|
|
 |
Missile Defense to be Deployed in Sochi
// George Bush decided to pay Vladimir Putin a farewell visit
U.S. President George W. Bush announced that he is coming to Sochi on April 5 to meet with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. It will be their second meeting next week, after their joint participation in NATO summit in Bucharest on April 3-4, and their last one as acting presidents’. Bush’ consent to come to Sochi means the presidents have eventually agreed to sign a joint document in which Russia will consent to the missile defense system’s deployment in Eastern Europe.
Sochiward ho!
U.S. National Security Advisor Stephen Hedley was the first American official to disclose George Bush’s intention to come to Sochi next week. At a briefing in the White House, Hedley gave a detailed description of the president’s plans for the next week: March 31 -- to Kiev, then a few days in Romania, and off to Croatia on April 5. However, Washington journalists have known these details since long ago. What they did not know was what Hedley unexpectedly announced in the very end of his speech: “The President was invited by President Putin to visit Sochi, Russian Federation. And he is going to accept the invitation and go to Sochi from Croatia. The trip’s details are still being worked out. The President will return to Andrews Air Force Base on April 6.”
Everyone fell silent. No one was warned in advance about this change in the president’s plans. Journalists of Bush’s pool did not know they were to obtain Russian visas as well for the upcoming European tour. Moreover, it had been announced that Bush has several appointed meetings in Washington upon his return from Zagreb.
According to some sources, Putin invited his counterpart to Sochi back in late February. The U.S. insisted that the two outgoing presidents should hold their last meeting to sum up their almost-eight-year-long cooperation. According to the Bush administration’s plan, the presidents are to sign a certain final document which would fixate all joint achievements of Moscow and Washington in recent years. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has repeatedly spoken about the necessity to “codify the cooperation’s results”. Certainly, signing a document like that would be meaningless unless the parties have reached agreement on the issue of missile defense deployment in Eastern Europe.
The White House did not respond to Putin’s invitation for a whole month. On March 7, Bush called Putin to invite him to NATO summit in Bucharest. Apparently, the Russian leader was to link his presence there to the question whether Georgia and Ukraine would receive at the summit NATO’s Membership Action Plan (MAP), which is the last step to join the alliance. After this telephone conversation, everything has changed in the U.S.-Russia relations. Putin suddenly agreed to come to Bucharest. Condoleezza Rice and Pentagon chief Robert Gates received an unexpectedly warm welcome in Moscow ten days later. Moreover, after negotiations with them, Putin said that “it is now possible to draw the line” for some controversial issues.
At last, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Kislyak has arrived to Washington this week. He was to carry on the missile defense talks. Speaking to journalists yesterday, Hedley said the talks with Kislyak went on even while the briefing was held.
Apparently, these were the talks where the final agreements were reached, which persuaded Bush to suddenly disrupt his schedule and go to Sochi. Those agreements concern two key issues: Ukraine’s and Georgia’s integration in NATO and missile defense system’s deployment in Eastern Europe.
NATO Not for Ukraine and Georgia
Nearly one third of questions posed to Hedley were about whether the U.S. is going to force Georgia’s and Ukraine’s accession to NATO. He replied that NATO will accept Croatia, Albania, and Macedonia, but was very vague about Ukraine and Georgia. Answering the question whether Bush will insist on giving the MAP to Kiev and Tbilisi already at this summit, the official said: “The President believes it is crucial that a door to NATO stay open for new members. In his opinion, the membership [of Ukraine and Georgia.—Kommersant] will be very useful both for NATO and for Ukraine and Georgia.” However, Hedley avoided outlining any specific dates of the possible Euro-Atlantic integration of the two post-Soviet republics. Yet, he said the U.S. now carries on consultations with other NATO members who are against forcing Ukraine’s and Georgia’s accession: “We respect the procedures established in NATO. We carry on the consultations and we will respect the fact that a decision at NATO summit is adopted by means of consensus.”
