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Cold Bush
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| star-traveller |
| quote: | Cold Bush
// US President Criticizes Vladimir Putin's Russia
American President George Bush has finally admitted the existence of serious problems in the relationship between the US and Russia and has expressed doubts that Russia is developing along a democratic path. The president's statement came after he met with NATO General Secretary Jaap de Hoop Scheffer to discuss the creation of a common missile defense system in Europe. George Bush called on Vladimir Putin to understand that Russia's interests "lie in the West" and that Russia "ought to be working together in a collaborative way" with the United States.
Crawford, Six Years Later
NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer spent last Sunday at the president's residence near Crawford, Texas, becoming the 17th foreign politician to be a guest at Mr. Bush's ranch during the president's two terms in office. The first foreign leader to be invited home by Mr. Bush, in a gesture emphasizing his open door policy, was Russian President Vladimir Putin, who visited Mr. Bush in Crawford in November 2001 after calling the White House soon after the terrorist attacks on September 11.
This time, however, the talks between President Bush and General Secretary Scheffer (they were joined by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, freshly returned from Moscow, and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, who visited the Russian capital just two weeks ago), which concluded on Tuesday, showed just how far Moscow and Washington have drifted from their relationship of six years ago. A discussion of Russia was high on the meeting's agenda, which also included the further enlargement of NATO and preparations for the NATO summit in Bucharest in 2008. Also on the agenda were America's plans to install elements of its missile defense system in Europe and the future of Kosovo.
In an interview with Reuters onboard Air Force One as he was returning to Washington, for the first time in his six years as president Mr. Bush gave a detailed and open evaluation of the situation in Russia and the state of Russian-American relations, as well as of his personal relationship with President Putin (previously these assessments have come from legislators or members of the president's administration).
"My message to Vladimir Putin is there's a better way forward, and your [Russian] interests lie in the West, and we ought to be working together in a collaborative way," said Mr. Bush in a sharp departure from his usual tone of address to his Russian colleague.
Talking about Russian fears surrounding America's plans to expand its missile defense system in Europe, President Bush continued to maintain that the US missile shield is not directed against Moscow and spoke of the efforts that the White House has been making to dispel some of the tension in the relationship between Russia and the US. According to Mr. Bush, he sent Pentagon chief Robert Gates to Moscow to show that "we're not your enemy," but, as Mr. Bush explained, the mission did not succeed: "People in his [Vladimir Putin's] government harbor suspicions about our intention, and I was trying to allay those suspicions. But there is a lot of tension with Russia, particularly with Europe now, that Russia is using her energy and denying market access to different countries, for example, Polish meat," said the president.
He characterized his personal relationship with Vladimir Putin as still close, but he did admit that relations between the two governments are "very complex." "[President Putin] thinks they've got a democracy emerging there in Russia," said President Bush. "Obviously there's a lot of suspicion about that, and I look forward to continuing to talk to him as to why he thinks his country is on the path to democracy. It looks like at times it's not to me," he continued.
The Struggle for Moscow
The firmest call for Russia to fall into step with the US and NATO on the question of the American missile defense system came against the backdrop of decisive statements about the future of such systems in Europe. In Crawford, Secretary General de Hoop Scheffer said that the alliance's leadership believes it to be imperative to create a common missile defense system within a NATO framework that would complement the American system. "We had the US discussion on the so-called third site in Europe. I think it will be now up to NATO, and I'll try to lead NATO into that direction," promised Mr. de Hoop Scheffer.
Mr. de Hoop Scheffer said that he hopes that "apart from the third site and the US plans, there will be a NATO system which complements…the US system so that everybody and everything will be covered for the long-range threats, the medium-range threats, and the short-range threats," chiefly from countries such as Iran and North Korea. Moscow, of course, takes a dim and skeptical view of these plans.
Perhaps significantly, the meeting in Crawford coincided with the second round of Czech-American negotiations in Prague concerning a bilateral agreement on the placement of missile defense radar units in the Czech Republic (Prague was officially invited to begin talks in January of this year).
The agreement between the two countries can be signed only after Czech President Vaclav Klaus gives his approval. Meanwhile, the Czech opposition, counting on widespread disapproval of the plan among the Czech population, is calling for a nationwide referendum. President Bush, fully aware of the stakes that are riding on the plan for the White House, will be in Prague on the eve of the G8 summit in Germany in early June to try to come to an agreement with the Czech leadership and to remove the obstacles that remain in the way of the missile shield's expansion. Immediately after the G8 meeting, George Bush's European visit will take him to Poland, which is the other proposed location for elements of the missile defense system.
Knowing that Russia, the proposed missile shield's chief opponent, is capable of seriously hindering the plan's implementation, securing Moscow's approval of the plan is a key task for the Bush administration. Moscow's agreement would allow the White House to achieve a decisive breakthrough on its pet project, which has plenty of both supporters and detractors in the US and abroad. President Bush's latest and possibly last opportunity to come to some sort of agreement with Vladimir Putin regarding the missile defense system will be at the upcoming G8 summit in Germany. Presumably, that was on the president's mind in Crawford as he made his remarks about the need for Russia to "work together" with the US and its allies.
