Reuters/Johnson's List - 04.07.2002

Johnson's Russia List

Putin Says West Suits Russia Best, but Warns U.S.

By Andrei Shukshin
Reuters

MOSCOW - President Vladimir Putin stood by his policy of closer ties with the West Sunday, saying he had no doubt it was in Russia's national interests and not a way to solicit particular rewards.

Speaking to Russian and German reporters ahead of next week's trip to Weimar, Putin said he was often asked if the rapid rapprochement with the West risked eroding his popular support, as had happened to Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.

"Parallels can of course be drawn, but in this case they are misplaced. Unlike before, Russia today is cooperating with the West not because it wants to please or get something in return for its position," Interfax news agency quoted Putin as saying.

"We are not standing with a hand extended and are not begging anything. I am conducting this policy solely because I think that it fully suits Russia's national interests and not the least to be nice to someone."

Putin surprised many when in the aftermath of the September 11 hijack attacks he abruptly dropped many of Moscow's long-standing apprehensions of the United States and threw his weight behind President Bush's anti-terror campaign.

His stance allowed Washington to deploy forces in Russia's "soft underbelly" -- ex-Soviet Central Asia -- but analysts said Putin had ventured onto shifting sands as Moscow seen little reward except talk of a new era in relations.

One of Putin's critics called his policy toward the West "an attempt at geopolitical suicide" for Russia.

But in his interview the Russian president dismissed concerns that his approval ratings, steady at around 70 percent in opinion polls, could take a hit unless he adopted a harder line on the West.

"It is natural that it cannot return 100-percent support, and I am not after it," Putin said. "But an overwhelming majority of our people understand that this policy suits our national interests.

"That is because our main task today is to ensure economic growth and higher living standards. And one cannot achieve it without creating a favorable political atmosphere around Russia. We are moving exactly in that direction." RUSSIA UNHAPPY

But a strong defense of his West-friendly stance did not stop Putin addressing harsher words to the United States.

Referring to recent reports that in its nuclear posture review Washington had singled out Russia as a target for hypothetical nuclear attack, Putin said he hoped such views would not become part of formal U.S. policy.

"We cannot yet talk about a new U.S. nuclear strategy because, luckily, for the moment it is nothing but utterances by people who do not hold top jobs in the United States," he said.

At the same time Putin expressed deep concern about what he said were suggestions in the United States that low-power nuclear charges should be manufactured for use in regional conflicts.

"Nuclear arms could thus turn from weapons of deterrence into weapons of operational employment," Putin said. "This is very dangerous."

Speaking about U.S. withdrawal from the landmark 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, Putin said he still regarded the move as a mistake. This was partly offset by progress the two sides had made in striking a deal on deep nuclear arms cuts.

Putin said he was hopeful accords on reductions in the two countries' arsenals and a document on strategic stability would be ready for signing by the time Bush visits Russia for a May 23-26 summit.

The Russian president also cautioned Washington against launching strikes to topple the Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

"I think talking about using force today when other means have not been exhausted is, to say the least, inappropriate," Putin said. "I think it would be a mistake."