#13
Financial Times (UK)
22 November 2001
Russia seeks more parity with Nato: Putin approves move
towards reforming Russian armed forces in a step that may eventually end
conscription
By Andrew Jack in Moscow
Russia yesterday called for voting rights and decision-making powers in a new joint mechanism with Nato, as it unveiled long-term plans for the creation of a professional army.
Sergei Ivanov, the defence minister, said the existing Nato-Russia joint permanent council created in 1997 should be scrapped as ineffective, and demanded that Russia and Nato work together in the future as equals.
His comments came as Lord Robertson, Nato's secretary general, began a three-day visit to the Russian city of Volgograd and to Moscow, at a time of fresh signs of co-operation following President Vladimir Putin's support for the US-led coalition against international terrorism triggered by the attacks of September 11.
The latest request for tight links with Russia's armed forces abroad came on the day that Mr Putin approved an important development in the reform of the country's domestic armed forces, with experimental plans to recruit a growing number of professional soldiers.
The move represents a first step towards the abolition of conscription, with a final plan set to be prepared by 2004 and likely to take a further decade to fully implement, according to Russian officials. Mr Ivanov said the move would cost "hundreds of billions" of roubles.
Anatoly Kvashnin, the chief of staff, yesterday ruled out any immediate reduction in conscription, and said the new contract soldiers would be employed in "hot spots" such as the breakaway republic of Chechnya, where they already represent a significant component among federal forces.
The plans, which follow previous pledges by former President Boris Yeltsin to abolish conscription that have not been met, come at a time of heavy proposed cuts in the size of Russia's armed forces, fresh funding to launch new investment in weaponry, and a restructuring of the defence industry.
Mr Putin also announced last month plans to close
'It was a historic choice, we had no other option'
Russia's military bases in Cuba and Vietnam, arguing that they were no longer needed in view of a change in relations with the west and new threats to global security.
Mr Robertson's trip follows indications from both US and UK officials in recent weeks - most prominently last week by Tony Blair, UK prime minister - of the need for a new mechanism including joint operations between Nato and Russia.
Russia has been gradually restoring limited contact with Nato since the tensions surrounding the Kosovo conflict in 1999, but Mr Putin has stressed his belief that Nato has outlived its purpose. Mr Ivanov recently dubbed it a "cold war relic".
* Reuters reports from Moscow: The move to reduce conscription reflected deep public disquiet about poorly trained, badly equipped conscripts being sent to their deaths against Chechen separatists during the 1994-96 conflict.
Despite several post-Soviet reform plans during the 1990s, hundreds of thousands of young men continued to receive call-up papers yearly. Desertion and low morale have been serious problems among young Russian soldiers since the collapse of the Soviet Union, with poorly paid conscripts complaining of bullying and miserable living conditions.
Mr Ivanov said firm plans for the change would probably not be ready until 2004. "It was a historic choice, we had no other option," Interfax quoted him as saying after a meeting of defence ministers from former Soviet states.
"Solving this or that threat quickly and effectively, I must emphasise, is something only professionals are able to do. But it is not a goal we can reach quickly."
During his 1996 re-election campaign Mr Yeltsin promised to do away with conscription by 2000, in a clear bid to win votes. Under the latest military reform proposals, announced last November, Russia will cut 600,000 jobs, a fifth of the total, over five years. Officially, there are now 2.1m uniformed personnel and 966,000 civilians in the Russian armed forces.
Next Article