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Putin Finds Limited Common Ground at Bush Family Home
by
findingDulcinea Staff
Results were mixed when presidents Putin and Bush met: there was agreement on Iran, but no discernible progress on the more divisive issue of the U.S. missile defense system in Europe.
30 Second Summary
Russian President Putin is the first world leader to be a guest at the Bush family compound in Kennebunkport, Maine.
Before the meeting, White House aides declared that President Bush's hope was that a casual atmosphere would help improve Russo–U.S. relations. The rift between the countries widened dramatically in 2007. Commentators have even talked of a second Cold War.
After two days of informal talks, the leaders concurred that they must prevent Iran developing a nuclear weapon. However, they were unable to reach an agreement on the U.S. missile defense plans.
The Kremlin has been unhappy about the missile defense system since January, 2007 when the United States declared its intention to build Eastern European bases.
It is not known what other issues were discussed. Certainly, there was much to talk about. The United States has become concerned about Russia’s human rights record. Press freedom has become a more prominent issue since the unsolved murders of two of Putin’s most vocal critics in 2006: Anna Politkovskaya and Alexander Litvinenko.
U.S. support for Kosovan independence is another sore point with the Kremlin. So are Western accusations that Russia uses its energy resources to blackmail its neighbors.
President Bush summed up the meeting for the press: “We’re close on recognizing that we got to work together to send a common message.”
Before the meeting, White House aides declared that President Bush's hope was that a casual atmosphere would help improve Russo–U.S. relations. The rift between the countries widened dramatically in 2007. Commentators have even talked of a second Cold War.
After two days of informal talks, the leaders concurred that they must prevent Iran developing a nuclear weapon. However, they were unable to reach an agreement on the U.S. missile defense plans.
The Kremlin has been unhappy about the missile defense system since January, 2007 when the United States declared its intention to build Eastern European bases.
It is not known what other issues were discussed. Certainly, there was much to talk about. The United States has become concerned about Russia’s human rights record. Press freedom has become a more prominent issue since the unsolved murders of two of Putin’s most vocal critics in 2006: Anna Politkovskaya and Alexander Litvinenko.
U.S. support for Kosovan independence is another sore point with the Kremlin. So are Western accusations that Russia uses its energy resources to blackmail its neighbors.
President Bush summed up the meeting for the press: “We’re close on recognizing that we got to work together to send a common message.”
Headline
On the subject of U.S. bases in Eastern Europe, Putin suggested a number of alternatives. Putin said that if the United States used Russian radar stations instead of building bases in Poland and the Czech Republic, “the relationship of our two countries would be raised to an entirely new level.”
Source: The BBC
Background
Camp David, the site of many an historic meeting between world leaders, is associated with peace treaties. Bush is looking for a more informal ambiance to foster relations with his Russian counterpart, according to this BBC report analyzing the symbolic importance of Putin's invitation to Kennebunkport. As one commentator puts it, Bush is "obviously not bringing Putin to Kennebunkport to scold him."
Source: The BBC
Recent History
The Munich Security Summit
In a speech at a security summit in Munich, Germany, on February 10, 2007 the Russian president compared the American attitude toward international relations to the autocratic rule of a monarch.
In a speech at a security summit in Munich, Germany, on February 10, 2007 the Russian president compared the American attitude toward international relations to the autocratic rule of a monarch.
In Munich, Putin said the current situation of U.S. dominance “certainly has nothing in common with democracy” and that countries around the world were “witnessing an almost uncontained hyper-use of force in international relations.”
Source: The BBC
Many commentators thought Putin's comments in Munich were a sign of Russia’s recovered confidence in world affairs. The Kremlin provides a transcript of his speech.
Source: The Kremlin
U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates was at the summit and responded to Putin’s condemnation of America: “Russia need not fear law-based democracies on its borders.” He described the “missile defense discussion the United States is having with Poland, the Czech Republic, the U.K., and Denmark” as “a promising development.”
