| Yabloko faction leader Grigorii Yavlinsky told RFE/RL's Russian Service on
25 May that he considers the declaration on Russian-American strategic
cooperation signed last week by Presidents George W. Bush and Vladimir Putin
an even bigger achievement than the new strategic-arms reduction treaty that
they also signed. The strategic-cooperation document stresses the basic
values upon which the bilateral partnership will be built, including freedom
and respect for human rights -- principles that rarely figure in the
speeches of Russian politicians, Yavlinsky remarked. In addition, the
document identifies common threats and enemies and therefore could play a
crucial role in advancing Russian military reform by compelling the Russian
General Staff to shift its focus away from the historical threat from the
West and develop a new concept of national security. Finally, Yavlinsky
noted that Putin's domestic policy of "directed democracy" -- including
constraints on civil-society institutions -- is in conflict with his
progressive foreign-policy course, and this unresolved tension cannot last
forever.
See also:
Arms Control
Russia-US Relations
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Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, May 25, 2003
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