Lavrov: Financial crisis leading to greater U.S.-Russia cooperation
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov gave an interesting interview to Der Spiegel today. He expresses some optimism about relations between Russia and the United States, attributing the thaw to the need to address the financial crisis:
The global financial crisis is forcing all countries to focus on the real problems. It’s actually a simple task….We can no longer afford the luxury of little
geopolitical games, because we all face challenges that directly affect
our citizens. So we should no longer ideologize problems, we should
instead honestly express our own national interests, understand the
legitimate interests of our partners, and have no more hidden agendas,
where one thing is said while something else is done behind someone’s
back. The signals that we are receiving indicate that our Western
partners are aiming for the same objectives.
Lavrov also denies (though not quite explicitly) that Russia put any pressure on Kyrgyzstan to close the Manas air base:
Lavrov: This is a decision by the Kyrgyz leadership. There were
many incidents that caused dissatisfaction: Once an American soldier
shot a Kyrgyz citizen and the police were not allowed to investigate
the case; on another occasion, an American ran over pedestrians without
legal consequences. In another incident, tons of jet fuel was dropped
on Kyrgyz villages, and once again no one was held responsible. The
Americans have even damaged the official state aircraft of Kyrgyz
President Kurmanbek Bakiyev.SPIEGEL: Now Russia has agreed to grant significant loans to Kyrgyzstan — are you saying this is just a coincidence?
Lavrov: We have signed the corresponding agreement. Kyrgyzstan
is one of the poorest countries and an ally. We treat an ally the way
it should be.
ALEXANDER NEMENOV/AFP/Getty Images
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