Source: U.S. Department of Defense
February 16, 2007 NATO Supreme Allied Commander John Craddock responded to Putin’s Munich summit speech. He said that Russia had nothing to fear from the plans for a U.S. missile defense shield in eastern Europe or the incorporation of former Soviet countries such as Estonia into NATO. “All 26 [NATO] members are democratic countries,” Craddock said. “So expansion closer to Russia’s borders cannot be a threat.”
Source: Reuters
Missile Defense
In January 2007, the United States declared that it was considering a missile base in Poland and a radar station in the Czech Republic as part of a new missile defense network. Ostensibly, the purely defensive missile program is intended to protect the West from the Middle East; Russia, however, is not convinced and has accused America of starting a new arms race.
In January 2007, the United States declared that it was considering a missile base in Poland and a radar station in the Czech Republic as part of a new missile defense network. Ostensibly, the purely defensive missile program is intended to protect the West from the Middle East; Russia, however, is not convinced and has accused America of starting a new arms race.
Soon after the United States announced plans for the missile defense system in January, Russia’s space forces commander made the following statement: “Our analysis shows that the deployment of a radar station in the Czech Republic and a counter-missile position in Poland are a clear threat to us.”
Source: GlobalResearch.ca
The new missile defense program differs from the one pursued by the Reagan administration in that the missiles will be ground-based rather than positioned in space. The Missile Defense Agency describes the objective as “to develop the capability to defend forces and territories of the United States, its allies and friends, against all classes and ranges of ballistic missile threats.”
Source: The Missile Defense Agency
On June 17, 2007, with the Maine meeting approaching, the Kremlin backed away from a previous statement that it would aim nuclear missiles at European targets if the U.S. missile defense plan goes ahead. Only the missile system bases in Poland and the Czech Republic would be targeted, said Sergei Ivanov, Russia’s deputy prime minister.
Source: The Daily Telegraph
U.S. Human Rights Report
In March 2007, the U.S. Department of State published a highly critical report on human rights practices in Russia for the year 2006. Among many points made therein, the document criticized the inadequately democratic process of the 2004 election in which Putin won his second term.
In March 2007, the U.S. Department of State published a highly critical report on human rights practices in Russia for the year 2006. Among many points made therein, the document criticized the inadequately democratic process of the 2004 election in which Putin won his second term.
On March 13, 2007 both houses of the Russian parliament rejected a U.S. human rights report on Russia. Lawmakers stated that they viewed "the report as interference in Russia’s internal affairs … and as an unfriendly act capable of provoking extremist sentiments, and categorically opposes the accusations against Russia as ungrounded."
Source: RIA Novosti
Victory Day Parade
At a Moscow parade commemorating the Russian soldiers who died in World War II, on May 9, 2007, Putin gave a speech making a thinly veiled comparison between U.S. foreign policy and Nazi Germany. Though he didn’t actually name America, few commentators doubted which country was addressed when Putin protested against “disrespect for human life, claims to global exclusiveness and dictate, just as it was in the time of the Third Reich.”
At a Moscow parade commemorating the Russian soldiers who died in World War II, on May 9, 2007, Putin gave a speech making a thinly veiled comparison between U.S. foreign policy and Nazi Germany. Though he didn’t actually name America, few commentators doubted which country was addressed when Putin protested against “disrespect for human life, claims to global exclusiveness and dictate, just as it was in the time of the Third Reich.”
Source: CBS News
Condoleeza Rice Meets with Putin
Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice met with President Putin in May to smooth over relations between their countries in preparation for the Russian president's trip to America. Both parties agreed to “tone down the rhetoric,” which became especially heated in Putin’s Victory Day speech and at the Munich summit. However, Rice was firm that Russia would not be able to veto the U.S. missile defense plans for eastern Europe and that America would continue to press for Kosovan independence.
Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice met with President Putin in May to smooth over relations between their countries in preparation for the Russian president's trip to America. Both parties agreed to “tone down the rhetoric,” which became especially heated in Putin’s Victory Day speech and at the Munich summit. However, Rice was firm that Russia would not be able to veto the U.S. missile defense plans for eastern Europe and that America would continue to press for Kosovan independence.
Source: MSNBC
G8 Summit
Bush and Putin met briefly at the G8 summit in Germany on June 7, shortly after the Russian premier had stated that he might redirect Russian missiles at European targets if America goes ahead with its missile defense plans. After that meeting, Bush reassured reporters that “Russia is not going to attack Europe.”
Bush and Putin met briefly at the G8 summit in Germany on June 7, shortly after the Russian premier had stated that he might redirect Russian missiles at European targets if America goes ahead with its missile defense plans. After that meeting, Bush reassured reporters that “Russia is not going to attack Europe.”
Source: Reuters
Kosovo
Russia’s representatives clashed with ministers from the other G8 countries at the May summit over United Nations plans for Kosovan independence. America supports the UN initiative. However, the Kremlin argues that if Kosovo splits from Serbia, it will encourage separatist movements in Russian-backed Georgia.
Russia’s representatives clashed with ministers from the other G8 countries at the May summit over United Nations plans for Kosovan independence. America supports the UN initiative. However, the Kremlin argues that if Kosovo splits from Serbia, it will encourage separatist movements in Russian-backed Georgia.
Iran
Russian arms sales to Iran are another source of friction between the former Soviet nation and the United States, respectively the second and first largest producers of armaments in the world.
Russian arms sales to Iran are another source of friction between the former Soviet nation and the United States, respectively the second and first largest producers of armaments in the world.
Military shipments to anti-U.S. states such as Iran and Venezuela have increased under Putin, according to this report from an independent U.S. think-tank.
Source: Council on Foreign Relations
Summit History
The Washington Post offers a comprehensive overview of U.S.-Russian summits from 1959–1995, complete with original, archived articles and photos from each summit.
Source: The Washington Post
The Yalta Conference: The Cold War Conceived
The Yalta Conference was a meeting between World War II leaders Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin, also known as "The Big Three." Held from February 4 to February 11, 1945 at a resort on the Crimean Peninsula, the conference marked a shift from war-forged alliance to ideological rivalry between the democratic West and the communist East.
The European conflict was coming to a close, thanks in great part to the successes of the Russian Army in seizing German-held territories. However, the United States still faced a powerful enemy in Japan, and in order to end the war quickly, Roosevelt needed to secure Russia's commitment to the Pacific conflict.
In order to guarantee Stalin's declaration of war on Japan after the European conflict, Roosevelt agreed to a number of large land concessions in Eastern Europe. Stalin was allowed to extend his borders into much of eastern Poland, and the Baltic states of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. Although Stalin guaranteed that the newly annexed nations would be granted self-determined, free democratic elections, it soon became clear that the dictator had no plans of keeping his promise, and the modern Soviet Union was born.
The Yalta Conference was a meeting between World War II leaders Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin, also known as "The Big Three." Held from February 4 to February 11, 1945 at a resort on the Crimean Peninsula, the conference marked a shift from war-forged alliance to ideological rivalry between the democratic West and the communist East.
The European conflict was coming to a close, thanks in great part to the successes of the Russian Army in seizing German-held territories. However, the United States still faced a powerful enemy in Japan, and in order to end the war quickly, Roosevelt needed to secure Russia's commitment to the Pacific conflict.
In order to guarantee Stalin's declaration of war on Japan after the European conflict, Roosevelt agreed to a number of large land concessions in Eastern Europe. Stalin was allowed to extend his borders into much of eastern Poland, and the Baltic states of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. Although Stalin guaranteed that the newly annexed nations would be granted self-determined, free democratic elections, it soon became clear that the dictator had no plans of keeping his promise, and the modern Soviet Union was born.
