ABC.es, Spain, published an interview with economist and member of the liberal Yabloko party Grigory Yavlinsky. “Russia’s annexationist zeal has already brought Russia a thousand of kilometers of hostile border in the South, but a new war would be madness. I am also concerned by Ukraine, Moldova and Byelorussia. There is a danger of Russia’s interference into their domestic affairs,” he says. According to Yavlinsky, Moscow formulates its foreign policy priorities trying to create its zones of influence where it is not welcome and where it has nothing to offer but oil and gas.
“It’s good that Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev have begun talking, however, I don’t think that they can reach any special agreements here,” Grigory Yavlinsky notes in view of the forthcoming visit of US President to Moscow. In his opinion, Russia’s position towards the rest of the world is absolutely undefined at present. “Its ambitions do not correspond to its economic or technological potential or its socio-political development,” he says. Today Russia demonstrates a trend towards growth of authoritarianism, neoimperialism, corruption and anti-Western propaganda in the mass media which “does not allow us to develop adequate foreign and defence policies,” and “dangerous geostrategical policies emerge instead of it,” Yavlinsky says.
“There is no any third way out, there is a road leading to the third world. Russia should reduce its militant declarations. An exaggerated role of nuclear weapons in Russia’s defence doctrine reflects failure of its military reform,” Yavlinsky stresses.
According to Yavlinsky, Vladimir Putin’s anti-crisis strategy is reduced to wait and see policies – until the situation in the USA improves: we “hope that their economy will revive, the same will take place in Europe, and everything will become normal again,” he said. He also stressed that Medvedev did not manage to come out of Putin’s shade, and speaking about the possibility of the President to conduct his independent policies he notes “who will obey him?”
See also:
The original at
http://www.abc.es/20090705/internacional-europa/bueno-obama-medvedev-hablen-20090705.html
Russia-US Relations
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