| MOSCOW - The decision by the world's wealthiest
industrial nations to help Russia dispose of its arsenal of nuclear,
biological and chemical weapons won support from some quarters
here on Friday, but angered others as a sign of Russia capitulating
to the West.
Retired Gen. Leonid Ivashov, known for his hawkish statements,
warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin was leading his country
into a potentially dangerous relationship with the West, first
by agreeing to closer cooperation with NATO and with the full
entry of Russia into the Group of Eight, which was approved at
the G8 summit in Canada this week.
The summit wrapped up on Thursday with a pledge of up to dlrs
20 billion to help keep Russia's arsenal from falling into the
hands of terrorists.
"Russia is invited to join, but we are treated like a beneficiary
not as an equal," said Ivashov, who added that he had some
questions about "the West's motive" in offering the
funds.
Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov criticized the pledge
of money as a discreet, backdoor way for the West to further weaken
Russian defensively.
"Despite all the buzz and propaganda, it is clear that
the billions of dollars to be allocated to Russia by Western countries
are designed to completely annihilate Russia's nuclear missile
shield," he said, according to Interfax news agency.
But Sergei Kiriyenko, who heads a state committee for the disarmament
of chemical weapons, called the G8 pledge "a personal victory
for the Russian President."
He said that Russia last year removed the detonators from its
40,000 tons (44,000 short tons) of chemical weapons and therefore
the weapons don't "pose a combat threat to anybody except
ourselves."
The G8 nations said the funding will support a 10-year program
to secure Russia's aging nuclear weapons, dismantle decommissioned
nuclear submarines and ensure that Russian scientists have adequate
employment.
Putin has denied that the weapons could fall into the hands
of terrorists, but said that Russia was grateful for the assistance.
Putin's increasing cooperation with the West following the Sept.
11 terrorist attacks in the United States has not been embraced
by all Russians. Some fear that the Kremlin has moved too quickly
to bind Russia to the international community without receiving
any tangible results.
Ivashov warned that the United States was moving toward a "unipolar
world" and Putin in his haste to build ties was giving up
Russia's natural position as a counterbalance. Alexei Arbatov,
a deputy chief of the Russian parliament's defense affairs committee,
said he feared that Russia was focusing too intently on the United
States and not enough on Russia's more natural partners in Europe.
"It is important to remember that the West is not only
America," Arbatov said.
See also:
Arms
Control | 