Author: Elisabeth Bumiller and
Patrick E. Tyler
Publication: The New York Times
Date: November 22, 2002
URL: http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/22/international/22CND-NATO.html?pagewanted==print&position=top
President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia
welcomed President Bush to his hometown today, then raised pointed questions
about the reliability of two important American allies in the campaign
against terrorism, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.
In remarks made at Mr. Bush's side
in the majestic setting of Catherine Palace outside St. Petersburg, Mr.
Putin also suggested that the disappearance of Osama bin Laden, the leader
of Al Qaeda, was a major piece of unfinished business as the Bush administration
focused its attention on a possible war in Iraq.
The Russian leader cast strong doubt
on America's choice of allies in the antiterror campaign. ``We should not
forget about those who finance terrorism,'' Mr. Putin said, adding bluntly
that 16 of the 19 terrorists who committed the Sept. 11 attacks ``are citizens
of Saudi Arabia, and we should not forget about that.''
Then, turning to Pakistan, Mr. Putin
abruptly said: ``Now where has Osama bin Laden taken refuge? They say he
is somewhere between Afghanistan and Pakistan.''
Mr. Putin said that while he supported
Pakistan's president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, he asked, ``What can happen
with armies armed with weapons that exist in Pakistan, including weapons
of mass destruction?'' He added, ``We should not forget about this.''
American diplomats say that Mr.
Putin has often expressed doubts about the trustworthiness of Pakistan
as an ally, and has referred to the Pakistani military leadership in private
conversations as ``a junta with nukes.''
Senior administration officials
appeared reluctant tonight to characterize Mr. Putin's comments. One official
said Mr. Putin ``expressed those kinds of concerns'' during the meeting
with Mr. Bush, and suggested that Mr. Putin was ``talking about a broader
problem.'' The official did not elaborate further, except to say, ``that's
his view and not ours.''
The Russian leader's remarks did
not seem to be a direct criticism of American policy, nor did they appear
to be a gratuitous needling of Mr. Bush. In fact, both men emphasized the
positive developments in their countries' relations since they first met
in June 2001. But in the context of what both described today as a strong,
personal relationship that allowed them to be extremely frank with each
other, Mr. Putin seemed compelled to speak out.
Mr. Bush said their frankness was
a product of their closeness. ``Like other good friends I have had throughout
my life, we don't agree 100 percent of the time, but we always agree to
discuss things in a frank way,'' Mr. Bush said.
But Mr. Bush, instead of responding
to the Russian's questions, simply brought the news conference to a close,
saying: ``We've got a plane to catch. Don't keep us waiting.''
Earlier in the news conference,
Mr. Bush declared significant progress in the campaign against terrorism
with the capture of Abd Al-Rahim al-Nashiri, a senior Qaeda agent described
as the chief of operations in the Persian Gulf region.
``America and Russia and people
who love freedom are one person safer as a result of us finding this guy,''
Mr. Bush said.
Mr. Bush flew to this snow-covered
capital of imperial Russia to report to Mr. Putin on the NATO summit meeting
in Prague, which concluded today. Western diplomats said it was crucial
for Mr. Bush to reward Russia's acquiescence in NATO's largest and most
significant expansion along Russia's frontier.
In fact, White House officials said,
Mr. Bush's Russian stopover came at Mr. Putin's request - an indication
that Mr. Putin needed the visit to calm domestic criticism over the expansion
of NATO, the alliance created to contain the Soviet Union. Mr. Bush immediately
agreed.
``I have just come from NATO,''
Mr. Bush said. ``My visit with Vladimir was my first stop after Prague.
The mood of the NATO countries is this: Russia is our friend. We've got
a lot of interests together; we must continue our cooperation in the war
on terror; and the expansion of NATO should be welcomed by the Russian
people.''
In contrast to the rancor with which
Russia greeted NATO's first expansion in 1999, when Poland, Hungary and
the Czech Republic were admitted, Mr. Putin expressed only a muted skepticism
today.
In his opening remarks, Mr. Putin
referred to ``the problem'' of NATO expansion. When he returned to the
subject, he said that he did not think it was necessary for NATO to admit
the seven new members - all former Communist countries - in order to enhance
their security and bind them to Europe.
But, the Russian president added,
``we take note of the position taken by the president of the United States,
and we hope to have positive development of our relations with all NATO
countries.''
Earlier, Mr. Bush and Mr. Putin
met for 90 minutes with aides and interpreters in the ornately appointed
Blue Drawing Room of the 19th-century palace, where the Romanovs spent
their summers. Under portraits of Catherine the Great and Peter the Great,
Mr. Bush and Mr. Putin took on several tough issues, about which they said
little in public.
The most sensitive was the situation
in the Russian territory of Chechnya, which neither leader even mentioned
at the news conference. Later, a White House official said that Mr. Bush
repeated his administration's longstanding admonishment that there be a
political solution to the grinding conflict there between Russian Army
forces and separatist rebels.
For his part, Mr. Bush took away
from St. Petersburg another important endorsement for disarming Saddam
Hussein and Iraq in the form of a joint United States-Russia statement.
In particular, American officials said they were pleased that Russia agreed
to a call for Iraq to ``cooperate fully and unconditionally in its disarmament
obligations or face serious consequences.''
But the statement was neither as
strong nor as broad as a document issued on Wednesday by the 19 NATO leaders
in Prague. The Russian document, for example, did not deplore Iraq's violations
of United Nations resolutions, as the NATO statement did. It also made
no commitment, as the NATO allies did, to take action if Iraq failed to
disarm.
And in the news conference, Mr.
Putin urged Mr. Bush to ``stay within the framework'' of the weapons inspections
being carried out by the United Nations Security Council. Mr. Putin's call
echoed the strong sentiments still coming from European capitals that the
Bush administration refrain from acting unilaterally in Iraq. Mr. Putin
praised the work of the United Nations weapons inspectors, and said they
were carrying out ``a very complex'' task.
For Mr. Putin, the high point of
the visit was the announcement of a joint ``energy dialogue'' that holds
the potential to bring significant American investment to Russia's oil
and gas industry. He said that one of the greatest benefits of expanding
United States-Russia relations was the mobilization of American oil and
gas companies to explore the potential of the Russian energy market.
In October, an American-Russia commercial
energy summit meeting was held in Houston, and Mr. Putin thanked the 70
energy companies that attended. Next year, the executives are to come to
Russia.
After his talks with the Russian
leader, Mr. Bush flew with Secretary of State Colin L. Powell to Vilnius,
Lithuania, a former Soviet republic and one of the new NATO nations.
