Chris Doss The Russia Journal ---------------------
Gazeta December 6, 2001 PUTIN: RUSSIA IS NOT ANGRY, NOR IS IT LEAVING - IT IS CONCENTRATING Excerpts from Vladimir Putin's interview with the Greek media Author: not indicated [from WPS Monitoring Agency, www.wps.ru/e_index.html] IN THIS INTERVIEW, PRESIDENT PUTIN DISCUSSES THE AFGHANISTAN OPERATION, TERRORISM, MISSILE DEFENSE, AND RELATIONS WITH THE WEST. HE TALKS ABOUT RUSSIA-NATO RAPPROCHEMENT AND CLOSER COOPERATION WITH EUROPE. PUTIN SAYS RUSSIA IS AN INTEGRAL PART OF EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION AND CULTURE.
Question: Many capitals were surprised to hear of Russia's unconditional support for the actions of the global coalition, including the military operation in Afghanistan. Do you like the way the operation is unfolding? What part does Moscow plan to play in the decision on the future of Afghanistan?
Vladimir Putin: I met with one of the most prominent Islamic leaders not so long ago. He said among other things that no one noticed that the Islamic world had been waging a war on fundamentalism and extremism for 50 years already. It is just that the world has never noticed it. Moreover, the world all but ignored the growing threat of terrorism this past decade.
We talk of September 11, these horrible terrorist attacks... Special services are blamed for missing something. They are said to have failed... Secret services are accountable, of course, but this is not their failure. This is failure of the foreign policy of the Western community which never became alert to the depth of changes in the world and never turned to the real threats and dangers.
How has the operation been unfolding? I think we all can be satisfied with it. All objectives the counter-terrorism coalition sets out to accomplish are accomplished on time. We see what happened to the Taliban resistance. We see that the process of normalization in Afghanistan is gradually shifting onto the political plane etc, etc.
Russia backed up the counter-terrorism operation in Afghanistan because it saw the operation as the only way of rooting out this dangerous source of instability.
The Taliban has been defeated but I do not think we can feel euphoric yet. The Taliban has retained enough manpower and military hardware to regroup and switch over to guerrilla warfare. That is why a political settlement in Afghanistan is of unprecedented importance now.
Russia wants to see Afghanistan an independent and prosperous state, free of terrorists and traffickers, a state living in peace with its neighbors, a state observing rules of conduct accepted by the international community. It is with this purpose in mind that Russia is prepared to assist the political settlement in Afghanistan with the UN playing instrumental role. As for the statements concerning possibility of airstrikes at rogue states, I'd like to chalk them off to emotions and rhetorics.
Question: September 11 created an entirely new situation around the world. What with the Russia's rapprochement with the United States and the European Union and Moscow's consent to American military presence in the strategic Central Asian region, what are priorities of the Russian foreign policy nowadays? There is a global war on terrorism. Do you think the UN and international rules and standards will retain their central role or is everything going to be unilaterally decided by the strong?
Vladimir Putin: Russia encountered the problem of terrorism before the rest of the world. We have been urging our partners to pool effort in the war on the evil.
The world has finally appreciated seriousness of the danger and is discussing ways and means of its neutralization. All this attaches additional importance to the coordinating mechanisms of the UN. We believe that the work on further improvement of the international legal regime on the basis of 12 counter-terrorism conventions should continue under the UN aegis. All necessary means and levers should be used in the war on terrorism - political, economic, and even perhaps strength with UN permission.
Russia steadily advocates establishment of a global system of prevention of new threats and challenges. Russia is prepared for interaction with all states and international organizations including NATO and the European Union.
As for American military presence in Central Asia, we should bear in mind that doing away with international terrorism in Afghanistan is number one task now. Every country, CIS states included, decides for itself what forms its participation in the counter-terrorism operation should take. Moreover, we bear in mind the Americans' assurances that permanent military presence in Central Asia is not in the United States' plans.