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Russia's Putin seeks to mend fences with West
2008-03-31
President Vladimir Putin plans to tell a NATO summit this week Russia wants to work with the West, not confront it, and bow out on a conciliatory note after an eight-year rule that has inspired talk of a new Cold War. But Putin, who will be guest of honor at the summit in Bucharest, will deliver that message only if the alliance does not defy him first by using the summit to put the former Soviet republics of Ukraine and Georgia on the path to NATO membership. "The very fact the president is going to Bucharest ... demonstrates Russia's constructive mood, its desire to continue dialogue," said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. But he added: "This willingness includes an expectation that our partners too will listen to Russia's opinion." Former KGB spy Putin steps down in May. Since taking office he has reasserted Russia as a player on the world stage and clashed with the West over issues from the independence of Kosovo to a planned U.S. missile defense shield. In a speech in Munich last year he accused the United States of trying to impose its will on the rest of the world. For veterans of Cold War diplomacy in the audience, Putin's strident tone revived memories of past confrontations. The speech he is due to make in Bucharest will take a gentler approach, said Fyodr Lukyanov, editor of the journal Russia in Global Affairs. "Putin is going to Bucharest to make a speech that is very important for him, which will be seen as his foreign policy legacy," said Lukyanov. "He does not want to make Munich his foreign policy legacy. He wants it to be more constructive, maybe more philosophical, not a reaction to some actions or others of the West." A tangible sign of Russia's desire to work with the West could come in the shape of a deal to let NATO fly over Russian territory to supply its operations in Afghanistan. Other Russian logistical support may also be on offer. Unless the Ukraine and Georgia membership issue intervenes, that deal is "in the bag," said one Western diplomat. BEACH-HEAD Russia's approach to the summit will hinge on whether NATO grants Ukraine and Georgia a Membership Action Plan (MAP), the first step on the road to alliance membership. Moscow views the two states as part of its traditional sphere of influence and says NATO membership will give the United States a beachhead to bring its weapons right up to Russia's southwestern flank. If the alliance does give either Ukraine or Georgia a MAP, it will be "an open spit in the face to Russia," said Lukyanov. Diplomats say in that case Putin, due to attend a session of the Russia-NATO Council on the summit's final day, could stay away. NATO itself is split on the issue. Washington backs Ukraine and Georgia but some other European states, led by Germany, say the time is not right. "The feeling is that on this one we're going to give in to the Russians," said another Western diplomat who will be in Bucharest for the summit. "What's the counter-offer? The Russians give in on the missile defense shield," he said. He was referring to the U.S. plan, opposed by Moscow, to station interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar station in the Czech Republic to protect against the possibility of missile strikes from so-called "rogue states," specifically Iran. Even if NATO sidesteps a row with Russia over Ukraine and Georgia, there is likely to be some tough talking. "He (Putin) is seeking answers first of all to 20 or 30 Russian questions that we have put before NATO," Dmitry Rogozin, Russia's ambassador to NATO, told Reuters. "If someone has not heard them he will repeat these questions, hoping that, face-to-face, he can get an answer." Those questions are likely to include the Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty which limits the number of battle tanks, heavy artillery, combat aircraft and attack helicopters deployed and stored between the Atlantic and Russia's Ural mountains. Moscow has suspended its compliance with the pact, saying it limited its own deployments while giving NATO free rein to move its forces up to Russia's borders. (Additional reporting by Oleg Shchedrov; Writing by Christian Lowe; Editing by Timothy Heritage)
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