RUSSIA NEWS DIGEST
Russia Officially Demands Answers on Nuclear Targetting
On March 13, just as Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov was in Washington meeting with President George W. Bush and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld (see below), the Russian Foreign Ministry in Moscow sent a letter to the U.S. State Department, requesting that the United States clarify the Nuclear Posture Review (NPR), which, according to the Los Angeles Times, named Russia among seven potential targets for U.S. nuclear missiles.
Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said little about the NPR after his meetings with Rumsfeld and Bush; however, in Moscow, criticism of the U.S. posture escalated.
On March 13, Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov visited the State Duma (Parliament), where some reactions to the NPR leak have been very harsh. While pointing out that there was "nothing new" in a nuclear power's defining "sites that could become the target of a nuclear strike in case of crisis or conflict," Ivanov added his own reproof: "What we are concerned about is the form and the timing for such information to appear. It reads as if it were written at the height of the Cold War without any regard for the current state of relations between our two countries."
Moscow Urges U.S. Restraint in Regard to Iraq
Russian Foreign Minister Ivanov on March 12 called for disputes over Iraq to be settled in the UN Security Council. "Russia's position is well known. We stand firmly for a political settlement on the basis of the appropriate UN Security Council resolutions on the basis of international law," he said.
Obviously referring to the United States, he said, "We believe all states, especially members of the council, should adhere strictly to resolutions adopted by the UN's highest body." He added that "any military scenario would at the very least complicate the situation and make it more difficult to find a resolution to the Iraq problem."
Russian Analyst Sees Stupidity in American War Path Against Iraq
At a conference in Moscow, on March 16, Alexander A. Konovalov, president of the Strategic Assessments Institute, said that there "were no brilliant military successes in Afghanistan," and that an Iraq war would cost the United States far, far more than the unfinished war in Afghanistan will.
"I think U.S. public opinion is ready for carrying out an operation against Iraq under all circumstances, with or without the blessings of the international community. There is a bipartisan consensus on this issue in the U.S.--Iraq must be punished."
Konovalov recommended that the Russians not get caught in hysteria about the American preparations for Iraq war, because "there is no Northern Alliance in Iraq, and it would be very unwise to count on Kurd communists as manpower that could be used in the fight against the Saddam Hussein regime, or to think that the Arab world will not respond or explode, and that this will not affect the situation in Israel.... So, I think that if the Americans get into Iraq in spite of the will of the international community, this will be one of the biggest stupidities on their part, and in this case we will simply have to step aside and let the situation develop according to its own scenario. Let them realize what fighting feels like, although there will be no quick victory in Iraq....
"In other words, the price the Americans have to pay for this will be incomparably higher than the price they paid for Afghanistan. I have big doubts that this will be justified. But I repeat, if they do such a stupid thing, we must not participate in it, and we must not go into hysterics because of this."
Russia should move according to its own genuine interest, Konovalov said. ""We have backed and joined the anti-terrorist operation not to curry favor with America but to liquidate al-Qaeda close to our borders. And for the first time, Russia has not acted as a foot soldier of Europe and the West, paying with blood to achieve its political goals. On the contrary, we promoted our own goals and national interests on the money of American taxpayers, which bought the bombs that were dropped on these targets and with the help of the Northern Alliance, which we have backed and provided with weapons, with some external financial aid."
Putin Intends To Invite Pope John Paul II
The news agency Polit.ru reported March 7 (without naming its sources) that Russian President Vladimir Putin is determined to invite Pope John Paul II to visit Moscow, and has told Russian Orthodox Church leaders that this will take place with or without their consent. Polit.ru added that Patriarch Aleksei II and other ROC officials are unhappy, but may be made happier by seeking favors from the state in exchange for ultimately accepting the papal diplomacy. This report surfaced after several weeks of heightened attacks by the ROC against the Vatican, occasioned by the Vatican's redefining its four parishes in Russia as dioceses; the ROC accuses Rome of "proselytizing."
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