Obama, Medvedev agreed to disagree only on Georgia in G20

Obama, Medvedev agreed to disagree only on Georgia in G20

Interview with: Konstantin Kosachev, Duma International Affairs Committee Chairman

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev (L) and US President Barack Obama meet for the first time at Winfield House in London, England, April 1, 2009 Related Stories Obama, Medvedev agreed to disagree only on Georgia in G20

In an exclusive interview with New Europe, Konstantin Kosachev, Chairman of the International Affairs Committee of the Russian Duma – who sat in on the first-ever meeting between US President Barack Obama and Russian President Dimitry Medvedev on the sidelines of the G20 economic summit in London – said he marveled at their friendly accord, the new American leader’s easy-going but serious manner, and revealed the ambitious course the two world leaders set on critical issues, ranging from reaching agreement on a new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START-II) before the current agreement expires on December. 5. In a 15-minute tete-a-tete, Obama, he said, accepted an invitation to go to Russia in July to set a framework for a new agreement. They also tied that in with whether the US will abandon plans for an EU missile defence shield in Poland and the Czech Republic, and conversed on a range of issues that positioned the once Cold War adversaries as trying to re-assert their world leadership in a time of global peril, terrorism, and the threat of a new arms build-up, with vexing problems like Iran’s nuclear programme and North Korea testing long-range missiles, as well as the role of a new NATO leadership. Kosachev, a prominent and well-respected diplomatic leader in Russia, the EU and the world, had a ringside seat as Obama and Medevev talked easily and casually about the most serious issues facing the two countries and the world, and outlined the framework of the talks to New Europe. He is uniquely positioned to understand the gravity of their discussions, as chairman of the Duma Committee on International Affairs and having worked in various Russian diplomatic missions as well as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He represented Russia in negotiations with the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and has his Ph.D. from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, known as MGIMO.

NO MEDVEDEV-MCCAIN
He said Obama and Medvedev had previously talked on the telephone but settled into a head-to-head meeting immediately while other world leaders were discussing the global recession and a number of press conferences were underway, which he said were overshadowed by the private talks between the Russian and American leaders.

Of all the events at the G20, he said, “The most exciting and spectacular, the most exciting meeting was of course of Mr. Medvedev and Mr. Obama,” as the new American president continued to impress other world leaders with his manner and ability to listen to other points of view, which Kosachev would not have happened if Obama’s rival for the presidency, US Sen. John McCain, a Republican who is more hawkish on foreign affairs, had won. “While I was sitting there, I had imagined that theoretically it could be a meeting between Mr. Medvedev and Mr. McCain, if Mr. McCain had won. I believe it would have been a completely different story, completely different story, because that meeting yesterday was a very open, very friendly meeting. They of course started with some formal words, but after about five minutes Mr. Obama proposed, ‘Look now, we go into business. I have a list of matters which I would like to take up with you but, please, be the first one.’Mr. Medvedev, of course, had his own list of issues to be discussed and, you know, it was almost about everything which is of importance.” NO MORE NUKES
The most urgent priority was nuclear arms reduction and reaching agreement on a new START treaty which Kosachev said is imperative to replace the existing document which allows each country to have 6,000 nuclear warheads, although they only have about 2,000 each now, he said, the result of the initial agreement reached in 1991 as the Soviet Union was collapsing and Ronald Reagan was the American president. “Just to prolong the treaty would mean something completely stupid, that both countries would have the chance to increase the amount of warheads, which is stupid of course.

So we need something which will replace the existing treaty but what is important is that it will not just be a statement, letter of intent, saying ‘Look, the number of warheads will be that one.’” He said the existing START treaty has very much to do with a verification process: “How they will check the balance, and there are many technical details which need to be re-discussed, renegotiated, and set into practice.” The day after the two leaders talked, Obama said he would push for a nuclear-free world and cautioned North Korea against firing a longrange rocket.

“Even with the Cold War over, the spread of nuclear weapons, or the theft of nuclear material, could lead to the extermination of any city on the planet,” he told an audience of several thousand young people at a town hall meeting in Strasbourg, France, where he went for the 60th anniversary of NATO meetings, and then to an EU Summit in Prague under the Czech Republic presidency of the European Union. In a joint statement issued in London, Obama and Medvedev emphasised a commitment to build on START, which had “completely fulfilled its intended purpose,” as well as further scaling back nuclear stockpiles held by Russia and the US, but that didn’t include the details Kosachev provided to New Europe.

The question of nuclear arms reduction was tied to the EU missile defence shield, an idea which began under former president George W. Bush, and which resurfaced in connection with European security, Kosachev said. “Mr. Medvedev described his idea of creating something which we call Helsinki Plus. Of course they spoke about NATO, they spoke about anti-missile systems in Poland and the Czech Republic and Mr. Obama confirmed that Americans are going to re-analyse both the price and efficiency of this system. So both questions are still there, whether it is worth paying that amount of money and whether this system may be efficient and for what purpose, of course. Both confirmed that there is a very interesting idea just existing in the air, to start with, practical cooperation on that issue, with, say, exchange of data and information from each country,” he said.

POLITE DISAGREEMENT ON GEORGIA
That led to the issue of Russia’s brief but deadly skirmish with Georgia last year after Georgian forces moved into South Ossetia, a move Kosachev said was misguided because he said Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili mistakenly believed Western enticements about becoming a member of NATO would protect his country from a Russian response. Obama, he said, told Medvedev the US would never recognise South Ossetia and the other Georgia breakaway province of Abkhazia as Russia has, but that there was no rancor between them, even though they disagreed politically and pragmatically.

“Our position stays unchanged as well; we do not withdraw this recognition. But (this issue) was just mentioned, as a matter of disagreement. All other things were discussed in much deeper details.” He said he left impressed with Obama, who he said, “is a very ambitious politician, and he wants to achieve progress in many areas. It is not just about relations with Russia, it is about many other things of course. We see how he tries to address Afghanistan issue, Pakistan issue, Iran issue, and, to my mind, we may cooperate, we may work together very efficiently.” The question revolved around EU security and NATO, he said.

“Obama, while discussing NATO enlargement, for example, he meant that each sovereign country has a right to choose its security policy, which was absolutely accepted by Mr. Medvedev. No doubt that we have no veto right about Georgia, about Ukraine. But what is important is to, first, know that there is a democratic process and the decision made by the people of that country, which is not the case with Ukraine, for example, that this decision is not being forced on a certain country.

And secondly, it is very important to understand that each new member state of NATO strengthens global security, brings some added value to that system, and not disturbs the process, like what happened with Georgia. We believe that Mr. Saakashvili moved forward, and everybody knows now that he was the first one to start this and so it’s quite sure that he was definitely influenced by promises given to him by Western leaders that Georgia will definitely be a member state of NATO, and it influenced this development in a very tragic way.” While he said he could not reveal further details, he said “The outcome of this meeting … was a most positive one and I’m very optimistic now.”

For a relatively short meeting, it was chock-a-block with issues, including terrorism and the situation in Afghanistan. “You know, in most issues, they could agree with each other and they promised each other to start cooperation, a real cooperation again, because according to Mr. Obama and according to Mr. Medvedev, not very much happened in our bilateral relations during the last years,” and he said Obama’s presidency provided a chance for Russia and the US to hit the re-set button and not be as confrontational as sometimes occurred when Bush was president.