Peaceful, political resolution of the Iranian nuclear problem on the basis of the reached accords, mutual account of interests and respect is possible

Sergei V. Lavarov
Minister of Foreign Affairs, RUSSIA

Q1: What real results have been achieved in fighting the main evil, international terrorism? Bin Laden is still at large. There are explosions going off in Iraq and Afghanistan, and individuals like Akhmed Zakayev are roaming freely in the US and Europe.

Lavrov: I have already mentioned some concrete results of the fight against terrorism last year. These include important concrete resolutions of the UN Security Council that put higher demands to all states as regards practical compliance with the resolutions aimed at strengthening the global anti-terror coalition, preventing weapons of mass destruction and means of their delivery from falling into the hands of terrorists. These include the strengthening of the Nonproliferation Initiative, interaction between Russia and NATO on counter-terrorist issues, including the signing in Brussels in December of last year of a joint plan of action within the framework of the NATO-Russia Council for fighting terrorism, which envisages exchange of confidential information, joint exercises and training, the development of explosives detectors, and other very concrete activities that take our counter- terror] st partnership within the Russia-NATO Council to a new level. These include Russia’s participation in Operation Active Endeavor in the Mediterranean aimed at preventing the smuggling of materials that terrorists can use for their purposes, as well as the decision of the Black Sea countries to commit the Black Sea cooperation mechanism, the so-called Blackseafor, to fighting terrorism and WMD proliferation. Such decisions have been adopted, and they will be implemented, including through collective patrolling by Blackseafor military vessels of the Black Sea area; the joint exercises carried out in Russia with our NATO partners: Accident-2004 and Kaliningrad-2004; and the strengthening of counter-terrorist topics in Russia’s dialogue with the US, the European Union, and many other countries. Strategic groups have been set up to further bilateral cooperation on counter-terrorism, they work, they meet with the participation of foreign ministries, special services, and other agencies that are involved in such activities. The exchange of information is very useful. In a number of cases attempts to prepare and carry out terrorist acts were prevented. So, I see impressive achievements in this field. The terrorist threat is still there of course, but nobody has ever said that the fight against terrorism will be over quickly. For this fight to be more successful it is necessary to renounce double standards in this field and apply the same yardstick to all those who train and inspire terrorists and certainly to those who perpetrate terrorist acts. And in this connection we expect that the people suspected of complicity in terrorist activities will be extradited to the countries that demand it. Especially since Resolution 1566 of the UN Security Council passed in the wake of Beslan expressly stresses the need to apply common criteria to such individuals. Ideally, there should be a common list of all those involved in terrorist activities. Russia has submitted a relevant proposal to the Security Council. It is now being studied, and a special group has been created to explore this issue.

Q2: Sergei Viktorovich, you said there would be no Cold War. But I have lived in Russia for 13 years, and I have seen that relations between our countries under Putin and Bush are not as warm as they used to be under Yeltsin and Clinton. Don’t you find that there has been certain cool down in our relations and people tend to look at each other rather as an enemy, than a friend? And how have the political changes in Russia in the past months, that President Putin mentioned, affected Russia’s image abroad?

Lavrov: I don’t think that relations between presidents Putin and Bush are less warm than between presidents Yeltsin and Clinton. Along with other things, one should understand what we mean when we speak about warm relations. They may be very warm, even hot, but they may fail to lead to concrete actions. And they may be friendly, normal, kind, not overheated, and promote equitable partnership, dialogue, and cooperation on practical things.

I can say that we regard relations between the two presidents as being in line with the latter model. These are relations of mutual respect between the two leaders who are well disposed to each other. They can meet and can discuss any issue, get answers and respect each other’s position. The presidents can agree on how to further relations. But it is true that their accords do not always implemented in full measure the way the presidents would like to see them implemented. Sometimes bureaucracy tries to modify them. We find that wrong, and we will persistently work for decisions made by our leaders to be translated into life properly. As I have already said, this will be discussed in Bratislava.

I have not heard that any more or less substantial segment of the public in Russia tends to regard the United States as an enemy. Even in the hardest times when Cold War had begun after World War II, we did not regard the United States as an enemy. Both countries had the term "potential enemy". This was due to the fact that the United States and the Soviet Union had huge nuclear missile capabilities. But I do not think that most Russians consider the United States an enemy. As for our domestic political reform, as it has been noted many times and as any unbiased observer can see, they have been implemented strictly in line with the Constitution of the Russian Federation and the principle of federalism declared in it. The Council of Europe’s Venice Commission has recently confirmed that these reforms are in line with the principle of federalism. There are assessments from foreign observers on that score as well.

