Powell: 'Seismic' change in U.S.-Russian ties
drudgereport.com
DEUTSCHE PRESSE-AGENTUR
Tue Oct 03 2001 17:30 ET
Washington (dpa) - U.S. relations with Russia have experienced ``a seismic sea change of historic proportions'' in the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States, and Russia's eventual membership in NATO is not ``beyond consideration'', U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said Wednesday.
Powell was lavish in his praise of Russian President Vladimir Putin's quick support for the U.S.-led international effort against terrorism.
And in the most positive statement by a high-ranking U.S. official on possible Russian membership in NATO, Powell said, ``Nothing is beyond consideration these days.''
Putin ``has on a number of occasions made mention of NATO and possible Russian membership in NATO, something that had not even been the subject of the wildest speculation a few years ago'', Powell said.
``I also hope this will begin to shape the discussion we're going to have over the next year leading up to the Prague summit (in November 2002) on how one might enlarge NATO and do it in a way that no one will find threatening,'' he said.
The prospect of eventual Russian accession to NATO could further U.S. interests in the short-term by softening Moscow's opposition to membership by the Baltic states.
Immediately after the attacks on the United States, ``President Putin and his colleagues analyzed the situation and realized very quickly they had to be part of this coalition,'' Powell said.
Putin was the first world leader to telephone U.S. President George W. Bush after the suicide hijackings that killed more than 6,000 people in Washington, New York and Pennsylvania. Putin's decision to halt a large-scale military exercise as a signal to Washington that Russia was not involved ``would have been unthinkable 15 years ago ... and shows the nature of the new relationship'', Powell said.
Bush and other U.S. officials were ``very pleased'' at Putin's speech outlining Russia's contributions to the anti-terrorism effort, Powell said in an interview with reporters from foreign news agencies.
Russia has offered use of its airspace for humanitarian or rescue flights and offered to share intelligence information on Afghanistan and terrorist groups operating there. Putin also gave approval for U.S. military cooperation with the former Soviet republics of Central Asia.
Washington also reacted favourably to Putin's call for political dialogue with Chechen rebels, but was quick to urge Russian officials to be mindful of ``the difference between terrorist activity and what might be called political activity'', Powell said. ``We made it clear we still have human rights concerns about how one goes after a terrorist threat.''
While relations between Washington and Moscow might improve over the long term as a result of Putin's response to the crisis, the Bush administration remains committed to developing and deploying missile defences, which Russia has opposed, and is continuing difficult negotiations with Moscow on ``ways to move ahead [with missile defences] without being constrained'' by the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty, he said.
John Bolton, the State Department's chief official on proliferation and missile defence issues, was in Moscow last week, and Powell said he remains ``in constant contact'' with Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov on the issue.
And even the prospect of Russian membership in NATO will not be easy. Putin has labelled NATO an ``anachronism'' of the Cold War and called for its transformation into a political organization.
Wednesday's request by the United States for NATO's help in potential military strikes against Afghanistan showed that NATO remains a military alliance, U.S. officials said. |
