Wall Street Journal - 02.11.2002

 

Putin Says Bush Shouldn't Go It Alone When Deciding How to Deal With Iraq  

But the Russian President Reaffirms Global Importance Of His Nation's Close Ties to Its Former Cold War Foe  

By KAREN ELLIOTT HOUSE and ANDREW HIGGINS  
Staff Reporters of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

MOSCOW -- President Vladimir Putin hoisted a stop -- or at least a detour -- sign in front of America's accelerating war on terrorism: Iraq, said the Russian president, is "completely different" from Afghanistan and must not become a target for unilateral U.S. military action.

In a nearly two-hour interview, however, he repeatedly played down any risk of rupture in U.S.-Russian relations. Indeed, he called a partnership between Moscow and Washington "natural and necessary," adding: "Our cooperation is the most important factor for stability in the world, and we should never forget that."

The interview, in a chandeliered Kremlin hall, provided the Russian president's first public reaction to U.S. President George Bush's Jan. 29 State of the Union Address in which he described Iraq, Iran and North Korea as an "axis of evil arming to threaten the peace of the world."

"We oppose the drawing up of blacklists," said Mr. Putin. He described Iraq as a "problem" that Russia is willing to help solve -- but only under the aegis of the United Nations. "Such problems cannot be solved by one country alone," he said.

Russia and other nations, he said, had given the U.S. a pass in Afghanistan. But the international community wouldn't do so in Iraq or elsewhere where "there is no ground to violate internationally recognized procedures" and sideline the U.N. Security Council, of which Russia is a permanent member. He didn't rule out U.N.-sanctioned military action against Iraq but said this could only be considered as a last resort.

"There are many ways, and the military option is far from being the sole, universal or best solution," said Mr. Putin. "First of all, we need to secure the return of U.N. monitors to that country." Saddam Hussein halted international weapons inspections in December 1998, and has since refused to allow their return despite economic sanctions imposed by the U.N. Mr. Putin didn't say how the Iraqi leader could be forced to relent.

Despite Mr. Putin's cautionary message, the White House is keeping all its options on the table, from a coordinated strategy with allies to unilateral action.

"Saddam Hussein was a threat and a menace to his own people and the world before Sept. 11, and he is still a threat and menace to his own people and the world after Sept. 11," says Sean McCormack, spokesman for the National Security Council. "He is on notice, and we will deal with Saddam Hussein in a manner and at the time of our choosing."

While voicing disquiet over any widening of U.S. military action beyond Afghanistan, Mr. Putin said a "new level of trust, a very high level of trust" had developed between the erstwhile Cold War enemies since he and Mr. Bush assumed their presidencies. The Sept. 11 hijack attacks against the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, he said, awoke the world to a "new quality of threat which we knew about long ago" in Chechnya, and had cemented a fundamental realignment of major powers.

"This trust allows us, despite any differences or arguments on specific issues, to avoid confrontation," said Mr. Putin in an interview that ranged from terrorism, religion and Russia's relations with OPEC to his admiration for Franklin D. Roosevelt and France's Charles de Gaulle and his distaste for Russian business barons, known as oligarchs.

Before Sept. 11, Russia's foreign policy oscillated between East and West -- a pattern that reflected the country's confusion over its direction since the geopolitical certainties of the Soviet Union crumbled with the Berlin Wall. Mr. Putin courted China with particular zeal, signing a "friendship treaty" with President Jiang Zemin in Moscow last summer. He tweaked Washington with visits to Cuba and North Korea. There was even preliminary talk of a visit to Iraq.

Russia certainly won't shred such ties. Russia's huge border, said Mr. Putin, means it is both an Asian and European power. It has large economic interests in Iraq, which owes it billions of dollars and has traditionally looked to Moscow for help. But Mr. Putin seems eager to move beyond geography and tradition. To the chagrin of Russia's foreign policy and military establishments, he's made a bold gamble on the West, particularly the U.S.

Throughout the interview, Mr. Putin displayed a determination to keep Russia center stage as a global leader despite its weakened status. Helpful is intimacy with Mr. Bush, the leader of the world's sole superpower -- who, he boasted, comes to the phone promptly when the Kremlin calls and whose calls he always returns "within a day." Still, he eschewed the paraphernalia and posturing of conspicuous power, entering the hall with only a press secretary. He listened intently to questions and answered each softly, briskly and earnestly. His face rarely broke into a smile and his blue eyes stared straight at his interlocutors -- a habit some attribute to his training as a career officer in the Soviet KGB but others ascribe to an inner discipline hardened by the rituals of judo, his favorite sport. When it was over, he shook hands not only with his guests but also with his translator, whom he thanked before walking off alone.

His principal theme throughout: Russia remains a major power because of its sheer size, but the nation now must focus on developing its economy instead of flexing its atrophied muscles beyond its borders. "Decisions are taken on the basis of what we need in reality, not on the moon," he said.

Mr. Putin's generally upbeat assessment of relations with the U.S. contrasted with the gloom of some of his officials. In an interview published Saturday, the Kremlin's senior military adviser, former defense minister Igor Sergeyev, warned of a new Cold War. With an approval rating of around 75%, however, Mr. Putin has a strong popular mandate that has so far allowed him to ignore grumbling within Russia's conservative military establishment and complaints that Russia has given too much and received too little from its support for the U.S.-led campaign against terrorism.

