take care that closer ties with Russia do not provoke confrontation with China. The US's position as the pre-eminent great power is so strong that it does not need Russia as a counterweight to China. The west must work with both Moscow and Beijing, not least in the war against terrorism. Politically if not militarily, both nations have much to bring to the campaign.
Next Article