Russia and the CIS News Digest
Russia Calls for Cessation of Hostilities in Iraq
The Russian Foreign Ministry issued an official statement April 9, which called the situation in Iraq "an ever more alarming, spreading crisis." Citing reports of intensified combat "between coalition forces and the resistance," the statement focussed on the humanitarian situationespecially the deaths and wounding of civilians, bombing of hospitals, mosques, and residential buildings, and acute shortages of food and medicine in Fallujah.
"Under UN Security Council Resolution 1483," the Russian statement noted, "the occupying powers are obliged to observe the relevant points of international humanitarian law. In particular, this means that the indiscriminate and disproportionate use of force is impermissible. Russia calls for a cessation of combat and for restraint. The onrushing humanitarian catastrophe in Iraqi cities must be prevented and further escalation of the conflict in Iraq must not permitted."
At his weekly briefing on April 8, Foreign Ministry spokesman A. Yakovenko had expressed "extreme concern" about the Iraq escalation. He added, "We believe that it is now important to stop this spiral of violence. For that to be done, the Iraqis should certainly themselves decide their fate. We believe that it is necessary, without delay, to do everything possible for Iraqis to gain sovereignty over their state. Naturally, the United Nations should play a key role in an Iraqi settlement."
Pressed on the question of the U.S. keeping troops in Iraq past June 30, Yakovenko repeated that an Iraq government must be legitimate and that an "appropriate" UN Security Council resolution is needed. He did not spell out what it should say, except to add that such a resolution "will have to contain provisions that would regulate military presence in Iraq."
The same day, Deputy Foreign Minister Yuri Fedotov stated that the sovereignty handed to Iraqis on June 30 "must be real power, not just a token transfer." Criticizing the U.S. action of invading to remove Saddam Hussein in the first place, Fedotov said that Iraq has now become "a hotbed of terrorism."
The State Duma and the Federation Council, the two houses of the Russian Federal Assembly, on April 7, adopted a resolution calling for Russian government action to stabilize Iraq and get power shifted to "a legitimately elected government." The statement said the situation in Iraq was going "according to the worst possible scenario," and would produce "the most unpredictable and irreversible consequences for the Iraqi state and its peoples, as well as for security throughout the region," if some actions were not taken immediately to change the direction of events.
Putin Meets NATO Leader; Speaks with Bush by Phone
Russian President Vladimir Putin met in the Kremlin April 8 with NATO General Secretary Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, as Russian officials continued to express consternation about NATO's expansion up to the country's borders. Putin made a big point that the mutual interest in "fighting terrorism" is not helped by NATO's expansion: "That expansion could not prevent the terrorist acts in Madrid nor help solve the problem of rebuilding Afghanistan."
Putin's diplomacy with NATO, and that of Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov during last week's visit to the United States, has come under heavy fire within Russia. Former Defense Ministry official Gen. Leonid Ivashov wrote articles for both Nezavisimaya Gazeta and Sovetskaya Rossiya, charging that Putin and Ivanov were allowing Russia to be encircled.
Also on April 8, Putin spoke with President George W. Bush by telephone (at the U.S. side's initiative), touching on the situations in Iraq, Kosova and Afghanistan, according to the official announcement.
Russian Defense Minister in the United States
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov visited Norfolk, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., the week of April 5. In an op-ed for the New York Times of April 7, Ivanov once again criticized actions around the expansion of NATO by seven new members: "Russia's military and political leadership has good reason to be concerned about the integration of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, particularly if NATO decides to create large military bases in those countries. The alliance is gaining greater ability to control and monitor Russian territory. We cannot turn a blind eye as NATO's air and military bases get much closer to cities and defense complexes in European Russia."
Because neither the Baltic countries nor Slovenia, another one of the new members, have signed the Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty, Ivanov said, "There is thus no treaty prohibition against NATO's stationing any amount of heavy weaponry in those countries." In order for Russia-NATO discussions to move ahead, he concluded, "our partners in the Russia-NATO council must show that they take seriously our concerns about the alliance's approach to our borders."
In response to a question from EIR News Service, Ivanov at an April 6 press conference expressed grave concern over U.S. consideration of introducing low-yield nuclear weapons as bunker-busters. "We are aware of these plans, and we sometimes discuss the issue in our talks with the Pentagon," Ivanov said. "We approach these plans with a great deal of caution. You don't want to let the genie out of the bottle. It is better to use conventional weapons in dealing with underground bunkers. I believe such a proposal is dangerous. It can sharply lower the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons."
