Bush gets conflicting signals over Russia policy

Washington, Jul 14: Fifteen years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, conflicting forces are once again vying to shape US policy toward Moscow.

With language sometimes echoing Cold War mistrust, lawmakers from across the political spectrum are urging Washington to use this weekend's Group of Eight summit to get tough with Russia over what they see as backsliding on democracy.

Behind the scenes, however, American business interests are lobbying against anything that might offend Moscow's political sensibilities and endanger access to Russia's booming economy.

''Some of the rhetoric has gone too far,'' said Blake Marshall, executive vice-president of the US-Russia Business Council, a Washington-based lobbying group. ''When politics starts to get in the way of commerce, that's a concern to us.'' The debate has yet to evoke the kind of ideological fervor it did during the Soviet era when American hawks and doves battled over policy, but new lines of engagement are emerging.

For US President George W Bush, the challenge will be in coming to grips with those differing approaches when he meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday before the G8 major-power summit opens in St Petersburg.

White House aides see it as a difficult balancing act.

Bush will be under pressure to make good on his pledge to express his concerns to Putin over Russia's democratic record. The US administration has also accused Moscow of using its vast energy supplies to bully its neighbors.

But Bush can ill afford further strains in relations when the United States and other Western powers need Moscow's support at the United Nations to help thwart Iran and North Korea's nuclear ambitions.

''There is very little leverage that the West has over Russia, and that is part of the dilemma,'' Clifford Gaddy, a Russia expert at the Brookings Institution, said at a round-table discussion on the July 15-17 G8 summit.

Washington's newfound focus on Russia marks a shift in post-Cold War foreign-policy priorities. Once feared as a nuclear-armed foe, ex-communist Russia had become by the late 1990s an economic basket case in the eyes of most Americans. Now with Russia's coffers brimming with petrodollars, Americans are waking up to Moscow's growing international clout, in some cases with deep concern.

Senior senators and House members lately have pressed Bush to do more to get Russia back on the path of democratic reform. They accuse Putin of clamping down on dissent and wielding oil and gas reserves as a geopolitical tool.

''Russia is moving totally in an authoritarian direction,'' Democratic Rep. Tom Lantos of California told Reuters. ''It is now using the petroleum weapon instead of the Red Army to achieve its objectives.'' Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain, a potential 2008 presidential candidate, had even urged Bush to boycott the St Petersburg summit to protest Putin's record on democracy.

Although Bush says he won't lecture Putin, Vice President Dick Cheney did just that in a European tour in May. He accused Moscow of backtracking on democracy and using energy resources for blackmail, triggering an angry Kremlin denial.

Some US companies seeking a bigger slice of the Russian market are increasingly alarmed by what they see as ''Russia-bashing'' that damages their prospects in a country already suspicious of Western intentions.

Marshall said Russia should be treated like China, where Washington, to the dismay of human rights groups and pro-democracy activists, often handles political disputes on a separate track to avoid souring the climate for US business.

Lantos said US business interests were sometimes ''blinded by their own commercial goals.'' However, mindful of the financial stakes, Bush will also be bringing a package of possible incentives to Russia.

Negotiators are finalizing a deal for Russia's long-awaited accession to the World Trade Organization. Bush is also expected to offer talks on civilian nuclear cooperation.

Both programs have set alarm bells ringing in Congress, and critics warn of a tough fight for approval.

REUTERS

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