HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK
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Komsomolskaya Pravda
No. 73
April 2002
[translationi from RIA Novosti for personal use only]
FOREIGN MINISTER IGOR IVANOV ANSWERS READERS' QUESTIONS
Question: Who is Russia's ally in the world now and does
it have enemies?
Answer: To begin with, I think we should not interpret the
word "ally" as we did during the Cold War. The world is no
longer divided into two camps and hence we should not divide it
into allies and enemies only. The world has become much more
complicated. We certainly have allies. They are above all
countries signatories to the Collective Security Treaty, our
CIS partners. But this is not all. President Putin said
addressing the Federal Assembly that Russia should seek allies
and at the same time be a reliable ally to others. And we do
not label anyone as enemy a priori.
Question: Is the USA a friend now?
Answer: We would like the USA to be our partner with whom
we would jointly tackle problems, although agreeing on some
points and differing on some issues. But the main thing is to
tackle problems in the interests of international stability and
stronger security. At least this is our goal and we think the
US president has the same attitude to relations with our
country.
Question: Do you think Russia has grounds to see itself as
a superpower?
Answer: Superpower or not, but Russia is surely a great
power. There are many factors that determine this status of
Russia, and I don't mean the nuclear might alone, although it
counts. I also mean geography, natural wealth, population and
intellectual potential. The package of these factors clearly
gives Russia the status of a great power. And this is how
Russia is regarded in the world.
Question: Russia has decided to move West now, cultivating
Europe and the USA as its main allies. But what about China
then?
Answer: Russia is pursuing a multivectoral policy. Indeed,
relations with Western countries have become much more agile in
the past few years; we are developing dialogue with the
European Union and will advance to a new level of relations
with NATO. At the same time, we have reached a higher level of
relations, including political ones, with China in the past few
years than we ever had before. We have nearly finished
negotiations on the demarcation of the border, which went on
for several decades and our trade has topped 10 billion
dollars. I have facts at my disposal to prove that we are not
leaning too far West. We believe that Russia is pursuing a
balanced foreign policy with due regard for national interests.
Question: Where should Russia search for its key ally,
overseas or in the united Europe?
Answer: I think we can search for it in Europe and the
USA, in Africa and Latin America, as well as in the Middle
East.
Question: Why is the USA, which says it wants to have
Russia as a partner, taking steps that infringe on the
interests of Moscow?
Answer: I think both Russia and the USA want to develop
partner relations. But practice shows that their attitudes to
some problems differ and they have to hold complicated
negotiations in search of compromises. Sometimes they succeed
and sometimes they don't. By the way, this is true not only of
Russia-USA relationship. Look at US relations with some of its
allies, including in NATO. They have differences, and serious
ones, too.
Consequently, when we say that we stand for partner
relations, this means that we want to resolve our differences
not through confrontation or forcing our stand on the other
side, but by searching for compromises and respecting each
other's interests.
Question: What do we think about the eastward enlargement
of NATO? And what new format are we negotiating with the bloc?
Answer: Our attitude to the NATO enlargement has not
changed. We believe that the bloc is moving in the wrong
direction. A mechanical expansion of NATO will not resolve the
problems facing the international community, including NATO
members. This is why, while creating a new mechanism of
Russia-NATO relations and creating a Russia-NATO Council that
will consist of Russia and 19 bloc countries who will be equal
members, we have suggested a new formula of resolving the
problems that face our countries. I mean the struggle against
terror, the strengthening of the non-proliferation regime and
so on. Two alternative options are developing gradually. One
entails the mindless enlargement of NATO and the other provides
for the creation, of a new, practical and, we hope, effective
mechanism that may become a vital element of the European - and
not only European - security.
Question: Why did Russia accept so easily the US presence
in Central Asia, which were traditionally in Russia's zone of
influence?
Answer: Regrettably, it is frequently inferred that Russia
accepted the new situation too easily. Let's get back to the
pre-September 11 situation. Our national security doctrine and
military doctrine wrote that the main threat to our security
comes from the south, meaning above all Afghanistan as the
source of terrorism, religious extremism and the drug traffic.
And these threats were already spilling over to our territory.
This is why when the international counter-terror
coalition was set up after September 11 in a bid to put an end
to that seat of terrorism and extremism, Russia contributed to
it. Could we protest against Central Asian countries joining
the international campaign? By the way, they stood at the most
dangerous line. If the Taliban regime and Al Qaeda were not
routed there, the Central Asian countries would have become the
first victims of their subsequent operations. So, we think it
logical that these countries joined the coalition.
Question: Doesn't Russia want Georgia to be strong?
Answer: Russia certainly wants Georgia to be a sovereign,
independent, integral and economically self-sufficient country.
We want to develop the closest possible relations with it in
the political, economic and cultural spheres. We are not to
blame that relations are moving in a different direction now.
We are not to blame that Georgia has internal problems.
Regrettably, despite our numerous appeals, the Georgian
leadership still cannot make a decision on joining forces with
Russia in the struggle against our common enemy, terrorism,
which is undermining the situation in Georgia and the North
Caucasus. I can assure you that the only problem that divides
us now is the problem of terrorism. We cannot tolerate the fact
that bandits come from Georgia to commit their crimes in Russia
and later go back to Georgia to hide.
Question: What role will the former Soviet republics play
in the geopolitical lineup?
Answer: As the Russian president has recently stressed
once more, our relations with the CIS countries are a vital
priority of our foreign policy. This is also sealed in the
foreign policy concept of Russia. It was very easy to destroy a
great power 11 years ago and it is extremely difficult to
promote integration now, in particular in the political and
economic spheres. It is apparent that we will have to work hard
to attain what we want in the post-Soviet space, meaning
modern, democratic integration structures that would help us to
jointly tackle problems of economic and social development.
Question: What instruments can Russia use in the interests
of integration with the other CIS countries?
Answer: Integration is a voluntary process and hence we
have never used and will never use any instruments of pressure.
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