Source: HistoryWorld.net
The Yalta Conference is often credited as the place where the "first shivers of the Cold War were felt." As the first catalyst for the ideological and political differences that would later fuel the Cold War, Yalta also provided Russia with veto power in the UN Security Council, giving it equal say in the international body as the United States.
Source: The BBC
On March 5, 1946 Winston Churchill delivered an historic speech at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri. Churchill coined the term the "Iron Curtain" to describe the growing political and ideological chasm between the Soviets and the West, and setting the rhetorical tone for the emerging Cold War.
Source: CNN
The Cuban Missile Crisis: The Cold War Escalated
The Cuban Missile Crisis lasted only 13 days, but it was the closest the United States and the Soviet Union ever came to nuclear war.
On October 14, 1962 U.S. spy planes discovered Soviet nuclear missile installations being built in Cuba. Two days later President Kennedy and his advisors were informed of the situation. They decided to place a naval blockade around the island to prevent the Soviets from shipping military supplies to the island. The United States then demanded that Russia dismantle its nuclear installations.
On October 22, 1962 Kennedy made his first address to the nation about the crisis. On October 28, 1962, after a tense week of waiting, President Kennedy and Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev agreed on terms for the Soviet withdrawal from Cuba. The Soviet Union dismantled its nuclear installations in Cuba, and the United States did the same with similar installations in Turkey.
Within a year of the crisis, Kennedy and Khruschev had signed the first nuclear disarmament agreement, the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, and installed the first "hotline" (the famed red phone) between Moscow and Washington to enable direct communication during emergency situations.
The Cuban Missile Crisis lasted only 13 days, but it was the closest the United States and the Soviet Union ever came to nuclear war.
On October 14, 1962 U.S. spy planes discovered Soviet nuclear missile installations being built in Cuba. Two days later President Kennedy and his advisors were informed of the situation. They decided to place a naval blockade around the island to prevent the Soviets from shipping military supplies to the island. The United States then demanded that Russia dismantle its nuclear installations.
On October 22, 1962 Kennedy made his first address to the nation about the crisis. On October 28, 1962, after a tense week of waiting, President Kennedy and Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev agreed on terms for the Soviet withdrawal from Cuba. The Soviet Union dismantled its nuclear installations in Cuba, and the United States did the same with similar installations in Turkey.
Within a year of the crisis, Kennedy and Khruschev had signed the first nuclear disarmament agreement, the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, and installed the first "hotline" (the famed red phone) between Moscow and Washington to enable direct communication during emergency situations.
This site offers a collection of official memos, telegrams, and other documents from the days during the crisis from both the United States and the Soviet Union.
Source: The Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars
This George Washington University archive carries a number of declassified documents from the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Source: The National Secutiry Archive
Nixon-Brezhnev 1972 Moscow Summit: The Cold War Thawed
From May 22 to May 30, 1972 President Richard Nixon attended a summit in Moscow with Soviet Premier Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev. Perhaps the most important of Nixon's administration, the summit inaugurated a period of increasingly cordial relations between the superpowers.
Often referred to as détente (a French term meaning "a relaxing or easing") the talks saw a pronounced thawing of Cold War tensions. The summit also resulted in the signing of SALT I (Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty), effectively freezing the number of strategic ballistic missile launchers allowed to each nation in an attempt to curb the Cold War's costly, and dangerous, arms race.
From May 22 to May 30, 1972 President Richard Nixon attended a summit in Moscow with Soviet Premier Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev. Perhaps the most important of Nixon's administration, the summit inaugurated a period of increasingly cordial relations between the superpowers.
Often referred to as détente (a French term meaning "a relaxing or easing") the talks saw a pronounced thawing of Cold War tensions. The summit also resulted in the signing of SALT I (Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty), effectively freezing the number of strategic ballistic missile launchers allowed to each nation in an attempt to curb the Cold War's costly, and dangerous, arms race.
