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Some Russians Skeptical of G-8 Plan
June 28, 2002
By MARA D. BELLABY
MOSCOW (AP) - The decision by the world's wealthiest industrial nations to help Russia dispose of its nuclear, biological and chemical weapons won support from some quarters here Friday, but angered others as a sign of Russia capitulating to the West.
Retired Gen. Leonid Ivashov warned that President Vladimir Putin was leading the country into a potentially dangerous relationship with the West, first by agreeing to closer cooperation with NATO and then with the full entry of Russia into the Group of Eight.
The G-8 summit in Canada wrapped up Thursday with a pledge of up to $20 billion to help keep Russia's arsenal from falling into the hands of terrorists.
``Russia is invited to join, but we are treated like a beneficiary not as an equal,'' said Ivashov, who added that he had some questions about ``the West's motive'' in offering the funds.
Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov also criticized the G-8 pledge.
``Despite all the buzz and propaganda, it is clear that the billions of dollars to be allocated to Russia by Western countries are designed to completely annihilate Russia's nuclear missile shield,'' he said, according to Interfax news agency.
But Sergei Kiriyenko, who heads a state committee for the disarmament of chemical weapons, called the G-8 pledge ``a personal victory for the Russian president.''
He said Russia last year removed the detonators from its 40,000 tons of chemical weapons and therefore the weapons don't ``pose a combat threat to anybody except ourselves.''
The G-8 nations said the funding will support a 10-year program to secure Russia's aging nuclear weapons, dismantle decommissioned nuclear submarines and ensure that Russian scientists have adequate employment.
Putin has denied the weapons could fall into the hands of terrorists, but said Russia was grateful for the assistance.
Putin's increasing cooperation with the West following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States has not been embraced by all Russians. Some fear the Kremlin has moved too quickly to bind Russia to the international community without receiving any tangible results.
Ivashov warned the United States was moving toward a ``unipolar world'' and Putin was giving up Russia's natural position as a counterbalance. Alexei Arbatov, a deputy chief of the Russian parliament's defense affairs committee, said he feared Russia was focusing too intently on the United States and not enough on Europe.
``It is important to remember that the West is not only America,'' Arbatov said.
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