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View Full Version : Diplomats Question Russian Government's Reliability, And Putin's Ability To Lead



Gold9472
01-05-2006, 01:18 PM
Envoys Say Gas Crisis Hurt West's Relations With Russia

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/05/politics/05diplo.html

By STEVEN R. WEISMAN
Published: January 5, 2006

WASHINGTON, Jan. 4 - After a year of increasingly troubled relations with Russia, American and European diplomats said Wednesday that President Vladimir V. Putin's decision to withhold natural gas from Ukraine's pipelines had further undercut the West's faith in his government's reliability and raised doubts about his ability to lead the Group of 8 industrial nations this year.

The diplomats also said the settlement of the dispute between Russia and Ukraine over natural gas prices was a step forward, but said at least some of its elements were worrisome, particularly that it named a Russian company of uncertain ownership as an intermediary in the selling of natural gas to Ukraine.

Even so, a senior State Department official said the United States would keep trying to work with Russia on several issues, especially those involving Iran's nuclear programs, without hesitating to criticize Mr. Putin's government for tightening its control over business and the political world.

"The challenge in Russian relations is not to find ways to be hostile to Russia," the official said. "The challenge is how to work with the Russians in areas where we have overlapping or common interests, and be prepared to push back in some areas where the Russians are not behaving well."

The Bush administration did "push back" on the dispute with Ukraine, this official said - first in private, with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice sending a message to the Russian foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, shortly before New Year's, warning against any provocative actions.

Then Russia interrupted natural gas shipments to Ukraine, prompting a public criticism by the State Department on New Year's day. Nonetheless, it was a deliberately low key response, so as not to antagonize Russia and jeopardize other areas of cooperation, notably on Iran, combating terrorism and seeking political solutions in the Balkans, the official said. He spoke on condition of anonymity "because we're trying to keep the U.S. profile lower on this."

Last year, Ms. Rice specifically asked for Russia to ease restrictions on foreign investment in oil and gas, asserting that Russia was underperforming as an energy producer at a time of rising oil prices.

The United States has also criticized Russia for its handling of the prosecution of a leading political dissident, Mikhail B. Khodorkovsky, the founder of an oil company and once Russia's richest man. Mr. Khodorkovsky is now in a penal colony in Siberia after his conviction on corruption and tax evasion charges.

More recently, Ms. Rice has raised concerns about Russia's steps to restrict activities of nongovernmental organizations seeking political change.

American and European officials say they are prepared for a possibly bumpy year now that Russia has assumed the presidency of the Group of 8. Russia was invited to join this group in the 1990's. Mr. Putin has said he wants to make energy security a major priority at the summit meeting this summer in Russia.

"Let's say that the Russians are not cutting a very splendid figure as G-8 president, precipitating an energy crisis in Europe the first day of their presidency," the State Department official said.

Similarly, a European diplomat said the gas uproar had brought a "revelation" about Russia just as it took on the Group of 8 presidency, a job rotated each year.

"On the same day that it became the chair of the most important club of nations in the world, Russia imposed a blockade of gas to a neighbor," said the diplomat, who was not authorized to speak for attribution.

American officials say they are still hopeful that Russia will play a constructive role in resolving the confrontation with Iran over its suspected nuclear weapons program. The United States wants to penalize Iran by getting the International Atomic Energy Agency to refer its conduct to the United Nations Security Council.

So far, Russia has balked at such a step, advancing its own compromise proposal for Iran to invest in a uranium enrichment operation on Russian soil. Iran says its uranium activities are peaceful, but the West says they are a cover for a weapons program.

Asked if Russia will eventually support referring Iran to the Security Council, the State Department official said: "It could be. The possibility that they will be with us is strong enough that we should be prepared to work with the Russians."