In a June 5, 1972 article titled "What Nixon Brings Home from Moscow," Time magazine emphasizes the impact of the Nixon–Brezhnev summit: "Many of those who watched the week unfold in Moscow concluded that this summit––the most important since Potsdam in 1945 and probably the most important Soviet political event since Stalin's death––could change world diplomacy."
Source: Time magazine
The Russian magazine Pravda also covered the summit, depicting it as a promising sign that "conditions may evolve for a substantial expansion in the sphere of cooperation between the USSR and the U.S.A."
Source: CNN
Voktor Sukhodrev, Brezhnev's interpreter during the Moscow Summit, offers his reflections on the historic summit in a special interview with CNN.
Source: CNN
Reagan–Gorbachev Summits: The Cold War in Space
In 1981, Ronald Reagan took over the presidency, vowing to make "America strong again." Reagan began his first press conference as president by calling the détente policy "a one-way street the Soviet Union has used to pursue its own aims." In contrast to Nixon's efforts to slow the arms race, Reagan increased defense spending by $32.6 billion, and championed the U.S. Strategic Defense Initiative, also know as the "Star Wars" anti-missile defense system. The renewed arms fervor alarmed Moscow officials, prompting the Soviet leadership to turn to 54-year-old reformer Mikhail Gorbachev to broker a new peace between the superpowers.
The four summits that would follow in Geneva in 1985, Reykjavik in 1986, Washington, D.C. in 1987, and Moscow in 1988, would see Reagan's Star Wars plan serve as a constant sticking point for sweeping arms reductions. However, during the Washington, D.C. summit both nations signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, putting a number of caps on nuclear warhead arsenals.
In 1981, Ronald Reagan took over the presidency, vowing to make "America strong again." Reagan began his first press conference as president by calling the détente policy "a one-way street the Soviet Union has used to pursue its own aims." In contrast to Nixon's efforts to slow the arms race, Reagan increased defense spending by $32.6 billion, and championed the U.S. Strategic Defense Initiative, also know as the "Star Wars" anti-missile defense system. The renewed arms fervor alarmed Moscow officials, prompting the Soviet leadership to turn to 54-year-old reformer Mikhail Gorbachev to broker a new peace between the superpowers.
The four summits that would follow in Geneva in 1985, Reykjavik in 1986, Washington, D.C. in 1987, and Moscow in 1988, would see Reagan's Star Wars plan serve as a constant sticking point for sweeping arms reductions. However, during the Washington, D.C. summit both nations signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, putting a number of caps on nuclear warhead arsenals.
This interactive guide to the Reagan years features an interview with Gorbachev, a slide show summary of the events leading up to and during the summits, and a Time magazine article about Reagan's push for national defense.
Source: CNN
In an article published a day after the 1987 Washington, D.C. summit, the Washington Post reported that both parties concluded the talks "with a mutual declaration of success after reaching an accommodation that sidesteps the crucial issue of limiting the U.S. Strategic Defense Initiative."
Source: The Washington Post
Press Freedom
The International News Safety Institute published a report in March 2007 titled "Killing the Messenger," looking at violence against journalists between 1996 and 2006. The institute's findings showed that Russia is second only to Iraq in terms of the number of journalists to have been killed during that period.
Source: The International News Safety Institute
In 2006, the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists published a report stating that, of the 13 Russian journalists murdered since Putin came to power, only three cases resulted in arrests and trials. "But, even then, prosecutions have fallen short of convictions," states the report, which was written before the deaths of Politkovskaya, Litvinenko, and Safronov (detailed below).
Source: The Committee to Protect Journalists
Anna Politkovskaya
Russian reporter Anna Politkovskaya was a vociferous critic of Russia's policies in Chechnya. On October 7, 2006, she was shot dead in her apartment elevator. In the Western press, suspicion has focused on the Russian authorities.
Russian reporter Anna Politkovskaya was a vociferous critic of Russia's policies in Chechnya. On October 7, 2006, she was shot dead in her apartment elevator. In the Western press, suspicion has focused on the Russian authorities.
