08 June 2004 15:33
"At G8 summit USA needs Russia more than Russia needs USA" - pundit
"Russia is approaching the G8 summit in a very strong position", Sergey Rogov, the director of the US and
Canadian Studies Institute, told Russian Ekho Moskvy radio on 8 June 2004.
"This is a rare occasion when the USA needs Russia more than Russia needs the USA," Rogov said. This
concerns Russia's political as well as economic situation, since Russian President Vladimir Putin has just won the
presidential election, while the USA will be asking for help and support, especially in terms of Iraq and the
approaching presidential election in the USA.
Asked for his comment on the contribution to Russia's modern history made by the late US president, Ronald
Reagan, Rogov warned against overestimating the late president's role. "It was not Reagan but the Russian
people who decided to change Russia into what it is today", said Rogov.
Rogov spoke about the agenda of the summit, saying that such items as oil prices, the fate of the Middle East, as
well as the domestic situation in Russia, including the Yukos chief case or the infringement of human rights in
Chechnya, are likely to be discussed at informal meetings.
Nuclear security issues are on the agenda, including ways of preventing nuclear terrorism, as well as various
initiatives concerning chemical and biological weapons.
Rogov denied rumours spread by some politicians in Russia to the effect that the USA wants to throw Russia out of the
G8 club.
The decisions taken at such summits are political declarations but they are followed by specific steps taken in
necessary directions, Rogov explained.
G8 may become an international club in future, Rogov said. However, several powers, no matter how strong they are,
cannot impose their will on the world. Unfortunately, the USA has been breaching international standards over the past
few year, like in the case of the Iraq war. Recently the impression has been that the USA is coming back to
international standards. The resolution on Iraq that will be adopted by the UN Security Council today will show whether
the USA will come back to the standards or it will go on using the so-called law of the fittest, Rogov said.
[Ekho Moskvy radio] |
RUSSIA IN FACTS
