Vladimir Putin holds intensive consultations with CIS colleaguesRussia’s president calls on Western leaders to create a new world security system
By Nikolai Ulyanov
17.13.2001, 18:13
Full story: "Russia is selecting its strategy of behavior in the changed world"
The terrifying terrorist acts in New York and Washington did not sow panic in
the Kremlin. Immediately following the tragedy in the United States Vladimir
Putin began coordinating the work of Russian power structures and economic
departments and started intensive consultations with his foreign counterparts.
His first contact with the U.S. Administration took place several hours after
the terrorist acts: he contacted National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice
(at that time George W. Bush was absent from the White House). He offered
Rice condolences and expressed his outrage over "the barbaric terrorist
acts." He had expressed similar sentiments in a telegram sent to George
W. Bush earlier.
It is obvious that Moscow formulated its official position within hours of the
terrorist acts: terrorism transcends national borders, and it can be rebuffed
only by the joint efforts of all leading world powers. Putin must have
detailed this postulate in numerous subsequent contacts with foreign heads of
state.
Late in the evening on September 11 the Russian president contacted Germany's
Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. According to the Kremlin's press service,
the two leaders agreed that what happened in the United States was a barbaric
terrorist act. They stressed the importance of joint efforts by the
international community to oppose international terrorism. In this context Putin
and Schroeder exchanged views on a possible course of action in the near
future. It is noteworthy that just before the terrorist acts in the United
States the two leaders had discussed the situation in Macedonia and Putin's
forthcoming visit to Germany. Later Schroeder told German journalists
that Putin and himself saw eye-to-eye on the fight against terrorism.
The following day, September 12, Putin talked with Britain's Prime
Minister Tony Blair on the phone. Alexei Gromov, press secretary
of the Russian president, said the two leaders had discussed the situation that
had taken shape in the world following the terrorist acts. He also said they
discussed what could be done to further unite the efforts of the international
community, notably the efforts of the world's leading countries, in order to
oppose international terrorism.
On the same day Putin had two telephone contacts with George W. Bush
after his return to Washington. According to Gromov, the conversations
reflect a desire to bring the two countries "closer together." Putin
and Bush focused on concrete steps to establish bilateral and
multilateral cooperation in the fight against international terrorism. Bush
thanked the Russian president for the fact that Russia became the first country
to react to the tragedy in the United States and offer sincere words of
compassion for the American people.
According to the White House press secretary, Bush and Putin
agreed on close cooperation with the aim of pinpointing those responsible for
the horrendous acts of terror. In reply to questions from journalists asking why
it had been necessary to hold two telephone conferences in a day the press
secretary said it was necessary to coordinate efforts to create an international
coalition to fight terrorism. As part of those efforts Bush would
continue maintaining contact with other leaders as often as he thought
necessary.
On September 13 Putin discussed terrorism with Italy's
premier Silvio Berlusconi. The two men examined possible concrete steps
to create an effective system to deal with the threat of international
terrorism.
At the weekend there was a marked change in Putin's contacts with foreign
leaders: he began discussions with CIS countries on the prevailing situation and
how they could react to it. It is noteworthy that the first consultations were
held with leaders of Armenia. That country and Belarus are regarded as the most
reliable allies of Russia in the post-Soviet space.
During his visit to Armenia on September 14-15 the Russian president discussed
with Armenia's leader Robert Kocharyan what could be done to provide
protection from terrorists. Speaking before journalists on September 15, Putin
talked about how the Russian leadership viewed the situation in the world
following the terrorist acts in the United States. He said the world situation
had changed long before the terrorist acts in the United Stats. "We simply
did not notice it. The tragic events in the United States have only highlighted
and confirmed those changes."
The Russian president stressed that "evil must be punished but we must not
behave like bandits acting from behind a corner" but "must rely on
verified facts."
In his opinion, the old security system in the world is no longer consonant with
today's realities, and it should be changed. He noted that "the parameters
of a new system of security should be discussed and worked out." He added
that the question would be discussed during his forthcoming meetings with the
U.S. president in Shanghai this year, during his upcoming visit to the United
States and in the course of his meetings in Brussels with the leadership of the
European Union and at NATO headquarters.
On September 17 Putin unexpectedly left Moscow for his residence in
Sochi. The president's press service could not say with certainty whether he was
going on a business trip or vacation. However, several hours later it became
clear he was not going on vacation. Putin had spent half a day holding
telephone consultations with the leaders of Azerbaijan, Turkmenia, Ukraine and
Kazakhstan. This crowded schedule might have indicated that either Russia was
probing the positions of neighboring countries on possible joint actions in the
fight against terrorists or was inviting them to subscribe to a decision already
made by it.
Russia's Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov hinted at the nature of that
decision at the start of his talks with U.S. Undersecretary of State John
Bolton in Moscow on September 17. Russia and the United States, he said,
must demonstrate utmost solidarity in the fight against international terrorism.
"The more solidarity we demonstrated in all directions, the more effective
those joint actions will be," he stressed.
Ivanov had declared earlier that "no measures should be ruled out in
the fight with terrorism, including forcible measures."
Those words might mean that Russia is ready to act on the side of the United
States in a possible military operation against Afghanistan's Taliban and their
"dear guests" from Islamic terrorist organizations provided Russia's
conditions are accepted and if it is proven that those organizations were
implicated in the terrorist acts in the United States.