Born in 1958 and a mother of two children, Politkovskaya was best known for her coverage of Chechnya, where separatists have fought Russia for independence since the collapse of the Soviet Union. She visited Chechnya more than 40 times and, according to Reporters without Borders, "was the only Russian journalist who reported on the second Chechnya war," which began in 1999.
Source: Reporters without Borders
Politkovskaya’s death was “shocking but not surprising," concludes the Nation magazine. Russia has become a dangerous place for the investigative journalist, but says the Nation, that cannot be Putin’s fault alone. According to the magazine, 42 journalists have been killed in Russia since the break-up of the USSR, most in unsolved contract killings. However, 30 of those deaths occurred while Yeltsin, Putin’s predecessor, was president.
Source: The Nation
Alexander Litvinenko
A former KGB agent turned journalist, Litvinenko was poisoned with a radioactive isotope while meeting with a group of fellow Russian’s at a London hotel. He died on November 23, 2006. The dramatic style of his death made international headlines. The Kremlin has been staunch in its refusal to concede to Britain's appeal for the extradition of the chief suspect in the case, another former KGB man, Andrei Lugovoi.
A former KGB agent turned journalist, Litvinenko was poisoned with a radioactive isotope while meeting with a group of fellow Russian’s at a London hotel. He died on November 23, 2006. The dramatic style of his death made international headlines. The Kremlin has been staunch in its refusal to concede to Britain's appeal for the extradition of the chief suspect in the case, another former KGB man, Andrei Lugovoi.
Alexander Litvinenko was a Russian émigré granted asylum in the U.K after he accused Putin of masterminding terror bombings in Russia that were subsequently attributed to Chechen separatists. Before he died, Litvinenko read a statement naming the Russian president as the man responsible for his murder.
Source: NuclearWeaponArchive.org––Litvinenko Biography
Russia has stated that its constitution forbids the extradition of a Russian citizen. However, Britain's Crown Prosecution Service "noted Russia's signature to a 1957 convention on extradition and an agreement signed between prosecutors of both countries in 2006, several months before Litvinenko's death, 'to co-operate in the sphere of extradition.'"
Source: The International Herald Tribune
Ivan Safronov
A Muscovite journalist investigating Russian arms deals, Safronov fell to his death on March 2, 2007. He plunged five floors down his apartment building’s stairwell, leaving no suicide note. In the wake of the deaths of Politkovskaya and Litvinenko, journalists were apt to suspect foul play and the Kremlin came under suspicion.
A Muscovite journalist investigating Russian arms deals, Safronov fell to his death on March 2, 2007. He plunged five floors down his apartment building’s stairwell, leaving no suicide note. In the wake of the deaths of Politkovskaya and Litvinenko, journalists were apt to suspect foul play and the Kremlin came under suspicion.
Safronov was a journalist for the independent Russian daily Kommersant who had a history of upsetting the Putin administration. Allegedly, at the time of his death he was investigating Russian arms deals with Syria and Iran.
Source: The Guardian
Reporters Without Borders, a campaign group working for press freedom, interviewed the deputy editor of Kommersant, Ilya Bulivanov. Bulivanov was emphatic that Safronov was not a man who would have killed himself. He also requested that the case not be politicized, saying, “People should not write that Ivan was an opponent of the regime. That would be false.”
Source: Reporters without Borders
Democratic Protest
In April 2007, thousands of police and soldiers responded with violence at a demonstration by anti-Kremlin groups in Moscow and St. Petersburg. One of the ironies of the situation for the protesters is that Putin continues to be very popular among the Russian electorate, whose freedoms he has supposedly curtailed.
Source: The Financial Times
The Other Russia is a disparate coalition of anti-Kremlin organizations from the right and left united by common goal: to find a candidate to win the 2008 presidential election. Former world chess champion Garry Kasparov founded The Other Russia and was one of those arrested by Russian authorities at the protests in April. In this interview, he says that he does not expect Putin to defy the constitution and run for a third term next year, but that Putin's "mentality is just to run away––with all the Russian billionaires."