Feeling Vulnerable

Unmoved by Kremlin pleas for a compromise, the Bush administration announced in December that the U.S. will pull out of a 1972 treaty that bans missile-defense systems. The U.S. administration also looks set to expand the North Atlantic Treaty Organization up to Russia's border this November, with the admission of former Soviet republics in the Baltics. Mr. Putin said Russia opposed the "mechanical enlargement of NATO," but he appeared resigned to what he cannot block. "Every country has the right to decide its own security," he said. But he added that the Baltic states in NATO won't enhance the security of the U.S. or Europe and it will definitely make Russians feel more vulnerable.

One area where the U.S. seems ready to move toward meeting at least some of Moscow's concerns is on cuts in nuclear weapons. President Bush is planning to go to Russia in May, and officials are working toward a deal that would slash the number of warheads held by each side, something Russia seeks because it can't afford to keep up with the U.S. at current levels.

The Bush administration had said it wanted only a handshake agreement on the matter, but it has indicated in recent weeks that it will assent to a legally binding, written agreement -- either a protocol signed by the two presidents or a formal treaty.

Mr. Putin brushed aside a question about discontent within his defense ministry over the stationing of U.S. troops in former Soviet bases in Central Asia and Russia's retreat from a Cold War listening post in Cuba and a naval base at Vietnam's Cam Ranh Bay. "There is nothing dangerous in this. We do not set ourselves the goal of pleasing everybody," he said. "If we view the U.S. as an enemy, even within the antiterrorist coalition, we would have to behave differently. But if we believe that we can be partners and, in the more distant future, even allies, then our behavior ... should not be doubted or obstructed."

Russia's business elite, said Mr. Putin, must also toe the line. An association of tycoons complained recently about arrests of businessmen, including two executives from a subsidiary of OAO Gazprom, Russia's natural-gas monopoly. Asked if he worries that business barons might one day mobilize their cash and connections against the Kremlin, Mr. Putin said: "Of course, I cannot but think of that. But I was elected not by people who've amassed billions of dollars, but by common people who are citizens and want me to restore peace and order in the country. I think that oligarchic development is the worst possible option for Russia."

Better to Act

Mr. Putin, who took office two years ago pledging to eliminate oligarchs "as a class," said Russian prosecutors sometimes make mistakes, but this is preferable to inaction. Referring to a Russian joke about a clumsy dentist who pulls a healthy tooth and tells the patient not to fret because "we'll find the sick tooth at some point," Mr. Putin said: "This is the right way to act. Naturally we have to improve the activity of our law-enforcement authorities, but the worst way of improving their work is to block all action." The jailing of businessmen suspected of crime, said Mr. Putin, "has strengthened and improved relations between people and the state. They see something is being done."

Noting that Russia is "stabilizing more and more politically and economically," he offered the nation as a reliable alternative source of energy to "traditional sources ... located in areas of conflict in the Middle East," adding: "Russia is clearly of growing significance as an energy supplier to world markets and as a source of stability for the world economy."

Moscow "cooperates and intends to cooperate" with the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to stabilize oil prices. But he stressed that Russia is far less dependent on oil revenue than OPEC states and can therefore afford to "preserve our independence to carry out our own policies."

"We are of course interested in the inflow of hard currency to Russia from selling of energy," Mr. Putin said. "But we are not interested in exaggeratedly high prices for oil and other energy resources." Russia seeks a price range of $20 to $25 a barrel, he said, slightly less than a target he set in November. A barrel now fetches $19 to $20. While touting Russia's oil resources as a reason for the U.S. to cooperate with Moscow, he also spoke of his long-term goal of developing Russia's economy so that it depends less on energy exports.

He described his relations with President Bush as "close and warm" and said they'd spoken by telephone following Mr. Bush's State of the Union Address. He declined to give details but said Mr. Bush is "aware of our position" on Iraq which is "not unique and is shared by a very large number of other countries." U.S. allies in Europe have also expressed unease about America's intentions.  

Russia, said Mr. Putin, wants to work with the U.S. to "neutralize threats" posed by the spread of nuclear, biological and other weapons of mass destruction but only in concert with the U.N. He insisted that Iraq doesn't possess nuclear weapons and that the best way to ensure it doesn't obtain them is through the swift return of weapons inspectors, not military strikes. "We have not yet used all the instruments available to us to know what we need to know. Why should we turn to other measures while there are still possibilities in the hands of the international community?"

Mr. Putin said Russia had accepted America's right to strike the Taliban regime in Afghanistan because the "international community recognized that the U.S. was in a state of necessity and self-defense and had to react in a prompt manner against the horrible crime that took the lives of thousands of U.S. and other countries' citizens." Besides, he added, the Taliban wasn't the recognized government of Afghanistan. Russia endorses Washington's view that the Sept. 11 attacks were planned by Osama bin Laden from Afghanistan.

He played down statements by Mr. Bush that the U.S. "will not wait on events while danger gathers," describing the State of the Union Address as an "emotional" domestic political speech. "It was a success for him as a political leader," he said. But Mr. Putin implied he didn't see the speech as a roadmap for U.S. action, adding, "He said he will not wait and that is true. But he did not say that bombing will start tomorrow."  

-- Jeanne Cummings in Washington contributed to this article.