Moscow Times - 09.25.2003

 

 

 

 

Moscow Times

Putin Kicks Off 4-Day Visit to U.S.


By Anna Dolgov 
Special to The Moscow Times 

President Vladimir Putin arrived in New York in the pre-dawn hours of Wednesday and headed for the swank Waldorf-Astoria hotel to rest up for talks with French and German leaders ahead of a two-day summit with U.S. President George W. Bush. 

Putin, French President Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Gerhard SchrÚder were expected to review their position following the downfall of Saddam Hussein's regime and the inability of U.S.-led coalition forces to ensure security in Iraq at their meeting.

On Wednesday night, Rossia television showed Putin, Chirac and SchrÚder shaking hands and smiling at the camera before sitting down for talks at a round table.

After about an hour, SchrÚder left the room, and Putin and Chirac talked for another 15 minutes, Interfax reported.

It was not immediately clear whether any decisions had been reached.

Russia, France and Germany opposed the military campaign in Iraq, although Moscow lately has softened its harsh anti-war rhetoric in an apparent attempt to mend relations with the United States.

A German official emphasized earlier this week that the meeting between Putin, Chirac and SchrÚder was not meant to form a counterweight to Bush. Beside Iraq, the talks were expected to focus on UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan's plans to reform the organization, making it more effective in dealing with 21st-century conflicts, and on European Union issues. 

Bush met with SchrÚder earlier Wednesday, and the two said they had agreed to put aside their differences over Iraq and join efforts to bring stability to the country, Reuters reported. 

"We've had differences, and they're over," Bush was quoted as saying. 

During the summit at Camp David with Putin on Friday and Saturday, Bush is expected to urge a deployment of Russian peacekeeping troops to serve under U.S. command in Iraq. Putin, in an interview with U.S. reporters Saturday, opened the door to the possibility of sending Russian troops to serve under a U.S. commander. 

He added, however, that this would not happen any time soon. "It's not even being considered now," he said.

Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov has said Moscow is too busy dealing with rebel attacks in Chechnya to afford sending troops to fight similar guerrilla raids in Iraq. 

Footage aired on Russian television Wednesday showed the presidential Il-96 plane rolling along a darkened tarmac at John F. Kennedy Airport, Putin descending the stairs and riding away in a black limousine. 

While in New York, Putin was planning to visit a firefighters academy to commemorate its graduates who died on the job at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001. A group of Russian firefighters are training at the academy and will later take part in joint exercises.

On Thursday, Putin will deliver a speech focusing on Iraq at the United Nations General Assembly and hold talks with Annan. Russia has been pushing for a greater UN influence in Iraq and wants the organization to eventually take over the dominant role now played by the Americans. 

Putin also will visit Columbia University to meet with students and professors involved in Russian affairs studies. He may attend a baseball game, the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper reported. 

The president is scheduled to spend "several hours" at the New York Stock Exchange, meeting with executives from large U.S. companies, Interfax reported. 

Vneshekonombank and the U.S. Export-Import Bank are to sign an agreement on the joint financing of projects in third countries, the report said.

On Friday afternoon, Putin will fly to Camp David for a series of one-on-one and broader format meetings with Bush. 

The summit schedule "doesn't have traditional protocol events so as to leave as much time as possible for communication between the two presidents," deputy presidential chief of staff Sergei Prikhodko was quoted as saying by Interfax. 

In addition to Iraq, Bush is likely to seek Russia's cooperation over Iran, which the United States accuses of trying to develop nuclear arms, and to discuss Moscow's mediating role in a nuclear standoff with North Korea. 

Coming on the heels of a U.S.-Russian energy summit in St. Petersburg, the two leaders also may talk about ambitious plans to ship Russian oil and gas to the United States and increased U.S. investment in the Russian energy sector. 

Putin wraps up his third visit to the United States on Saturday.