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Bush's Russian stopover to keep Putin sweet on NATO, Iraq
November 21, 2002
AFP

US President George W. Bush will seek to reassure his "good friend" and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on NATO expansion during a brief courtesy visit to Saint Petersburg Friday, though many areas of friction remain in Russia-US relations.

The visit, which will last barely a few hours, will be the leaders' first meeting since they signed a key strategic arms reduction treaty during a three-day Moscow/Saint Petersburg summit last May, seen then as heralding a new era in relations between the two countries.

Hastily organised to replace a meeting in Mexico that was cancelled when Putin stayed in Moscow to deal with last month's hostage crisis, the encounter will follow a NATO summit in Prague that is likely to see the Atlantic Alliance expand as far as Russia's borders in eastern Europe.

Moscow has vigourously opposed the enlargement taking in the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, which for 50 years formed part of the Soviet Union, though analysts believe the Kremlin is now more relaxed on the issue, regarding it as having little bearing on its relations with Europe and the United States. Bush was at pains Monday to describe Putin as his "good friend," frequently referring to him as "Vladimir" in an interview with eastern European journalists.

"I am going to Russia to make clear to the Russians and Vladimir Putin that they have nothing to fear from NATO expansion," he said. "I did not hesitate when Vladimir and I talked about (it), it is very important for me to go there."

NATO strategies "need to be changed to recognise the new reality, (that) Russia is a friend, not an enemy," he said.

Bush also strongly backed Putin's handling of last month's hostage crisis in which 128 hostage and 41 Chechen rebels died after the rebels seized a Moscow theatre, but the conflict in Chechnya is one of several issues on which Moscow and Washington have marked differences of view and are likely to figure on Friday's agenda.

Although Washington has recently muted its criticisms of the reported widespread human rights abuses carried out by Russian troops in Chechnya, Bush stressed he would "talk to Vladimir about the need to protect and recognise the rights of minorities... and at the same time deal with terrorism, and I am trying to find that balance, I think he can."

The two presidents will also discuss Iraq, until recently the subject of a bitter debate by their diplomats in the UN Security Council where a compromise resolution was agreed on November 8, under US pressure, ordering Baghdad to renounce weapons of mass destruction or face "serious consequences."

Russia, which has traditionally regarded Baghdad as an ally in the Middle East and has extensive economic interests in Iraq, is apprehensive at declared US ambitions to achieve "regime change" there, perhaps securing strategic control over the country's vast oil reserves.

Bush stressed Monday that "the issue is disarmament... we expect (President Saddam Hussein) to cooperate in disarmament for the sake of peace," but Russia remains suspicious and fiercely critical of US statements and initiatives on Iraq which it believes could increase the possibility of an armed intervention.

Analysts believe that until now, in his relations with Washington, the Russian leader has played a weak hand well, usually having to give way on strategic issues such as the US decision to abrogate a key anti-missile treaty in order to create a missile defence shield, a move Putin described as a "mistake."

His rapid pro-Western alignment following the September 11 attacks on US cities has brought him credit and leverage in many Western capitals, together with what human rights groups regard as excessive indulgence towards his uncompromising stance on Chechnya.

Russia's geo-political and economic interests, notably its ties with Iraq, Iran and North Korea -- the Bush-designated "axis of evil" -- and its immense oil and gas reserves, continue to provide rich potential for Russia-US conflict.

However Bush's Saint Petersburg stopover is a token of the importance Washington accords to keeping Russia onside in its war on terrorism even if the talks themselves are too brief to deal seriously with outstanding issues.

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