Russia and the CIS News Digest
Russian Weekly Quotes LaRouche on Dollar Crash
The Dec. 3 issue of the Russian weekly Rodnaya Gazeta, which is published for circulation in several cities of south and central Russia and Siberia, had a front-page headline, "The dollar is falling because the USA is bankrupt." The article was based on an interview Lyndon LaRouche gave to the paper's correspondent on Nov. 26. It included some direct quotations, along with the correspondent's own restatement of how he understood LaRouche's replies. The points that came through include: the global nature of the dollar crash; the desire of some international financiers to create a world empire and grab raw materials, especially in Russia; and the great danger created by people like Zbigniew Brzezinski meddling in the North Caucasus, and now Ukraine.
Russians See Foreign Hand in Beslan Attack
Russian investigators continue to look into the role of foreign secret services in the Sept. 1 school hostage-taking and massacre in Beslan, North Ossetia. Alexander Torshin, deputy speaker of the Federation Council (upper house of the Federal Assembly) and head of a commission investigating the tragedy, stated Nov. 27 that foreign secret services were likely involved. "So far, we have indirect evidence of such involvement," he said, "so I consider it premature to name which secret service it is. But when we have collected sufficient, convincing evidence, we will not keep this a secret." Torshin said he expected the investigation to continue at least until February.
Putin in India: No to 'Dictatorship' in World Affairs
In a written interview with The Hindu, published on the eve of his state visit to India, which began Dec. 2, President Vladimir Putin denounced "double standards" on terrorism. He chastised the United States for giving safe haven to Chechen separatist representative Ilyas Akhmadov, and pointed to the freedom to travel across Europe granted to Chechen separatist leader Akhmed Zakayev. "May I remind you," Putin said, "that according to UN decisions, states are obliged to verify, when providing asylum, that the person in question is not related to terrorism."
The Russian President also warned strongly about the situation in Iraq. While warmly praising President Bush, he issued a criticism of U.S. unilateralism, and described Iraq as an 'incubator' for militants. Said Putin, "I will be frank: In my talks with many foreign leaders I used to hear the following question: 'If global affairs are to be dealt with according to the Iraqi model, how can we guarantee our countries' security and sovereignty?'"
In a Dec. 3 speech at the Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Foundation, Putin again took up the themes of his The Hindu interview, in even sharper language. He said that "globalization" should mean "unprecedented opportunities for economic and scientific progress, the mutual enrichment of the world's cultures, and the creation of decent conditions of human life."
"At the same time," Putin said, "it seems extremely dangerous to attempt to reshape God-created, multi-faceted, diverse modern civilization according to the barracks principles of a unipolar world. And the more insistent the authors and advocates of this idea are, the more mankind will confront dangerous imbalances in economic and social development."
Enumerating terrorism, organized crime, the narcotics trade, and WMD proliferation, Putin then continued, "Numerous regional conflicts will burst to the surface. All of these threats will grow, because ultimately they are based on political and economic injustice. And dictatorship, especially dictatorship in international affairs, does not solve and has never solved such problems, even if that dictatorship is packaged in the pretty wrapping of pseudo-democratic phraseology; even then, it will be unable to solve systemic problems. On the contrary, it will only aggravate them."
Putin expressed "extreme concern" about the intensification of the fighting in Iraq and the possibility that elections will not be able to be held there in January.
India and Russia Cite 'Strategic Triangle'
India and Russia took the "unusual step" of referring to the "strategic triangle" Russia-India-China, in a Dec. 3 joint declaration signed during President Putin's visit. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Putin signed the declaration, which included the statement, "The sides note with satisfaction that trilateral meetings at the Foreign Ministers' level, of India, China, and Russia, have been taking place regularly. These meetings have been useful in promoting understanding and exploring areas of possible cooperation at a trilateral and at an international level. The trilateral meetings have also reflected a strong concern against terrorism anywhere and in any form. The sides expressed their conviction in favor of a progressive increase in trilateral cooperation, which could also result in social and economic development amongst the three countries."
According to the Indian newspaper The Pioneer, the Prime Ministers of the three nations will meet in the first half of 2005 at Lake Baikal in Russia. Dr. Singh this week has met both Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao, who will be in India in March, and Putin.
Putin also highlighted the China-India-Russia relationship in his speech at the Nehru Foundation. He explored not only the security aspects of international cooperation in Asia, but also went into North-South relations, the special role of Russia and India in relations with the Islamic world, and Eurasian infrastructure development"major regional infrastructure projects for building pipelines, roads and railroads." In his interview with The Hindu, Putin said that he was "looking forward to new, major progress in Russian-Indian cooperation" in energy, oil, and natural gas projects, among others. He said Russia could help India, which imports 73% of its oil.
'Repeat Vote' Set in Ukraine
The Supreme Court of Ukraine ruled Dec. 3 that the Nov. 21 second round of Presidential elections was invalid, due to vote fraud. It set a "repeat vote" for Dec. 26. This means a repeat of the second round only, which is the option demanded by opposition candidate Victor Yushchenko, and strongly opposed by President Leonid Kuchma and Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a televised dialogue the previous day.
Kuchma flew to Moscow Dec. 2 for brief talks with Putin at the airport, before the latter's departure for India. In a lengthy opening dialogue broadcast on Russian TV, Putin put heavy emphasis on the danger of Ukraine's splitting, and talked about the extensive close interconnection of the Russian and Ukrainian populations. Kuchma made somewhat rambling and defensive remarks, during which Putin interjected to support Kuchma's vision of entirely new elections. The Russian President denounced the idea of rerunning just the second round, suggesting that such a vote might have to be held "three, four, or 25 times," until the desired result were achieved. Putin concluded by saying that Russia was ready to help mediate, but that "neither Russia, nor the EU, nor even the most authoritative international organizations" can resolve the situation, which is the Ukrainian people's to decide.
Acceleration of Ukraine 'Democracy' Propaganda by Neo-Cons, Brzezinski
Under the aegis of the New Atlantic Initiative, an operation set up in Prague in May 1996, by Margaret Thatcher, George Shultz, Henry Kissinger, and others, an all-day seminar will be held Dec. 10 at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, on Ukraine. Speakers include Paul Wolfowitz; Paula Dobriansky, Undersecretary of State for Global Affairs and the daughter of Lev Dobriansky, a leading Ukrainian emigre involved in the 1950s "captive nations" movement; Zbigniew Brzezinski; and Thomas Dine, the former head of the America-Israeli Political Action Committee (AIPAC), now with Radio Free Europe-Radio Liberty. The forum also includes leading Ukrainian government figures: Oleh Shamshur, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Valeri Pyatnyskyi, First Deputy Minister of Economy and European Integration, and Igor Kozii, the head of the general staff of the Ukrainian armed forces. Among the topics are "Ukraine's Economy: Converging with the European Union or with the Common Economic Space?," and "Ukraine's Armed Forces: On the Way to Join NATO?" (For complete coverage of the crisis in Ukraine, see "Flattened by IMF, Ukraine in Geopolitical Crosshairs," by Rachel Douglas, in this week's InDepth.)
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