He also indicated that such the production of such small nuclear weapons might also increase the danger of proliferation to terrorists. "During the NATO-Russia conference, we discussed the possibility of developing new weapons, including non-lethal weapons. But we can get along without nuclear weapons," he said.
Leaders of Germany, France Visit Russia
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder visited Moscow for several hours April 2, for talks with President Vladimir Putin on Russian relations with the EU and other international matters. A three-way meeting of Putin, Schroeder, and President Jacques Chirac of France, which would have brought together leading opponents of the invasion of Iraq a year ago, was cancelled because Chirac arrived one day later than planned, for his own Russia visit.
Nonetheless, Russian press reported that State Duma Foreign Affairs Committee head Konstantin Kosachov went out of his way to try and douse rumors of an emergent "Moscow-Paris-Berlin triangle." Nezavisimaya Gazeta wrote that the three leaders, each having been re-elected to a second term, are now in a position to "undertake some large-scale, maybe unexpected, joint initiatives and actions."
After talks in Moscow, Chirac on April 4 became the first Western statesman allowed to visit Krasnoznamensk, control center of all Russian spy satellites and a center for military space technology R&D. Stepped up cooperation on space research was announced, including the start of construction of a special new launch pad for Russia Soyuz vehicles at the French launch site in Kourou, this summer.
Putin proposed to Chirac, that France and other European nations enter a joint project with Russia, for the development of a "European missile defense system."
Economics Minister Nervous and Pessimistic
Nobody expected a scandal at the conference on Competitiveness and Modernization of Economy, held April 7 at the Higher Economic School in Moscow. But Minister of Economic Development and Trade German Gref, when he took the podium, appeared to be in a highly agitated state of anxiety. Gref had just returned from talks with European Union officials in Brussels. After a keynote speech on "structural reform" by Russia's newand now soleDeputy Prime Minister, Alexander Zhukov, Gref started to speak, downed two whole glasses of water, and burst out, "This has been a remarkable morning for me. I learned why our government has only one Deputy Prime Minister. He has told us everything and now the ministers can just throw their speeches away. But I am not going to do this, though some people think that the ministers are not supposed to have their own ideas." Gref's presentation, which followed, was disjointed and featured exclamations like "Competition, competition, competition!" and angry remarks about Zhukov's trying to "throw me off balance." His incoherence reminded observers about his months-long disappearance for unspecified medical problems, last year, when it appeared he had cracked under the strain of his job.
The ongoing reorganization of the Russian government, mandated by President Putin for implementation by the new Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov, has given Gref and Finance Minister Kudrin more responsibility, but less power. In particular, Putin at every opportunity is demanding pledges from Gref and others to ensure that the poverty rate be cut in half within three years; but, at the same time, it is widely believed that the tax reform presented by Zhukov and othersreduced employer contributions to the funding of pensions and other social benefits are involved, but disagreements remain on how these would be compensatedare likely to have an opposite effect.
Bombings in North Caucasus and Georgia
There was an assassination attempt on Murat Zyazikov, the President of Ingushetia, on April 6. Ingushetia borders with Chechnya in the North Caucasus region of southern Russia. As the President's motorcade was travelling between two towns, a small Zhiguli car sped up along the shoulder, then veered in front of Zyazikov's limo and blew up. A spokesman for the Ingushetian Prosecutor's Office said there were two suicide bombers in the small car, according to Strana.ru. The Vesti-TV news program reported that Zyazikov was saved by the heavy armor on his Mercedes and the skillful driving of his security people.
In Tbilisi, Georgia, on April 6, Gen. Alexander Studenikin, commander of the Russian Group of Forces in Georgia, was wounded by a bomb that went off as he walked in front of his residential quarters, accompanied by two soldiers. Hospital officials said his life is not in danger, RIA Novosti reported.
Armenian Opposition Wants 'Regime Change'
Turning down a government coalition offer for non-partisan dialogue to avoid destabilization of the country, Armenia's two main opposition groups, the Justice bloc and the National Unity Party, announced a mass protest wave, to begin on April 9 aimed at forcing President Robert Kocharian to resign. Leaders of both groups called on supporters to take to the streets of the capital Yerevan, daily, for the removal from office of Kocharian, whom they charge with rigging the elections of 2003. Press coverage in Russia and Armenia is drawing parallels with the escalation of protests in Georgia at the end of last year, which brought down President Eduard Shevardnadze.
The unrest in Armenia is raising special concern in its two most important military and political allies, Russia and Iran.
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