Source: The Wall Street Journal
Energy Disputes
Russia is a principal source of oil and gas for its former Soviet satellites, countries to which it has provided subsidized energy since the break-up of the USSR. In recent months, Russia has moved to raise energy prices for those increasingly pro-West countries. Critics see this as an overtly political move to regain control over its old sphere of influence. The Kremlin protests that it is merely good business to charge a competitive rate in line with European prices.
Ukraine
On January 1, 2006 Russia cut off gas supplies to Ukraine, closing a pipeline that indirectly feeds gas to other countries in eastern Europe. Some commentators concluded that Russia was punishing Ukraine for the Orange Revolution of 2004, in which the Ukrainian people rejected the Kremlin-backed presidential candidate. However, Gazprom, the Russian energy giant behind the move, said that it was merely charging a fair market rate after years of subsidies.
On January 1, 2006 Russia cut off gas supplies to Ukraine, closing a pipeline that indirectly feeds gas to other countries in eastern Europe. Some commentators concluded that Russia was punishing Ukraine for the Orange Revolution of 2004, in which the Ukrainian people rejected the Kremlin-backed presidential candidate. However, Gazprom, the Russian energy giant behind the move, said that it was merely charging a fair market rate after years of subsidies.
The London Times has this to say on the Ukrainian pipeline story: “Russophobes in Washington and elsewhere may find it difficult to accept, but this is business, albeit of a Godfatherish variety.”
Source: The London Times
By January 4, 2006, Ukraine and Russia had struck a deal. This BBC Q&A session discusses the key issues of the crisis and its resolution.
Source: The BBC
Georgia
An independent former Soviet state, Georgia was another country deprived of Russian gas in January 2006. An unusually cold winter was made additionally harsh when near-simultaneous explosions destroyed two important gas pipelines. Georgian President Saakashvili accused Russia of sabotage, claiming that Geogia was being attacked in retaliation for his country’s refusal to sell pipelines to Russia. Russia’s foreign ministry dismissed such remarks as “hysteria.”
An independent former Soviet state, Georgia was another country deprived of Russian gas in January 2006. An unusually cold winter was made additionally harsh when near-simultaneous explosions destroyed two important gas pipelines. Georgian President Saakashvili accused Russia of sabotage, claiming that Geogia was being attacked in retaliation for his country’s refusal to sell pipelines to Russia. Russia’s foreign ministry dismissed such remarks as “hysteria.”
Source: The BBC
At the end of 2005, Gazprom doubled the prices charged to Georgia for Russian gas. That move coincided with Russian sanctions punishing Georgia for deporting four Russians accused of spying. By December, Georgia was also negotiating with European gas companies to arrange an alternative supply.
Source: The International Herald Tribune
Chechnya
Russia suggested Chechen rebels might be to blame for the destruction of the pipelines supplying Georgia. On January 27, 2006 an explosion ruptured a Russian pipeline taking much needed gas into Chechnya during an extremely cold winter.
Russia suggested Chechen rebels might be to blame for the destruction of the pipelines supplying Georgia. On January 27, 2006 an explosion ruptured a Russian pipeline taking much needed gas into Chechnya during an extremely cold winter.
Source: The BBC
Belarus
On January 8 2007, it was oil supplies that were suspended. This time Russia cut off Poland, Germany, and Ukraine amid a trade row between Russia and neighboring Belarus. As with the gas situation in Ukraine the previous winter, Belarus demanded transit fees from Russia after it doubled oil prices. These fees were extracted in oil, siphoned from the transit pipeline, which Russia shut off in retaliation.
