ZAGREB, Croatia — Russian President Vladimir Putin today warned that he sees NATO expansion up to his border as a “direct threat” but struck a friendly tone toward the West as he rejected the notion of a second Cold War.
“The appearance of a powerful military bloc along our borders would be taken in Russia as a direct threat to the security of my country,” Mr. Putin said during a press conference in Bucharest, Romania, on the final day of the NATO summit.
Mr. Putin met behind closed doors with leaders of NATO member nations, and then spoke to the press separately.
The former KGB agent, who will meet with President Bush in the Russian resort town of Sochi this weekend, continued to express displeasure at the prospect of Ukraine and Georgia being invited to join NATO’s membership action plan (MAP).
“I heard them saying today that the expansion is not directed against Russia. But it’s the potential, not intentions that matters,” he said, according to the Associated Press.
Mr. Putin, however, said he told other leaders in the NATO alliance, “Let’s be friends, guys, and engage in an honest dialogue.”
Mr. Bush got into the act, saying in remarks to the closed session that he and Mr. Putin were “two old war horses,” according to a senior Bush administration official.
In a positive development, Mr. Putin signed an agreement to allow nonlethal military goods through Russia to the NATO mission in Afghanistan.
Earlier this week, NATO members rejected the request from Ukraine and Georgia to be invited into MAP, despite several weeks of private lobbying by Mr. Bush of key objectors Germany and France, as well as public statements.
Though it was a setback for the Bush administration, a NATO summit resolution yesterday said that Ukraine and Georgia “will become NATO members,” possibly as soon as December.
NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer reiterated the promise of a MAP invitation today, saying that “these countries will become members of NATO — there can be no misunderstanding about that.”
Ukrainian President Victor Yushchenko declared the NATO decision “a victory for Ukraine,” and Georgian Foreign Minister David Bakradze called it “a historic event.”
The Bush administration also trumpeted it as a victory, saying it was a sign that NATO members disregarded Russian pressure to deny the two former Soviet bloc satellites. A Russian official also expressed displeasure over NATO’s backing in the resolution of the U.S.-backed missile defense system planned for Eastern Europe. Sergei Ryabkov, who heads the Russian Foreign Ministry’s department for European cooperation, also said Russia has “new concerns about plans to integrate U.S. missile defense plans with NATO system.” “We can’t sit aside and watch how they rubber-stamp decisions made by other people changing the security situation for Russia,” Mr. Ryabkov said, according to the Associated Press. Bush administration officials have said in recent days that the Russians appear more receptive to the missile defense system, as they have heard arguments that the plan is not aimed at them but is intended to defend Europe from missile attacks out of the Middle East. Mr. Bush left the NATO summit today en route for Zagreb, Croatia, where he met with President Stjepan Mesic and attended a dinner at the president’s office. Tomorrow Mr. Bush will deliver a speech in St. Mark’s Square before flying on to Russia. The speech will focus on the expansion of NATO this week to include Croatia and Albania, and the need for Macedonia’s dispute with Greece over its name to be resolved quickly so they too can be added. Mr. Bush will meet with the leaders of Albania and Macedonia and trumpet NATO membership as offering “the promise of security and stability,” a White House official said. He’ll also talk about a Europe that is “whole, free and at peace” and the contributions they’re making in Afghanistan. Mr. Bush and Mr. Putin will have dinner together tomorrow night and then meet Sunday morning in the Russian resort town of Sochi, where missile defense and NATO expansion to include Ukraine and Georgia will be top items of discussion. NATO’s backing of the missile defense system gives Mr. Bush international support and a leg up as he heads into the talks, despite his inability to conclusively win the battle over MAP invitations. The NATO statement drafted yesterday says that missile attacks, which the U.S. says could come from rogue states such as Iran, pose “an increasing threat to Allies’ forces, territory and populations.” “Missile defense forms part of a broader response to counter this threat,” the statement says, encouraging Russia “to take advantage of United States missile defense cooperation proposals.” Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice yesterday called the statement “a breakthrough document.” National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley said that “there has been, over 10 years, a real debate as to whether there is a ballistic missile threat, and I think that debate [has] ended.”
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