#6 - RW 12-10-04 - RW Home
RIA Novosti
December 9, 2004
UKRAINE CRISIS TRIPS UP US-EUROPE-RUSSIA TROIKA

PARIS (by columnist Angela Charlton for RIA Novosti) - Russia is livid at Europe and America. The EU is sniping at the United States. What happened to this troika, once so cordial and carefully balanced?

The weeks of standoff over Ukraine's presidential choice have plunged Moscow, Brussels and Washington into a diplomatic whirlwind of angry words and contradictory messages.

Russia stumbled first, failing in its strategy of playing the EU and the United States against each other. Vladimir Putin's dismissal of fraud claims in Ukraine's elections - and his fawning over the pro-government candidate - alienated all of Moscow's western friends. Lonely Russia ended up on one side of Kiev's barricades, the unusually united western world on the other.

The East-West split provided the most explosive moments of this week's OSCE summit in Bulgaria, since OSCE election monitors were instrumental in bringing about Ukraine's re-vote Dec. 26. Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the organization needed drastic reform and slammed "the deleterious practice of double standards" on elections. U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell lashed back with uncharacteristically harsh criticism of Russia's political environment.

The debate reveals a jarring clash of worldviews. What Russia considers its national interest, the West calls imperialism. Russia has no interest in Mexico's presidential candidates, so why should the United States be politically involved in Georgia and Ukraine? Why didn't irregularities in Afghanistan's elections keep U.S.-backed Hamid Karzai from victory?

The West says it supports freedom of choice and that Russia offers no moral alternative, but Russians see all choices as inherently manipulated. They need to be convinced otherwise. If they aren't, Ukraine's events will further erode Russians' faith in democracy instead of the other way around.

Yet while Ukraine's conflict has brought Washington and Europe together on Cold War-style principles, it hasn't quashed nagging transatlantic differences.

Europe has long accused U.S. President George W. Bush of being too soft on Russia and on human rights and election abuses in the former Soviet Union. While lame duck Powell has been outspoken on Ukraine, Bush has stayed silent, likely to avoid alienating his anti-terrorism ally Putin. While the EU's Javier Solana brokers agreements between Ukraine's government and the opposition, the talks include no noticeable U.S. officials.

Russia is also oddly underrepresented in the talks, with parliament speaker Boris Gryzlov making little but symbolic contribution.

The absence of strong U.S. and Russian involvement appeals to most Ukrainians, who accuse Moscow and Washington of fomenting their crisis: Moscow through a dirty and heavy-handed campaign to install the pro-government candidate, Washington through secret support for the opposition. Ukrainians are also glad to have Europe's attention, after years of feeling snubbed by the EU.

Despite differences over Ukraine, Russian officials are trying to keep relations with the Bush administration from souring any more. Russia agreed to a U.S. plan for forgiving Iraq's debt, and pledged cooperation in fighting terrorists with visiting FBI Director Robert Mueller this week. Putin, while criticizing U.S. unilateralism in talks with India, praised Bush's statesmanship and called him a reliable partner. Some speculate that Moscow will drop its reservations about the fairness of Iraq's election next month if Washington overlooks Putin's transgressions in Ukraine.

The Russia-NATO Council meeting in Brussels on Thursday promises more diplomatic wrangling over Ukraine. The next three weeks before the new election will see more shifting alliances. But the vote itself will be the real test of whether there's anything left to salvage of this troika.