US SECRETARY of state Hillary Clinton has called for a fresh start in the West’s increasingly turbulent relationship with Russia through pursuing dialogue with “our eyes wide open”.
She has also asked Nato members to provide more support to its Afghanistan mission and called for an international conference to be held this month to discuss the conflict.
“I don’t think you punish Russia by stopping conversations with them,” said Mrs Clinton yesterday, after attending her first Nato ministerial meeting as secretary of state.
At the meeting, Nato ministers agreed to resume formal contacts between the transatlantic alliance and Russia for the first time since the war in Georgia.
Lithuania initially opposed the resumption of contacts as Russia has not implemented the terms of a ceasefire drawn up during the Georgian conflict, which called for Russia troops to leave all areas of Georgia, including the disputed enclaves of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
But after hours of discussion it finally dropped its opposition, following strong US support for the resumption of the Nato-Russia Council, the body that directs dialogue on security issues between the transatlantic alliance and Moscow. French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner told the media the opposition was “tenacious” but he supported the Nato decision. “If you don’t talk, can you move ahead?” he asked.
Mrs Clinton said the debate was vigorous and she understood the concerns of states in eastern Europe that had lived under Soviet occupation. But Nato must co-operate with Russia to combat terrorism and nuclear proliferation and to promote arms control, she said.
“We think this kind of dialogue with Russia has the potential of easing tensions and solving problems and we pursue it with our eyes wide open,” said Mrs Clinton, who meets Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov for her first substantive talks today in Geneva.
US-Russian relations began well under president George Bush who, after attending his first meeting with former Russian president Vladimir Putin in Slovenia in 2001, famously told the media he had looked into Mr Putin’s eyes and felt he could trust him.
Relations deteriorated, however, as growing oil and gas wealth enabled Mr Putin to expand Russia’s influence in Ukraine and Georgia, both of which are currently candidates to join Nato.
Mrs Clinton said Nato membership must be kept open for the two ex-Soviet states and said the US would work with Nato to ensure they would not be the subject of Russian intimidation or aggression. But she acknowledged that Russia’s help was required in Afghanistan. “We can and must find ways to work constructively with Russia, where we share areas of common interest, including helping the people of Afghanistan,” she said.
Russia has agreed to open a northern transit route to provide an extra supply line to the Nato mission in Afghanistan, which is coming under severe pressure from the Taliban.
The US is currently carrying out a major review of its strategy in Afghanistan and Mrs Clinton has proposed holding an international conference on March 31st to map out a new strategy. She said this should be a “big tent” meeting open to all nations and civilian organisations with an interest in the Afghanistan conflict, including its neighbour Iran.
She said the fact that US vice- president Joe Biden would come to Nato next week to continue consultations on ideas and potential contributions in Afghanistan was a good measure of just how much importance the Obama administration attached to it.
The US has called on European members of Nato to provide more troops for the conflict, but without much success.