On January 8 2007, it was oil supplies that were suspended. This time Russia cut off Poland, Germany, and Ukraine amid a trade row between Russia and neighboring Belarus. As with the gas situation in Ukraine the previous winter, Belarus demanded transit fees from Russia after it doubled oil prices. These fees were extracted in oil, siphoned from the transit pipeline, which Russia shut off in retaliation.
Source: The BBC
Gazprom
In 2004, Gazprom sales amounted to $31 billion. It is the largest producer of natural gas in the world and Russia's largest single company. At the start of 2006, the Russian government acquired a controlling share in Gazprom, and there has been much talk since of the company becoming a tool of foreign policy.
In 2004, Gazprom sales amounted to $31 billion. It is the largest producer of natural gas in the world and Russia's largest single company. At the start of 2006, the Russian government acquired a controlling share in Gazprom, and there has been much talk since of the company becoming a tool of foreign policy.
Source: The Gazprom Web site
“We would like to transform our company from being the world’s leading gas company into a world-leading energy company,” said Gazprom Deputy Chairman Alexander Medvedev in an interview with the BBC. This report goes on to discuss how Gazprom’s ambitions tie in with President Putin’s political plans for Russia.
Source: The BBC
Key Players
Russian President Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin was born in 1952 in Leningrad. For almost two decades, he worked in the KGB, and was elected president of the Russian Federation in 1999. He is now serving his second term as president. The Russian constitution limits each president to a maximum of two terms, but there is much press speculation that Putin may seek special dispensation to run for a third.
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin was born in 1952 in Leningrad. For almost two decades, he worked in the KGB, and was elected president of the Russian Federation in 1999. He is now serving his second term as president. The Russian constitution limits each president to a maximum of two terms, but there is much press speculation that Putin may seek special dispensation to run for a third.
The official Russian Presidential website offers all of the speeches Putin has delivered as well as Russian news and upcoming Presidential events.
Source: The Kremlin
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was created in 1948 as a bulwark against Soviet invasion, creating an alliance between Britain, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxemburg. The United States and Canada joined in 1949. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, NATO reinvented itself. In 2002, the NATO–Russia Council was established, allowing Russia to take part in NATO discussions on nonmilitary issues.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was created in 1948 as a bulwark against Soviet invasion, creating an alliance between Britain, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxemburg. The United States and Canada joined in 1949. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, NATO reinvented itself. In 2002, the NATO–Russia Council was established, allowing Russia to take part in NATO discussions on nonmilitary issues.
Source: Answers.com––NATO
Ex-Warsaw Pact countries Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic joined NATO in 1999. The Polish foreign minister declared that this marked “the end of the bipolar world symbolized by the Iron Curtain.” Russia did not share that enthusiasm. The Russian foreign ministry issued a statement saying that “the enlargement of the North Atlantic alliance will not promote a strengthening of trust and stability in international relations.”
Source: CNN
Reference Material
The Warsaw Treaty Organization (WTO), known more commonly as the Warsaw Pact, was created in 1955. The signatories were the Soviet Union, Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, and Romania. The WTO was formed in reaction to the remilitarization of West Germany and as a counterweight to NATO. It was disbanded in 1991, prior to the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
Source: Answers.com––The Warsaw Pact
National Geographic provides satellite and themed maps of Russia.
Source: National Geographic
On December 8, 1990 the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus signed the Belovezh Agreement, "dissolving the Soviet Union and establishing a Commonwealth of Independent States." Jeremy Basin of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberation provides an in-depth analysis of the collapse of the Soviet Union in his three part series entitled, "USSR Break-up: Tracing The Collapse Of The World's Last Great Empire."
Source: Radio Free Europe––USSR Break-up
Related Links
The Russian president may have been behind an incident that proved embarrassing for President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair. At the G8 Summit last summer, the two leaders were unwittingly recorded in conversation. One canny reporter spotted Putin, sat to one side of Bush and Blair, looking very pleased with himself. The light on the microphone in front of the Russian premier appeared to be on, signaling that the mike recording the conversation belonged to the Russian premier.
Source: Channel 4
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