France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Belgium are most ardent opponents of the idea to give the MAP to Ukraine and Georgia. For instance, the Dutch parliament discussed the issue yesterday, and most parliamentarians voted against. Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen said that the country’s government neither thinks that Kiev’s and Tbilisi’s integration should be speeded up, but does not mind their accession to NATO in the future.
A high-ranking German official quoted by the Washington Post explained Berlin’s stand on the issue in the following way: “It is not that we have thrown up cards because of Russia’s insistence, not at all. Yet, we want these countries to solve their inner difficulties independently at first.”
So, in the current situation it is easier for NATO not to give the MAP to Ukraine and Georgia. It will rid the U.S. of the necessity to put pressure on its European partners, and will help carry out the final meeting with Putin at a proper level. Meanwhile, if the U.S. forces in the decision on Kiev and Tbilisi, the farewell visit to Sochi might lose its effectiveness.
However, Bush’s determination can yet be affected by his upcoming visit to Kiev. Hedley said Bush is going “to celebrate the democratic transformations that took place in the country after the 2004 Orange Revolution, and to express support to the Ukrainian nation that hopes to find its well-deserved place in Europe and in Trans-Atlantic institutions while Ukraine is carrying on its reforms”. In Kiev, Bush is to meet with President Viktor Yushchenko, Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, Supreme Rada Speaker Arseny Yatsenyuk, and Opposition Leader Viktor Yanukovych.
Missile Defense for Successor
“I am very optimistic. I believe we can reach agreement on very important issues. I think very many people in Europe will feel relief if we reach agreement on the missile defense issue. And I hope we will,” said Bush yesterday, ahead of his upcoming trip to Sochi.
Both parties have indeed expressed mutual satisfaction at the outcome of last talks with Rice and Gates in Moscow. The U.S. then repeated its suggestions once again, which Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said “minimize the concern” of Russia. Washington’s key suggestions are as follows: Russian experts will have access to missile defense facilities; intercepting missiles in Poland will not be loaded into launching silos until the U.S. finds evidence that Iran has developed ballistic missiles able to reach Europe; and the radar in the Czech Republic will be installed in a way preventing it from tracing targets on Russia’s territory. So, Washington intends to completely persuade Moscow that the missile defense system is aimed not against Russia but against Iran only. Moreover, at the recent talks in Moscow, Gates promised to submit these suggestions in printed version – apparently, so as they may be included into the final document to be signed by Putin and Bush in Sochi.
The Bush administration is very eager to fixate on paper some sort of agreement on the missile defense deployment, so as to prevent the next administration from reversing these plans. The matter is, just one U.S. presidential candidate, John McCain, is a fervent supporter of the missile defense idea, while a possible strike against Iran is a very popular idea among his foreign policy advisors. On the contrary, Democratic candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are at least skeptical about missile defense, and say that the missile defense plans for Europe can be reconsidered.
Speaking of the upcoming meeting in Sochi, Hedley said its main goal is “to agree on several major issues, so that the bilateral relations are in good shape and can be thus handed over to successors”. Since Putin has everything all right with the successor, he can now rid Bush as well of any possible surprises that the successor might bear.
Mikhail Zygar
Russian Bomber Aircrafts Forced Back from Alaska
Pentagon spokesman said yesterday that on Wednesday two U.S. Air Force F-15 fighter jets intercepted two Russian Tu-95 strategic bombers nearly in 500 miles off Alaska’s coast, and escorted them out of the “prohibited air zone”. The F-15 jets were launched from Elmendorf Air Force Base, and they escorted the Russian jets without any incidents. “The U.S. maintains the restricted air zone by Alaska’s coast, not letting into it unidentified jets or jets which did not submit their planned flights in the area,” explained the Pentagon.
The previous incident involving Russia’s strategic aviation took place in February. Four Tu-95 jets approached U.S. Navy’s Nimitz aircraft-carrier. One of Russia’s bombers flew in just 700 meters off the carrier’s deck. When U.S. deck fighter jets were launched in the air, the Russian planes flew away.
All the Article in Russian as of Mar. 28, 2008
|
|
|
