The Russian military left Vladimir Putin and Jacques Chirac (on the right) alone with the Cosmos for two hours.
Photo: Ilya Pitalev
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Conquest by Space
// Vladimir Putin Disarms Jacques Chirac with New Missiles
Containment
On Saturday, Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomed French President Jacques Chirac in the city of Krasnozhamensk, Moscow Region, at the Main Experimental Center for Testing and Use of Space Equipment (GITsIU-KS) and talked with him about secret subjects behind closed doors. Special Kommersant correspondent ANDREI KOLESNIKOV lifts the veil of secrecy over this sinister secret. It may turn out to be sinister mainly for the United States of America.
Life has senselessly and mercilessly has turned the city of Krasnoznamensk into a huge stage set. I would call the urban landscape that flashed by the French president’s eyes for a couple of minutes technological ruins and that would be a singular compliment to Krasnoznamensk. Some would object that these are not ruins; it’s just that Krasnoznmensk’s housing stock and industrial facilities are worn-out and dilapidated. But this is all a blind. The best is all behind the set. In fact, the country can take pride in its Krasnoznamensk, if nothing else.
If I were in the shoes of the designers who built GITsIU-KS, I would feel as if I were at some international exhibition where you might win a prize. Renovations at the center were completed about a year ago. Broadly speaking, this is hard high-tech.
– What do you mean? This isn’t high-tech! – Ivan Khomenko, deputy commander of the space forces said with some consternation, trying to convince me otherwise. – There was just ordinary financing, and we did what we could.
The main thing is we weren’t ashamed to bring the French president here. Vladimir Putin was waiting for him at the center for quite a while. At one point, the Russian president suddenly came into the building where he and President Chirac were supposed to meet a few minutes later and personally checked to see that everything was ready to receive M. Chirac. Mr. Putin was obviously worried. Fine, but there was nothing to worry out.
At the center they offered us the chance to observe the motion of objects in space. GITsIU-KS has created very comfortable conditions for this, and no doubt it would be very interesting for junior or even senior high-school students. If I’m not mistaken, there were students among the journalists, but not many. They liked all the flashing lights, which reminded them that they still had time to get to the disco at the Titanic Club that night.
However, most of the people were looking towards the ceiling and not at the lights. From there, Vladimir Putin (from the height of his second presidential term) and Jacques Chirac (who had fallen so low in regional elections) were supposed to observe the cosmic void.
General Vladimir Popovkin, commander of the space forces, told them how things were going there. As expected, not all was well there. Better not to think about it. But then, General Popovkin talked about how we and the French would cooperate in space and on earth. His talk covered everything: reconnaissance services that Russia was prepared to offer France with great seasonal discounts, the establishment of a launch facility in French Guiana, joint construction of satellites….
As a true patriot of our diffident homeland, I had only one question: Why aren’t the French doing all these things with the Americans, for example? Why do they prefer a city outside Moscow with the proud name of Krasnoznamensk (the name comes from the Russian words for “red banner”: “krasnoe znamya”) to the provincial Texas town of Houston? What could this mean? As it turned out later, this was not an idle question.
We were dismissed from the second half of the commander’s report. The deputy commander and nearly all other military personnel were dismissed too. The only ones left were General Popovkin, the ministers of defense of both countries, and the leaders. The servicemen at first absolutely refused to even speculate on what the second half of the report was about.
– Do you really want to know? – Deputy Commander Ivan Khomenko asked sympathetically. – They had to send you out of the room so that nothing would be published abroad.
– Are these rules still in effect? – I asked uneasily.
– I hope so, – Khomenko replied curtly.
– So what is the report about anyway? – I insisted. – In general.
– All right, – Khomenko finally said indulgently. – They’re discussing very important things. Everyone knows it’s time to end American world hegemony.
– Is that what they’re actually talking about?
– Yes.
– So, is France on our side of the barricades then? – I asked with relief.
– Yes, – Khomenko reassured me. – What choice do they have?
– Can we assume that it concerns the construction of a European antimissile system? – I asked dryly.
– I didn’t say that! You did…
Ivan Khomenko gave me an unfriendly look.
– Do you know if the French are discussing the question of buying the new missiles?
– What missiles? – Khomenko asked suspiciously.
– The ones President Putin talked about at Plesetsk. The new superweapon that no antimissile defense in the world can withstand. Unlimited capabilities, abrupt course and altitude changes…. Well, you know.
– Oh, those… That could well be, – Khomenko agreed. Better to get the details from Deputy Commander for Armaments Oleg Gromov.
The deputy commander for armaments was standing nearby.
– Is this question being discussed? – I asked him.
– You journalists are strange people. Only one of you got it right. After the president left Plesetsk, we stayed behind. We were sitting around the dinner table and watching one of your colleagues giving an analytical report on TV. He knew all about the new weapon. He said any antimissile defense is about as useful against our new missiles as an umbrella is against mosquitoes. He got right to the heart of it…. Amazing depth… You should talk this guy. I ought to talk to him too… – he said wistfully.
