#8
Nezavisimaya Gazeta
October 26, 2001
POLITICAL CONSULTANTS ADVISING PUTIN
Putin should demand concessions from the United States
Author: Lidia Andrusenko
[from WPS Monitoring Agency, www.wps.ru/e_index.html]
NEW REALITIES HAVE NOT YET BEEN ACCEPTED BY THE POLITICAL ELITES OF THE WEST. THEY ARE STILL IN PANIC, SHOWING LACK OF LEADERSHIP POTENTIAL AND INABILITY TO RESIST NEW THREATS. THE PRESIDENTS OF RUSSIA AND THE UNITED STATES HAVE FOUND THEMSELVES AT THE EPICENTER OF GLOBAL POLITICS.
Russian political consultants are seeing to the agenda for the impending meeting in Texas between President Vladimir Putin and President George Bush. Yesterday within the framework of Civil Debate Club they held a serious discussion on this topic, preparing their "public mandate" for the president; because, in their view, Putin had not yet formulated his point of view on the new system of global security.
The meeting in Shanghai, according to political consultants, has not given a clear and definite answer to this question, although it led President Bush to acknowledge that it is very important to work together with Russia. New realities have not yet been accepted by the political elites of the West. They are still in panic, showing lack of leadership potential and inability to resist new threats. Under such circumstances the presidents of Russia and the United States have found themselves at the epicenter of global politics, which is why their Texas meeting is supposed to be the decisive one. But it is still not clear what the US will propose to Russia and what issue our state will consider the most important. President Putin has already declared his principal strategic choice - to become an ally of the West in the anti-terrorism coalition. Our country has made seven important steps toward the United States, without any respose though. Today Russian society's discontent with Putin's actions is growing. There is more talk about "Gorvachev's policies" and "Kozyrev's time", implying the policy of concessions to the West to the detriment of Russia's interests. It means, the time for categorical demands has come, which forms the basis of the ally relations policies, as political consultants believe. Director of the United States and Canada Institute Sergey Rogov thinks that, for example, Russia has now an opportunity to sort out the problem of the Soviet Union debts, especially since the US is forgiving debts of Poland, Israel, Egypt, Pakistan, and we are still shy about even putting this question forward. The coalition, of course, does not imply full agreement on all questions, but strategically important problems should be clearly defined. For example, Americans should make concessions to Russia about the anti-missile defense, and in Shanghai Powell hinted at some "amendments to the treaty". If it does not happen, and the United States declare its withdrawal from the ABM Treaty, it will mean that there will be no serious partnership, all the more alliance, and the United States is still aiming to weaken Russia.
According to Gleb Pavlovsky, president of the Effective Policy Foundation, President Putin should insist on Russia playing a leading role in the new collective security system, instead of just an advisory role. Especially since Bush seems to have understood that Russia is much more useful than all the European allies combined. No doubt, one of the main topic for the Texas meeting will be the question of defining terrorism, as it is at this point that Americans are conducting their policy of double standards. Now Taliban and bin Ladin are the common enemies of the United States and Russia, whom we have not had since 1945. But can the US refuse to support Chechen terrorists and Albanian extremists?
According to Vyacheslav Nikonov, head of the Politika Foundation, there will be no significant improvements in Russian-American relations after the Texas and Washington talks. This meeting between the two presidents is far from being a decisive one, and it is very likely that Putin will have to answer the same questions about "pressure on Gusinsky, Shevardnadze and Chechnya". It may seem strange, but as evidence for his predictions, Nikonov cited an article by Lord George Robertson, written for Nezavisimaya Gazeta, where the head of NATO spoke about certain contradictions between the interests of Russia and the West. Having criticized this article, Nikonov said, "Putin should take this article as a slap in the face, because it was published in a newspaper controlled by Boris Berezovsky". Such passages of our former journalist demonstrate the psychological mood of the political elites. Though the United States is being asked not to consider Russia an enemy, even the Russian political elites are not ready to take any steps in response to the US.
However, Deputy Duma Speaker Vladimir Zhirinovsky has made the most apocalyptic prediction. He declared that the anti-terrorism operation of the United States, which is now supported by Russia, is directed against our country, in fact, and was provoked by Americans themselves. In the near future, real Muslim terrorism will begin, with the aim of destroying all Europeans. They will deploy nuclear weapons. At first, Zhirinovsky said that Pakistan and India would do that, but the he changed his mind: "Russia will be forced to use nuclear weapons." According to him, it is not too late yet - we have to move back a step, refuse to collaborate with the United States and take a neutral position toward Muslim countries. Then Taliban will then like us and have mercy on us. Putin and Bush would do better not to meet at all, especially not in the United States.
(Translated by Daria Brunova)
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