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Al-Ahram Weekly 28 Jan. - 3 Feb. 1999 Issue No. 414 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 28 Jan. - 3 Feb. 1999 Issue No. 414
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Focus Economy Opinion Culture Features Living Travel Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Friendly fire
By Abdel-Malek KhalilDespite strained relations over the recent US bombing of Iraq, Madeleine Albright found time for a whirlwind three-day visit to Russia this week. During a telephone conversation with the ailing Russian President Boris Yeltsin -- who is recuperating in a Moscow hospital from his latest bout with a bleeding stomach ulcer -- Albright told Yeltsin that Moscow remained important to Washington and the two countries must not let their differences sour their relations.
"She had a good conversation with him," US State Department Spokesman James Rubin told reporters at a press conference. "She raised the importance of keeping the relationship in a position to resolve problems and not let one or another disagreement move the relationship off its central importance."
The two sides announced that they signed a joint declaration on the strife-torn Serbian province of Kosovo, where Russia has traditionally supported the Serbs. Breaking with their long-standing policy, the Russians finally agreed to put pressure on the Serbs alongside the Americans. The joint declaration calls on Belgrade to abide by all UN Security Council resolutions, including provisions permitting UN observers to be stationed in Serbia.
However, beyond the joint stand on Kosovo, Albright admitted that all was not smooth sailing and that serious problems still needed to be ironed out between the two countries. "There are a number of issues that are on the table when we talk. On some we agree totally, and on some of them we disagree partially," Albright told a joint news conference with Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov after two days of talks in Moscow. "But I think that is in the spirit of two important countries who have their own national interest and is perfectly proper," she concluded.
Although Albright sounded conciliatory and sought to downplay Russia's strong anti-American position on Iraq, Kremlin officials stood their ground. Indeed, soon after the joint news conference ended the Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement strongly condemning the deaths of civilians during a US missile attack on the city of Basra on Monday. "Nothing can justify new deaths among the civilian population of Iraq, which has already been bled dry by the hardships of many years of blockade," said the statement.
The Russian government's strong condemnation of the latest US aggression against the besieged Arab country signaled a rupture in the carefully orchestrated and seemingly warm relations between the two countries that had prevailed since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.
But the most crucial point of contention for the Russians is Washington's alleged intention to deploy a high-tech national "umbrella" which could strike down any incoming missiles, a type of defence system outlawed by the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty. Although Albright did not categorically deny the US administration's plan to deploy the system at some point in the future, she tried hard to alleviate the Kremlin's concerns by stressing that the US was only proposing plans for research and development, and promised to keep the Russians abreast of all future developments.
Despite Albright's verbose efforts to diffuse the tension, the Russians remained sceptical. "The ABM treaty is considered by both the United States and Russia as a key element... in strategic stability, therefore any issue related to that treaty naturally gives cause for concern," retorted Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov. Eager to appease the Russians and overcome the current impasse, Albright announced plans to hold an ABM discussion forum between American and Russian experts next month.
