#1
strana.ru
November 15, 2001
Nothing "Revolutionary" Yet (The
RussianIssues.com)
Russian daily newspapers sum up the first results of Bush-Putin summit
By Denis Maternowski
According to Izvestia ("Time for White Nights"), the Washington
part of the summit can hardly be called revolutionary, but it can seriously
stimulate relations between the two countries. "It is symbolic that Putin
will become the first foreign guest to visit the ranch of the US president. It
signifies that two leaders' relations are beyond formal protocol."
Joint declarations talk on a number of issues relevant to Russo-American
cooperation. Nuclear arms reduction is one of the key issues. As it had been
expected, president Bush announced his willingness to reduce the number of
warheads to 1700-2000. Russia agreed to do the same. Another issue is the future
of Russia-NATO relations. Both presidents talked of the necessity of new
"mechanisms of joint decision-making." According to Izvestia,
"few experts doubt that sooner or later Russia will be part of political
(not to be confused with military!) structures of NATO."
Future of Afghanistan was also discussed. Putin, when asked about the growing
American influence in former Soviet republics, stressed, "I am more worried
about the terrorist bases in Northern Afghanistan... If we look to the future,
there is nothing to be worried about." Therefore, concludes Izvestia,
"Uzbekistan and Tajikistan are no longer oriented towards Russia
exclusively. This "geopolitical diversification" may be seen as a
correct move on Putin's part: Moscow now shares responsibility for its southern
borders with Washington and, to a certain extent, can save a lot of
resources."
Economic matters were also discussed during the meeting. The infamous
Jackson-Vanick amendment may be abolished in the nearest future: Jewish
organizations have already announced that they would contribute to the
cancellation of this 1974 anti-Soviet amendment related to the rights of Jews in
the USSR. In addition to that, the "new economic" statement talks of
the necessity to speed up negotiations on Russia's WTO joining "on standard
conditions."
Nezavisimaya Gazeta ("New Rules of the Strategic Game: Bush insists,
while Putin is still unsure") points out that the very nature of
negotiations is very different from what it used to be. "In the past it
took years of expert discussions before any documents could be signed… As
the two presidents showed us in Washington, all it takes now to agree upon
nuclear arms reduction is a handshake. George Bush believes that the process of
regulation of strategic stability will become more dynamic. Putin is forced to
agree: Russia's economic capabilities would not allow it to maintain more than
1500 warheads in 2010."
Vremya MN ("Nuclear Algebra: how many warheads do we need for secure
life?") sees this number as more than reasonable for Russia's security.
"Presidential aid Igor Sergeev still stands for "maintaining nuclear
balance with the US". Why? Should not we attempt to get rid of the old
Soviet complex to "catch up America"? We do not need to have an exact
number of warheads America does. All we need is to be capable to inflict
"irreparable damage." If the US want to have 2000 warheads "it is
their money they spent". As for Russia, "we must reduce the number of
our warheads to bare minimum needed to "hold back."
Nezavisimaya Gazeta calls the reduction agreement a gesture of good will on
America's part: "America can easily sustain 6000-7000 warheads it currently
has. The same is economically impossible for Russia." Overall, the US
demonstrated a remarkable willingness to compromise: president Bush agreed that
the Jackson-Vanick amendment must be abolished; there will be no Taliban members
in a new Afghani government, like Moscow insisted; Bush promised to "work
with NATO" to create new mechanisms of interaction with Russia. This
signifies, in newspaper's opinion, that "struggle against terrorism is not
the only thing capable of uniting Russia and America."
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