As regards Russia’s image, we all want to be perceived in the world — this is a natural wish that every country should have — as a normal country. This is not an end in itself for us. Reforms are carried out in order to strengthen our country and to respond to the challenges to the integrity of our country that are quite tangible, and to its place in the world. These reforms are necessary for governance to be more effective and facilitate the development of the economy not only in the fuel and energy sector but in the high technology sphere as well. This indeed calls for serious attention on the part of the state at all levels, including the regional level. In order to ensure that the government takes more account of the needs of people, the Public Chamber is being created. The world needs a strong Russia because it is in everybody’s interests, it is in the interests of more effective fight against terrorism. more effective fight against the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and new challenges. If those who understand this see these reforms as being positive for our country and for the destinies of the world. then we believe that their assessment is correct. Those who think that a strong Russia is not in their interests they will probably perceive a different image. But, I repeat, this is not our problem.

Q3: How would you comment on President Bush’s words that he did not rule out the possibility of military actions in Iran? What measures will Russia to prevent the worst scenario?

Lavrov: Speaking about Iran, I would like to stress that the main parties to negotiations and contacts aimed at resolving the nuclear issue in that country proceed from the need to settle it by political, diplomatic methods. There are opportunities for that. This was confirmed by the meeting of the IAEA Board of Governors in November of last year, which considered the agreement reached among three European countries: France, Britain, and Germany, on the one hand, and Iran on the other. It was supported by Russia that had parallel contacts with the European troika and Iran. An agreement has been reached on the freezing of Iran’s uranium enrichment program and continued close cooperation between Iran and the IAEA, free of closed topics. If all parties adhere to the agreement that calls for the development of cooperation with Iran in the energy and economic spheres and in the settlement of the situation in the region, I am convinced that we will achieve the desired results. I don’t consider it useful to speak, even hypothetically, about the situation that may arise if someone resorts to other methods than diplomatic and political ones. I repeat, it is my conviction that that a peaceful, political resolution of the Iranian nuclear problem on the basis of the reached accords, mutual account of interests and respect is possible. Russia will do everything for those accords to be implemented.

Q4: What could you say about relations between Russia and the EU? Is there a need for a more active policy with regard to the EU? What should Russia to, and what should the EU do?

Lavrov: I hope that in the next several months we will be able to implement the accords reached at the Russia-EU summit in The Hague in November of last year. As Dutch Prime Minister Jan Ballcenende put it, we can approve and adopt "road maps" in the very near future, covering four spaces between Russia and the European Union. We proceed from the understanding that it is very important to complete this work before the next summit with the European Union in Moscow on May 10, but, I repeat, Prime Minister Ballcenende expressed the hope that this could be done sooner. At this point, this is the most realistic goal in our relations with the European Union. As for the more philosophical question as what Russia should do and what the European Union should do in order to promote the development of our partnership, we are interested in the development of such partnership. We find it a separate and important factor in global policies. Perhaps we should approach the creation of those four common spaces on equitable terms. I would draw an analogy with how we develop cooperation within the framework of the Russia-NATO Council where there are no blocs, and there are just countries that act in their own capacity. Work within the Russia-NATO Council aims to single out common issues on which all countries are interested to cooperate. Work is based on joint analysis of problems and joint elaboration of mechanisms for their resolution. We would like to deal with the European Union the same way, even though sometimes our European colleagues want to approve something among themselves, and then invite Russia to join it on the terms they have agreed to inside the European Union. This hardly meets present-day requirements. We want to develop our relations on the basis of equality and mutual benefit. We hope that the "road maps" will be formulated and our cooperation in the medium term will develop this way.

Q5: What is Russia’s role in the Middle East, including Iraq, since Russia is a cosponsor of the Middle East peace process and a member of the quartet of international mediators? What role can the upcoming visit of President al-Assad of Syria play?

Lavrov: Russia is indeed a member of quartet that deals with the Middle East settlement. We took part in the quartet’s latest ministerial meeting in Sharm-el­Sheikh that worked out good agreements on how to proceed in the Middle East, above all, on the issue of Palestinian-Israeli settlement. Russia will actively seek to ensure compliance with these agreements. These were the topics of the visits by the Minister and his deputies to the Middle East, and of the negotiations with the Israeli and Palestinian leadership over the past weeks and months. We believe that there is no alternative to the "road map" adopted by the quartet and then approved by the UN Security Council, for it aims to reach a Palestinian-Israeli settlement. It is extremely important in this context that it is not limited to Palestinian-Israeli settlement only and that the Syrian and Lebanese tracks remain an inalienable part of a general settlement in the Middle East. All of the UN Security Council decisions are aimed at this. So, while hailing Israel’s planned pullout from Gaza, we, like other members of the quartet, expect this to be the start of real movement by the "road map". We have grounds to believe that the Palestinian and Israeli leadership are ready to ensure that this is the case and resume direct talks between Palestinians and Israelis in the near future. Naturally, to make this possible, it is necessary to put an end to violence and we are taking the necessary steps in our contacts with the parties and coordinating them with our partners in the United States, the EU and the United Nations.

(Excerpts: The press conference of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation on the Foreign Policy results of 2004, January 19,2005; courtesy: The Embassy of the Russian Federation, Nepal.)

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