– I’m right here, – answered the Rossiya TV correspondent, Andrei Kondrashov.
– Was that you? – the deputy commander asked in surprise. Super! We drank to your health right off. We were sitting at the table….
– Wait a minute, – I just barely recalled, – what about the new missiles? How many are the French going to buy?
It had never occurred to me until now that these missiles might be for sale.
– They might not buy any, – the deputy commander said, looking at me cautiously. – They still need to reequip our army. That’ll take eight to ten years.
– But are there any plans?
– We’re ready.
– Are tests of these missiles going on as usual?
– Young man, - Oleg Gromov said indulgently, - if we’ve decided to show the president something, we’ve probably been preparing for a long time. We’ve carried out tests. Everything’s fine.
I suddenly remembered (how could I forget?) recent missile launches from submarines, where the most successful one ended in the missile self-destructing. As is well known, all these launches were controlled by Russian space force satellites. But I didn’t say anything to Oleg Gromov. Why reopen a fresh wound (including the one in my heart)?
Jacques Chirac and Vladimir Putin finally ended the secret part of their talks and went out to meet the press. M. Chirac looked rather tired. His face was haggard. Maybe he had a bad flight. Mr. Putin’s trip from his residence at Novo-Ogarevo was a lot easier.
The leaders talked about what they had discussed. The gentleman’s choice in these situations is always the same: Afghanistan, the Middle East, and Iraq. You respond to each question with three or four meaningful phrases that don’t have to be remembered. So it was this time.
After this, so to speak, protocol part, they turned to more interesting things. A French journalist asked the president of France whether he and Mr. Putin had talked about the war in Chechnya. M. Chirac said that they had. Vladimir Putin usually reacts swiftly to any talk about Chechnya, but he ignored this question completely.
– Mr. President, – they asked Jacques Chirac, – you are in Russia today, on Monday you receive the Queen of England, and you’re preparing for the 60th anniversary commemoration of the Allied landing in Normandy… Is all this consistent with your promise to the French people to take a more active part in national political life, especially after the regional election results?
I understood why the French president hardly ever gives press conferences at home and at best limits himself to statements to the press. He doesn’t like these people.
Jacques Chirac answered in a vague, I would even say muddled sort of way. He talked about the role of the USSR in the struggle against fascism, as if trying to justify inviting Vladimir Putin to the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the Normandy landing
– You realize that Stalingrad was a turning point in history, – he said.
All this was very nice to hear, but it had nothing to do with the gist of the question. Then Mr. Putin suddenly came to his colleague’s defense. He spoke forcefully about the increase in trade turnover between France and Russia (a little over 28% last year).
– And development of productive forces, jobs, and prospects is behind it all, –- Mr. Putin explained. – The structure of Europe’s future energy component is extremely important for us. I think it’s of some interest to ordinary French citizens to know how relations between Russia and France in, say, energy, will impact the strong gasoline prices in Europe today.
In the upshot, it seemed that in defending his colleague, Mr. Putin was also trying to justify his actions. So it’s important to formulate the question skillfully.
The BBC correspondent asked Jacques Chirac whether he was afraid of the new Russian weapon. This of course was the key question. M. Chirac’s answer could confirm or deny everything that Ivan Khomenko had told me half an hour ago. We would finally know which side of the barricades France was on.
– When General de Gaulle ordered the development of nuclear weapons, we weren’t thinking of attacking; just the opposite, we wanted to take part in nuclear containment. Everything depends on the spirit! Russia is following the path of reform, which means it will act in the spirit of General de Gaulle!
With regard to our missiles, M. Chirac believed it was a question of exactly the same kind of containment. Who needs containment, you might ask? The Americans, of course. Which confirmed everything.
– The fact that we’re not simply developing state-of-the-art weapons systems…. – Mr Putin added. – The fact that we’re even considering the possibility of acquainting our French partners with prospective developments, and this is what the closed part of our meeting with the president of France was about, is an indication of Russia’s transparency and openness on issues of security.
It seems General Popovkin’s deputies were right. France is on our side, not on theirs!
I should add that the next day, one unusually high-ranking source in the Kremlin confirmed the information that behind the closed doors in Krasnoznamensk and then in Novo-Ogarevo (the talks ended late at night), the French had showed very serious interest in the new Russian missiles.
The most important thing after all was to do everything in the spirit of General de Gaulle. In his time, after returning from the Soviet Union’s Baikonur Cosmodrome, de Gaulle remarked “Better Red than dead” and pulled France out of NATO.
Lord, the things you agree to in the name of nuclear containment!
Andrei Kolesnikov
All the Article in Russian as of Apr. 05, 2004
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