Yabloko positively assesses the foreign policy conducted “very recently” by the President of Russia Vladimir Putin.

In an with journalists on Friday, November 16, 2001, the First Deputy Head of the Yabloko faction in the State Duma Sergei Ivanenko noted that this concerned above all the period since the tragic events in the USA on September 11. “This is the course of the President that we support,” said Ivanenko.

Ivanenko also noted that today we are witness “not only to the relics of the cold war, but also to the problems that have emerged over the past years that abruptly deteriorated these relationships” in the attitude of the international community to Russia.

“The fact that today Vladimir Putin has changed the vector from “minus” to “plus” represents a positive development,” added Ivanenko.

Consequently the visit of the Russian President to the USA is significant, and “in general this visit may be considered a success,” said Ivanenko. However, he also noted that few specific decisions were adopted, but that the main result is that it demonstrated “a consolidation of the moral stance of our societies and an improvement in relationships between the two largest countries in the world.”

Ivanenko also drew the attention of the journalists to the friendly atmosphere of the meeting between Vladimir Putin and George Bush. Ivanenko thinks that the reaction of the US President was attributable to a certain extent to that fact that Vladimir Putin was one of the first world leaders to express “directly and clearly” his support for the USA and the American people immediately after the tragic events of September 11.

Ivanenko also pointed out to journalists the content-part of the visit, where the two presidents discussed the key problems of strategic stability, issues connected with the situation around Afghanistan, as well as economic relationships between the two countries.

Yet it is too early to speak about reaching some definite agreements, as judging by the declarations of the presidents the parties adhered to the positions they had held before the meeting, above all with regards the ABM Treaty of 1972 and some aspects of our economic relationships, noted Ivanenko.

He also said that a certain breakthrough could be observed here: for the first time since the end of the Second World War the Americans had discussed their plan of action with the heads of other countries, in particular, the anti-terrorist operation in Afghanistan in this case. “We should highly estimate this,” said Ivanenko.

However Ivanenko also expressed a desire that “decisions on all issues subject to discussion should be taken more rapidly.” This refers to the economic problems and the issues of strategic stability, explained Ivanenko. “The rapid resolution of the problem of a general reduction in the nuclear potential to 1,500 warheads from both sides is in our interests,” said Ivanenko.

He also noted that there were grounds for believing that the issues raised during Vladimir Putin’s visit to the USA would be resolved, as “it is extremely important that both Vladimir Putin and George Bush think in the same categories to disclose and resolve such problems.”

Based on Interfax reports.