Viktor Yadukha, Lyudmila Novikova
Russia's peacefulness could help the country spare military expenses
The Kremlin hopes the global economic crisis could force Washington and Brussels to partially restrain its expansion into the East. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin urged European countries to put an end to NATO's further expansion, saying if the US decides against basing anti-missile systems in the Czech Republic and in Poland, Russia will not deploy Iskander missiles in Kaliningrad and will disband the Strategic Missile Forces division in the Kaluga Region.
Mr Putin also expressed his hope that the US will renew START II, the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty. If the hopes come to fruition, Russia will not need to boost its military budget.
Speaking at the international conference on humanitarian law in St Petersburg November 24, Putin urged European countries to establish basic parameters of arms control in the new European security treaty, which should be cantered around "three do not's". "First, do not ensure one's own security at the cost of others; second, do not take actions which would weaken the common security; and third, do not allow development and expansion of military alliances to get in the way of the interests of the treaty's other parties," Putin said.
The meaning is clear: the Prime Minister is referring to NATO's eastward expansion by accepting Ukraine and Georgia, which intend to become official NATO member candidates in December.
If the new US administration "refrains from placing anti-missile systems in the Czech Republic and in Poland, it goes without saying that Russia will not take any responsive measures," Putin said. The measures, mentioned by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in his address to the Federal Assembly November 5, are deploying Iskander missiles near Kaliningrad and refusal to disband the Strategic Missile Forces division in the Kaluga Region.
Mr Putin also expressed hope that the new US administration will agree to renew START II, the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, which expires in December 2009. The Kremlin hopes that Barack Obama's team will ignore the call by US Secretary of Defence Robert Gates to lift the ban on nuclear tests and modernise the US nuclear potential.
Putin's dovish statements stand in stark contrast to his anti-Western rhetoric of the past two years. Recently, President Dmitry Medvedev has also been unexpectedly congenial in addressing the West.
According to Alexander Khramchikhin, expert at the Russian Institute for Military and Political Analysis, the Kremlin is apparently hoping that Barack Obama's liberalism and Europe's unwillingness to engage in a new arms race will save Russia from massive military expenses.
"If NATO continues its expansion towards the East in the current economic crisis, Russia will face additional budget strains," Konstantin Makiyenko, expert at the AST Centre, noted.
Viktor Yadukha and Lyudmila Novikova