Putin almost defied Bush
Washington Times - By Bill Sammon
Sep 28, 2003
Russia might have opposed the U.S.-led war against the Taliban regime in Afghanistan if Russian President Vladimir Putin had not developed a strong personal relationship with President Bush, Mr. Putin said yesterday.
Mr. Putin made the revelation in a news conference at which the Russian leader also withheld Russian support for postwar Iraq until the United Nations passes a resolution on the matter.
"I have never said this in public; I'm going to do it today," Mr. Putin announced as he stood next to Mr. Bush at Camp David. "When counterterrorist operations began in Afghanistan, we were approached by people through several channels ... who intended to fight against Americans in Afghanistan.
"And if, by that time, President Bush and I had not formed [an] appropriate relationship, as we have, ... no one knows what turn would the developments in Afghanistan [have] taken," said the Russian leader, speaking through a translator.
A former colonel in the KGB, the former Soviet secret police and intelligence agency, Mr. Putin did not identify the people who intended to fight the U.S. forces, nor did he explain exactly what they wanted from Russia or whether Moscow took action to stop them.
However, of his friendship with Mr. Bush, he said: "It helped, to a great extent, to achieve further results that we have achieved in Afghanistan, and was for a very good purpose."
Mr. Bush did not respond to this cryptic disclosure at the news conference, although he again lauded the Russian leader's trustworthiness.
"I like him," Mr. Bush said. "He's a good fellow to spend quality time with."
Mr. Putin's revelation about his level of closeness to Mr. Bush sheds new light on the bond that developed between the two leaders before the September 11, 2001, attacks. After their first meeting in June of that year, Mr. Bush was widely derided as naive for gushing about the former Soviet spy.
"I looked the man in the eye. I found him to be very straightforward and trustworthy," Mr. Bush said during a joint news conference with Mr. Putin at the time. "I was able to get a sense of his soul."
The two men's friendship has not prevented them from having significant policy disagreements on such issues as Iraq and Iran, both of which they discussed during their two-day summit, which ended yesterday. On Iran, Mr. Putin denied U.S. accusations that Moscow is helping Tehran develop nuclear weapons.
"Russia has no desire and no plans to contribute in any way to the creation of weapons of mass destruction, either in Iran or any other spot, region in the world," he said. "We comply firmly with the provisions of the [nuclear] Nonproliferation Treaty, because this course is in our national interest."
Russia insists that its $800 million deal to build a nuclear power plant in Iran will result only in the generation of electricity, not nuclear weapons. Still, Mr. Bush appears to have convinced his Russian counterpart at least to call on Iran to comply with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
"It is our conviction that we shall now give a clear but respectful signal to Iran about the necessity to continue and expand its cooperation with IAEA," Mr. Putin said.
"We firmly agree," Mr. Bush said. "We need to work together to convince Iran to abandon any ambitions she may have, ambitions toward the development of a nuclear weapon."
The two leaders issued similar statements on North Korea, which is openly flouting international nonproliferation agreements in order to develop nuclear weapons. However, Mr. Putin also said Pyongyang should be rewarded if it halts its nuclear programs.
"Russia believes that ensuring a nuclear nonproliferation regime should be accompanied by extending to North Korea guarantees in the sphere of security," he said.
Mr. Bush did not call for such guarantees.
"We strongly urge North Korea to completely, verifiably and irreversibly end its nuclear programs," he said. "We're seeking to intensify our missile defense cooperation because both of our countries are threatened by outlaw regimes to be armed with deadly weapons."
Moscow initially opposed Mr. Bush's unilateral withdrawal from the Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty, which allowed the United States to proceed with deployment of a missile defense shield. Although Democrats warned the withdrawal would spark a new arms race, both sides ended up signing a treaty to slash their nuclear arsenals by two-thirds.
"Its implementation, in our assessment, is going successfully," Mr. Putin said yesterday of the Moscow Treaty on arms cuts.
One of the most pressing topics of the summit was Iraq, for which Mr. Bush is seeking international troops and money to supplement tightly stretched U.S. resources.
Mr. Putin, who opposed the Iraq war, stopped short of making any specific promises on what he called "our possible participation" in postwar Iraq.
"In the normalization of life in Iraq, Russia is interested in seeing it occurring as soon as possible," he said. "The degree and the extent and the level of Russia's participation in the restoration of Iraq will be determined after we know the parameters of the resolution, of the new resolution on Iraq."
Mr. Bush is trying to get such a resolution passed by the U.N. Security Council, which would clear the way for nations such as India, Turkey and Bangladesh to deploy troops to Iraq.
"I recognize that some countries are inhibited from participation because of the lack of a U.N. resolution," Mr. Bush said. "We are working to get a satisfactory resolution out of the U.N. We spent some time discussing that today."
Although Mr. Bush used to chide Russia for cracking down on separatists in Chechnya, he has been more sympathetic to Mr. Putin since the Russian leader joined the U.S.-led war against terrorism.
Yesterday, Mr. Bush straddled the issue by simultaneously speaking out against human rights abuses by Moscow and terrorism by separatists.
"No cause justifies terror," he said. "Terrorists must be opposed wherever they spread chaos and destruction, including Chechnya. A lasting solution to that conflict will require an end to terror, respect for human rights and a political settlement that leads to free and fair elections."
Mr. Putin sought to discourage perceptions that his support of the U.S. war on terrorism might be linked to Mr. Bush's taking a softer line on Chechnya.
"Our partnership is not subject to political deal-making," the Russian leader said. "We wish to be guided by these strategic interests of our two countries, without excessive emotions or ambitions."
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