#9 - RW 281
RIA Novostei
November 4, 2003
RUSSIAN-US AGENDA FAR FROM ACCOMPLISHED
Sergei MIRONOV, Speaker of the Federation Council

What is the current stage of Russia-US relations?

The Cold War is history, and this is a universally acknowledged fact in
Russia. However, it was not an easy matter to shut the door on it once and
for all. The Cold War de facto ended in the 1980s, but its spectre
overshadowed in the political minds of both countries, thereby preventing
clear thinking when it came to defining a new bilateral agenda.

The line was finally drawn by the Russia-US Strategic Offensive Reductions
(SOR) Treaty signed by Presidents Vladimir Putin and George Bush in May
2002. This document, which completely meets Russia's interests and security
demands, became the practical expression of the new strategic partnership
between the US and Russia. The Treaty put an end to the gloomy epoch of
Russo-American relations when the prevention of a nuclear attack and the
number of warheads topped the bilateral agenda. The new global threat -
international terrorism, which showed its terrible face on September 11 -
made us forget about the confrontation which had long been part of the past
and, instead, pool our efforts.

The joint fight against international terrorism now amounts to the main
common cause of our countries. Russian and American society, politicians,
and businessmen face a new, extremely important question: how can our
partnership be expanded and filled with practical positive and mutually
advantageous content?

Hardly had we started to move ahead, when our willingness to cooperate
closely was seriously tested. The US and Great Britain embarked on a
military operation in Iraq. Russia, Germany and France vehemently opposed
the move, which had not been authorized by the United Nations. And we still
adhere to the same position, as we believe it was correct. But in the
context of Russo-American relations, the question was whether our
differences over Iraq would obstruct our further rapprochement or even set
us back.

By that time, the US Congress had already ratified the SOR Treaty. Now it
was up to the Russian Federal Assembly. However, against the background of
the fierce criticism of the USA's actions in Iraq, the ratification was
delayed. However, it would have been unforgivable to give it up completely.
The decision to bid farewell to the Cold War times, when politicians
referred to nuclear bipolarity any time disagreement arose between the two
countries, was not an accidental move, but Russia's strategic choice. Real
partners can argue and disagree with each other - this is common in the
modern world. But they have no right to manipulate fear of nuclear weapons,
which is why the SOR Treaty was ratified by the Russian Federal Assembly in
the same year, and entered into force on June 10, 2003.

So what do we have now? The recent Camp David summit between George Bush
and Vladimir Putin showed that the agenda of the Russo-American relations
is becoming increasingly clear and positive. Today, our dialogue relies on
three pillars: the joint fight against international terrorism for the sake
of maintaining international security, collective efforts to ensure
non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and, finally, economic
cooperation, above all in the energy sphere.
The latter is a special issue because bilateral economic cooperation is
relatively new to our countries and, at the same time, is quite promising.
In the first six months of 2003 alone, the Russian-US trade turnover
increased by more than 30% and is continuing to grow. But there is still a
long way to go, as the total bilateral trade has been fluctuating around
the modest figure of $10 billion in the past few years.

The Russian oil industry forecasts that as a result of our expanded energy
cooperation, up to 10% of US oil imports, i.e. 60 million tonnes a year,
may come from Russia as early as in 5-7 years. This will definitely
increase mutual trade turnover by several times. Russia, which extracts
nearly 8 million barrels of crude oil a day and is the world's second
largest oil exporter, is ready for this rise. In exchange, we need direct
US investment in the Russian economy. We also need the broadest possible
economic interaction for economic as well as political considerations,
because the partnership promoted by our Presidents will only be stable and
predictable if it relies on the broad foundation of bilateral relations in
the most diverse areas.

In this context, my personal opinion is that the agenda of the
Russo-American dialogue is far from accomplished. Our partnership can and
must be enhanced.

Federation Council members were guided by these considerations in 2001,
when they set up a Senate-Federation Council working group with their
American colleagues. In February 2003, we realized it was time for us to
take the next step. Accordingly, I sent a draft memorandum on the
development of relations between the Federation Council and the US Senate
to US Senate Republican Majority Leader Bill Frist. Hopefully, we will sign
this document this November in Washington. I also expect the solution of
the notorious Jackson-Vanik amendment, which is still valid despite the end
of the communist era and of restricted emigration from Russia, to be
accelerated. Many of our colleagues in Congress understand that this is a
cold war relic.

Hence, there is a great deal of work ahead of us. As parliamentarians
committed to enhancing Russia-US partnership, we will have to see to it
that such a base of cooperation be enhanced under which relations between
legislators develop on a firm and long-term basis. The same is true of the
relationship between our countries, our peoples. There can be no place for
any political competition. This will be our greatest contribution to stable
relations between Russia and the US, and, therefore, to long-term stability
in the world.