#10 - RW 260
excerpt
U.S. State Department
Foreign Media Reaction
June 4, 2003
G-8 SUMMIT: EVIAN A 'NICE ATTEMPT' BUT NO 'MIRACLE CURE'
RUSSIA: "There's Been No Rapprochement"

Vadim Dolganov filed from Paris for official parliamentary Parlamentskaya Gazeta (6/4): "Things are much more difficult than they might seem. It does not look like the White House realizes how serious the consequences of bypassing international law are and how long it will take to overcome the 'Iraq syndrome.' It is fair to say that there really has been no rapprochement between Bush on the one side and Chirac and Schroeder on the other, since the basic differences have remained. And so has Russia's principled stand on the war in Iraq. The use of force is no way to spread democracy."

"Chirac: This Is A Multipolar World"

Natalia Gevorkian commented in reformist business-oriented Kommersant (6/3): "This meeting, peculiar for its membership, must attest to Chirac hoping to use the summit to solve his own problems within and without. The rightist president of leftist France must be suggesting a formula of 'liberal globalization' as a way to reach a consensus in the postwar world and possibly in his own country. It is hard to tell what the French will say to that, but it is doubtful that the Americans will accept a new world notion from someone who has not paid a price for the last war. This is also a signal for the French that their president has remained a peace-lover, a big wheel in international politics--for all his differences with Bush--and an unselfish capitalist concerned for the good of the entire mankind."

"Differences Remain"

Svetlana Babayeva remarked on page one of reformist Izvestiya (6/3): "Declarations only confirm that, friends or no friends, divergences within the Big Eight remain, including when it comes to what should be considered the world's chief problems: poverty in Africa, ups and downs in their own economies or dictatorial regimes."

"Few Believe Global Government"

Nationalist opposition Sovetskaya Rossiya editorialized (6/3): "Generally, the Big Eight is trying to show that its concerns spread to the development of the rest of the world, as well as to their own problems. But few believe that the global government cares about the problems of poor and oppressed countries and peoples."

"Official Agenda Is Just A Screen"

Gennadiy Sysoyev held in reformist business-oriented Kommersant (6/2): "The agenda of the Evian summit includes a lot of topics, some of them unrelated, from war on terrorism to stable development to combating SARS. But then, of course, the official agenda is more like a screen behind which the world leaders who have gathered in that French resort-town will play games, each his own. This is the true intrigue of the summit.... Jacques Chirac avoided meeting with George Bush in St. Petersburg, denying Vladimir Putin the opportunity to become a peacemaker for the two most vociferous antagonists in the Iraq crisis. By shaking hands with the U.S. President in Evian, Chirac scored a 'historical point' for the summit.... Though France

insists that G-8 is no directorate to run the world, people still tend to see it as a sort of global Politburo. The impression will grow even stronger in Evian. The United States has again grabbed the role of one who while being an equal among equals, is a bit more equal than the others. Some kind of General Secretary.... The UN role has slowly but steadily been waning, its functions turned over to other structures and fora."

"Bush-Chirac Meeting Is Chief Intrigue"

Svetlana Babayeva said in reformist Izvestiya (6/2): "Practically all call the Bush-Chirac meeting the chief intrigue of the summit.... Bush will leave for the Middle East, with the summit halfway through its agenda. The hosts are very disappointed, realizing that the Americans still bear a grudge against them over Iraq."

"There's No Alternative To Partnership"

Yevgeniy Grigoryev stated in centrist Nezavisimaya Gazeta (6/2): "The main thing about the U.S.-Russia meeting is that it has confirmed that there is no alternative to a strategic partnership between the two countries.... Importantly, Russia and the United States, as Bush said, will continue to enhance cooperation in the ABM area. Also, the U.S. President supported the Kremlin's policy for a settlement in Chechnya, sounding a lot more definitive than the EU leaders. That and other accords, including in the economic field, and particularly the invitation for Putin to visit Camp David next fall, are evidence that the 'Iraqi pain' in relations between Moscow and Washington has abated, and the two powers are getting back to active strategic interaction."

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