Associated Press - 03.12.2002

 

UJC Online News

Russia Denies Shift in Mideast Policy After Parliament Speaker's Refusal to Meet Arafat

By Vladimir Isachenkov, Associated Press Writer

MOSCOW (AP) - In a dramatic show of support for Israel, the speaker of Russia's upper house of parliament abruptly canceled his meeting with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

However, Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov denied Tuesday that the move signaled a shift in Moscow's policy of maintaining a dialogue with both sides in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Sergei Mironov, the speaker of the Federation Council, said that he decided not to meet with Arafat on Tuesday because "terrorist actions in Afghanistan, Chechnya and Israel have common roots, primarily financial," the ITAR-Tass news agency reported.

Mironov announced his decision after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon late Monday. He said that the Israeli side viewed his decision as a show of support in the war against terror.

"Israeli colleagues see it as a reflection of joint understanding that terrorism must be fought," Mironov said Tuesday on Russian RTR state television. "There is no such thing as good terrorism."

Mironov added that his refusal to meet with Arafat was a personal decision that had not been agreed with the Kremlin and it did not signal any shift in Russian policy.

Ivanov reaffirmed that Russia's stance on the Mideast conflict remains unchanged and deplored Mironov's move.

"Decisions like that, made on such a high level, could be interpreted as a change in Russia's position by parties to the conflict and the international community," Ivanov told a news conference.

"There is no change in the Russian position on the Mideast," Ivanov said. "Russia has maintained and will continue a dialogue with both Israeli and the Palestinian leadership."

Some Russian lawmakers also criticized Mironov's action.

"It only plays into the hand of extremist Israeli forces," Konstantin Kosachev, deputy chief of the lower house's international affairs committee, said, according to ITAR-Tass.

The Palestinian ambassador to Moscow, Khairi al-Oridi, denounced Mironov's move, saying it showed a pro-Israeli bias, the Interfax news agency reported.

Mironov explained his action by the desire to concentrate on "learning the Israeli position in the conflict," but added that Arafat remains a recognized leader of the Palestinians and Israel's partner in peace talks.

Russia is officially a co-sponsor of the Mideast peace process launched in 1991 and has often sent envoys to the region, but it has played a far smaller role than the United States. Moscow developed friendly ties with Israel following the Soviet collapse, but has largely lost its former clout with the Palestinians, whom the Soviet Union used to arm against Israel.