| http://www.ds-osac.org/globalnews/story.cfm?KEY=13322
Schroeder, Bush Talks on Russia Leaked � Date: Monday, May 21, 2001 � Country: Russia/Germany/US � Source: Gazeta � Story: German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and President Bush agreed to withhold financial aid from Russia as long as vast sums continue to flow out of the country, two German magazines reported on Saturday. Quoting from a 10-page diplomatic cable on the minutes of confidential talks between Schroeder and Bush, the news weeklies Focus and Der Spiegel said Schroeder also expressed doubts to Bush about whether Russian President Vladimir Putin could push through free market and democratic reforms. A German government spokeswoman declined to comment. She said the government does not, as a general rule, have anything to say about confidential information obtained illegally. German media have been reporting this week other details from the leaked secret cable to Berlin from Germany's ambassador in Washington, Juergen Chrobog, who took minutes of Schroeder's meeting with Bush in Washington on March 29. In the most explosive revelation, Schroeder's foreign policy adviser Michael Steiner was reported to have told Bush that Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi had told him he had had a role in the Lockerbie bombing. The government has denied Gaddafi or Steiner ever made such comments. Focus and Der Spiegel both reported new details from the telegram on Saturday, including the two leaders' observations on Putin. ''The chancellor agreed with Bush that there can be no new financial aid as long as vast sums are being spirited abroad,'' Focus quoted the cable as saying. ''It is an open question whether he (Putin) can really assert himself against the elites shaped during the Soviet era,'' the cable quoted Schroeder as adding. Der Spiegel, which published lengthy excerpts of the cable, added that Bush said he did not view Russia as an enemy. ''But before one is ready to make further economic assistance available, one has to know more about Putin's policies and analyze his goals,'' Bush was quoted as telling Schroeder. Schroeder, asked by Bush for his opinion of Putin, said the Russian leader ''came from the old (Soviet) apparatus but had developed beyond that. He (Putin) believes there have to be close ties between Russia and the 'Christian West'. This includes especially Europe, but also the United States.'' Russia owes Germany around 40 percent of its $40 billion debt to Western governments. Germany is Moscow's main trade partner and creditor. Schroeder has met Putin several times in recent years but resisted calls for debt relief. Focus said Bush also made critical remarks about Putin, according to the minutes recorded by Chrobog. ''First of all his relation with a free press and secondly the continued delivery of weapons to Iran, which defies logic, because Russia is thus supporting Islamic fundamentalists,'' Bush was quoted as telling Schroeder. Focus reported the cable as saying Schroeder told Bush that Germany was supplying Israel with special military assistance. ''Germany is doing a lot for the military stabilization of this country without mentioning this in public,'' Schroeder told Bush, adding that Arab countries would view that as an affront. |