"We Should Work Together with Mr. Putin"
Despite the unusually frank assessments of the relationship between Moscow and Washington that have issued recently from the lips of George Bush and Condoleezza Rice, many in Washington last week have repeatedly let it be known that they are not interested in further confrontations with Russia. One conciliatory diplomatic gesture, which coincided with the visit by Ms. Rice to Moscow, was the announcement from the American side of the arrest in Iraq of the terrorist leader Abu Nour, who organized the kidnapping and brutal murder of several Russian diplomats in Baghdad last year. Although the terrorist was arrested in December of last year, the news of his capture was made public at the very moment when Russian-American relations had reached their lowest point in years.
Another reflection of the current mood among the American political elite with regard to Russia was the recent report from the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, which was delivered last Thursday by the committee's chairman, long-time Moscow critic Tom Lantos. Under the eloquent title of "Russia: Rebuilding the Iron Curtain," Mr. Lantos mixed his usual sharp comments on Russian-American relations with an unusual entreaty: "We should work together with Mr. Putin and his successor to provide some freedom for the Russian people and to see the development of an enlightened Russian foreign policy."
Mr. Lantos also called on the White House to follow the Russian president's example in its dealings with Vladimir Putin: "We must be at least as honest with Putin as he has been about his views of United States foreign policy in recent weeks and months," he said.
It appears that Moscow has also grasped that the months-long escalation of tensions with Washington is reaching a breaking point and that Russia needs to at least pause to catch its breath if it wants to continue to attempt to pressure the US further. Significantly, generally conciliatory remarks aimed at Washington were heard yesterday from Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who is on an official visit to Baku. Even while he discussed the nuclear missile threat facing Europe, Russia, and the countries of the CIS and expressed the usual negative attitude towards "unilateral decisions about the installation of elements of a US national missile defense system in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe," Mr. Lavrov found a moment for a note of optimism: "I hope that the understanding reached between the presidents of Russia and the US on this account will allow the resumption of the process of collective discussion and cooperation between Russia and the countries of NATO in the sphere of missile defense."
Another gesture from Moscow in the direction of the US and the West was the ratification yesterday by the Russian State Duma of an agreement introduced by President Putin regarding the status of the armed forces of NATO countries and the governments participating in the program "Partnership for Peace," which facilitates the carrying out of joint exercises, particularly in allowing the presence of armed NATO soldiers on Russian territory. Duma Committee on International Affairs chairman Konstantin Kosachyov took the opportunity to reject the opinion of several deputies that, in supporting the document, Russia is supporting an agreement under "discriminatory conditions." According to Mr. Kosachyov, "the potential exists for constructive cooperation" on all of Russia's many issues with NATO.
He still asserted, however, that it is too early to relax and hurried to reiterate that the "assessment of the activities of the North Atlantic alliance remains negative, and the Russian side will be criticizing the actions of NATO, particularly with regard to the expansion of elements of missile defense shields in Eastern Europe." |
Cold Bush
It's too pity that both countries completely blind. |
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| Q5echo |
| you must have really hated Reagan, huh? |
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| star-traveller |
| quote: | Originally posted by Q5echo
you must have really hated Reagan, huh? |
No, why should I? I hated the USSR and its leaders. They were the problem of all tentions with other world. Because they were blind and stupid.
Russia now is different. I'm not saying it's a holy country, but it just trying to make its way in this world and as you might see everybody around trying to push it back into the dirt. Well anyway, everything works like that in a real world. |
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| Fir3start3r |
| quote: | Originally posted by star-traveller
No, why should I? I hated the USSR and its leaders. They were the problem of all tentions with other world. Because they were blind and stupid.
Russia now is different. I'm not saying it's a holy country, but it just trying to make its way in this world and as you might see everybody around trying to push it back into the dirt. Well anyway, everything works like that in a real world. |
So how do you feel about Russia harboring a known criminal then? |
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| Marc Summers |
| Reaganomics! |
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| star-traveller |
| quote: | Originally posted by Fir3start3r
So how do you feel about Russia harboring a known criminal then? |
I guess same way as an average British feels about the UK harboring known criminals. |
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| LazFX |
| quote: | Originally posted by star-traveller
I guess same way as an average British feels about the UK harboring known criminals. |
people in glass houses should not throw rocks then mister. :p |
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| star-traveller |
| quote: | Originally posted by LazFX
people in glass houses should not throw rocks then mister. :p |
I'm too stupid to understand you. Can you explain what you meant? |
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| Fir3start3r |
| quote: | Originally posted by star-traveller
I guess same way as an average British feels about the UK harboring known criminals. |
Such as...? :conf: |
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| star-traveller |
| quote: | Originally posted by Fir3start3r
Such as...? :conf: |
Akhmed Zakayev
Boris Berezovsky |
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| Capitalizt |
| quote: | Originally posted by Marc Summers
Reaganomics! |
Rulez! |
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