"Returning"? Russia never left authoritarian past.
B
Aug 17, 10:34 AM EDT
US worries Russia returning to authoritarian past
Virginian Pilot
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Russia is showing signs of returning to its authoritarian
past and its invasion of Georgia will require the U.S. to re-evaluate the
strategic relationship between the superpowers, Defense Secretary Robert
Gates said Sunday.
Joining in the hard-line rhetoric, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
accused Russian President Dmitry Medvedev of failing to honor a promise to
withdraw troops quickly from Georgia under terms of a cease-fire he signed
Saturday.
"I hope this time he'll keep his word," Rice said after Medvedev announced
the withdrawal would begin Monday.
Shadows of the Cold War emerged as the Bush administration struggled for the
appropriate response to Russia's aggression against its smaller U.S.-backed
neighbor, which Moscow ruled for most of the two centuries before the 1991
breakup of the Soviet Union.
"I think that there is a real concern that Russia has turned the corner here
and is headed back toward its past rather than toward its future, and my
hope is that we will see actions in the weeks and months to come that
provide us some reassurance," Gates said.
"We obviously are going to have to re-evaluate the direction of the
strategic relationship with Russia going forward, and again, that depends to
a considerable extent on their behavior from this point forward."
Rice said Medvedev had pledged that when Georgia's president signed the
cease-fire, Russian forces would begin to withdraw. But that did not happen.
"Russia currently is not in compliance with that cease-fire," Rice said. "I
don't have an explanation because I would think that when the Russian
president says that a signed cease-fire accord will mean the withdrawal of
Russian forces, that Russian forces would then withdraw. They did not.
However, yet again, the Russian president has given his word, and this time,
I hope he'll honor it."
Gates said that Vladimir Putin, the former Russian president who shifted to
prime minister when Medvedev took over this year, "clearly, as far as I'm
concerned, has the upper hand right now" over Medvedev.
"I think we had seen them more as partners. And there had been a lot of
signals from Putin that he was going to allow power to flow, to stay with
the president, that Medvedev would be in charge, would be the person
responsible for leading Russia going forward. The steps he's taken in the
transition from president to prime minister in recent weeks, and now,
certainly, in Georgia, at least in my opinion, bespeak more of Putin having
his hand on the steering wheel than anybody else," Gates said.
Fighting broke out after Georgia launched a massive barrage Aug. 7 to try to
take control of the separatist province of South Ossetia. The Russian army
quickly overwhelmed Georgia's forces and drove deep into the country,
raising fears that of a long-term Russian occupation.
"If Russia thought it was going to be able to bring down the Georgia state,
bring down the democratic institutions, it has failed," Rice said. "What
they've done instead is to bring down Russia's reputation as a potential and
I want to emphasize potential partner in the international system."
Russia's foreign minister said this past week that Georgia could "forget
about" getting back the breakaway provinces of South Ossetia and Abkhazia,
which sympathize with Moscow. President Bush said over the weekend that
Russia's vision of Georgia without those regions was a nonstarter and that
Georgia's borders need to be respected.
Gates said "no one should try and force them back into a full relationship
with Georgia." Negotiations should settle their status, he said, rather than
a fate "brought about by Russian military force."
Rice is set to go Belgium this week for meetings with the foreign ministers
of NATO allies and European Union officials to show support for Georgia. The
U.S. is backing efforts by Georgia and a second former Soviet state,
Ukraine, to join NATO, much to Moscow's opposition.
Ukraine last week ordered limits on the movement of the Russian ships since
they were deployed to Georgia's Black Sea coast as part of Russia's military
onslaught.
"If the Russians intended this as intimidation, they have done nothing but
harden the attitudes of the small states around them," Rice said. "I think
the Russians have made a significant mistake here."
She cited Ukraine's port action and the signing Thursday of an agreement
between Poland and the U.S. for Poland to accept a missile interceptor base
as part of a system the U.S. says is aimed at blocking attacks by
adversaries such as Iran. The missile deal awaits approval by Poland's
parliament and signing by Rice during a future visit to Warsaw, possibly in
the coming week.
A top Russian military officer said that agreement put Poland at risk of
attack, perhaps with nuclear weapons.
"It strikes me as pretty strident rhetoric and probably fairly empty
rhetoric," Gates said. "The truth of the matter is, Russia is not going to
launch nuclear missiles at anybody. The Poles know that. We know it."
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