Russia-U.S. Relations At Their Worst

“Putin would like to convince George W. Bush that everything is okay, that Russia is following its own way, that it is protecting its own national interests, that Russian democracy cannot be measured by Western standards — that it has its own way of development, it has its own national interests in post-Soviet space, that it has to protect its political and economic interests,” Volk was quoted by the Voice of America as saying. “I think it won’t be very convincing for America because, indeed, America has its own interests. So, I believe there are few opportunities to bridge the gap, which really exists between Russia and America at present.” The gap extends from disagreements about the Iraq crisis to differing views over the nature of Iran’s nuclear program, Russia’s recent joint military exercises with China and Russia’s military campaign in Chechnya, as well as what has been called by some “a roll-back” of democracy in Russian politics and in the media, Volk added. The area where Russia is really upset is over the recent loss of influence in the former Soviet Republics of Georgia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan, where people-power revolutions swept away long-time Soviet-style leaders, deputy head of Moscow’s U.S.A.-Canada Institute Viktor Kremenyuk told the Voice of America. “I’m not sure that Mr. Putin is prepared psychologically to suggest something like cooperation with the U.S. in the post-Soviet space,” he said. “It would be the best possible solution because both nations may cooperate in the Caspian Sea, which is strategically important to both, in Ukraine, which is strategically important to both, even in Central Asia. But still, I think that in this case, the strength of the power of the Cold War thinking prevails and is much more powerful than (that of) cooperative thinking.” Since the late 1990s, when Presidents Putin and Bush first met and declared themselves friends, both sides have a growing feeling of disenchantment about the relationship, Kremenyuk said. “Putin wanted more and more support for what he is doing domestically, and Bush declined to do that,” he said. “Bush wanted more support from Putin in building his foreign strategy… and Putin also declined to be helpful in that. He was unreliable, he was playing, conveying games with the Chinese, with the Germans and the French, he was never a loyal partner to Bush and so there is a growing disappointment on both sides.” Many experts in Moscow and Washington now believe that relations between the two former Cold War adversaries are at their worst point in the 14 years since the collapse of the Soviet Union, and this week’s meeting will prove difficult for both presidents, the Voice of America added. http://www.mosnews.com/news/2005/09/14/putinbush.shtml

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