| Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Stephen PIFER will hold talks in the Russian capital today. But before meeting with officials, he spoke with the Vremya Novostei newspaper.
— I came to Moscow from Minsk. Belarus found itself in self-isolation as a result of the policies of President Lukashenko. This worries us. We are ready to work on this together. But Lukashenko needs to take steps towards liberalization: stop putting pressure on civil society and the media. If the situation worsens, we will consider taking other measures.
- Which ones specifically?
- Some measures are being discussed - a ban on issuing visas, which has already been applied. But we hope that Belarus’ response will be positive.
-- Ukraine is ready to allow NATO to station Alliance troops on its territory. Is Russia's concern in this regard justified?
-- No. The agreement between Ukraine and NATO stipulates the status of NATO troops should they ever be stationed on Ukrainian territory. This mainly concerns NATO forces who arrived in Ukraine for exercises. In 2000, military exercises were held in Ukraine three times with the participation of American troops, once Russian military personnel also took part in them. Each time we concluded a clear agreement that stipulated the status of American troops on Ukrainian territory. This agreement is purely technical; it does not mark any changes in the number of exercises or in their course.
— Kyiv sent troops to occupied Iraq. Does this affect Washington's attitude towards him?
-- Kyiv's decision to take part in the coalition in Iraq had a positive impact on relations between the United States and Ukraine. In the coming year, the October elections in Ukraine will have an impact on the development of our relations. We hope they will be free and fair, with equal opportunity for all parties.
— Moscow fears that US activities in the countries of the former USSR are aimed at squeezing Russia out of the region...
-- Over the past year, Russia has been pursuing a more confident and active policy in the space of the former USSR. Secretary of State Colin Powell, during a visit to Moscow in January, called for Russia to engage rather than resist in the post-Soviet space.
— Don’t you think that the presence of Russian troops in Adjara affected the peaceful resolution of the confrontation between Tbilisi and Batumi?
“I hope these troops remained neutral.” Ten days ago we discussed with the Russian side the conflict between Georgia and Adjara. The most important thing was to prevent violence. Russia has used its influence in a positive way. We are pleased that the tension has been relieved. Regarding the Russian bases in Adjara, we hope that negotiations between Georgia and Russia regarding the withdrawal of these bases will be held as soon as possible.
—What are the interests of Americans in the post-Soviet space?
-- Washington is interested in normal relations with the former USSR countries. The United States has economic interests in many of them, including in the energy sector. This is the development of oil and gas resources of Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, the introduction of these resources to world markets, and the construction of the Baku-Ceyhan pipeline. We do not believe that this is anti-Russian activity. We will only welcome the participation of Russian oil companies in the construction of this oil pipeline. In Central Asia, the interests of the United States and Russia coincide. We are interested in creating a stable region through which terrorists will not pass.
— When will the United States withdraw its bases from Central Asia?
- There are no deadlines, because we do not know when our counter-terrorism operation in Afghanistan will end. The presence of our troops is connected with its results.
— Last fall, you gave a sharp assessment of Russia’s activities in Chechnya...
- The situation in Chechnya is not black and white. First: we support Russian territorial integrity; Chechnya does not have a unilateral right to secede from Russia. Second: Russia has the right to defend itself from terrorists. But our position differs from the Russian one: we do not believe that the conflict in Chechnya is tied only to terrorism. We condemn terrorism. But we have been talking for three years now about how important it is to separate terrorists and Chechens. We are concerned about human rights violations during operations by Russian and Chechen security forces. The Russian government has a responsibility to ensure that operations are conducted with due discipline. We hoped that in the elections last October in Chechnya a leader would be legally elected who enjoyed the trust of the majority of the Chechen population. But at the last minute, four or five major candidates either withdrew or were removed from the ballot. So questions regarding Akhmat Kadyrov remain. We will only be glad to find out that we are wrong, and Kadyrov will peacefully put an end to this tragic situation in Chechnya. But so far he has not succeeded.
-- Last fall, President Putin accused the United States of having American representatives meeting in Qatar with Chechen Zelimkhan Yandarbiev. There is an opinion in Russia that the Americans helped the Qataris detain Russian security officers allegedly involved in his murder in February.
- Our check showed that Yandarbiev and I did not have any such contacts in 2003. Regarding the arrest of the Russians, we provided very little technical assistance to Qatar, but the Qataris mostly acted on their own. Interviewed by Andrey ZLOBIN
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