Cars carrying members of the Russian delegation leave an isolated manor house in Vantaa, outside Helsinki, Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2008. (Photo by AP)
The meeting was organized at the request of the Russians and held at the Königstedt Manor along the Vantaa River, just outside Helsinki. The talks were organized without any urgent reason, and were devoted to the discussion of the mutual concerns and interests. American Admiral Mullen said: “Even in our darkest days of the cold war we were talking to each other — and I think we need to continue.”
Obviously, the United States and Russia should be talking about military relations—and many other issues, too. So, good for the Bush Administration and the Medvedev/Putin (or Putin/Medvedev) government in Russia. But just as obviously, this sort of thing should have been going on already. Russia and the United States are not natural adversaries, unlike the old days. But the potential for real misunderstandings and miscalculations is huge. The Russian-American relationship deserves intensive rebuilding efforts.
The New York Times has the detailed story.
Top Military Officers Talk in U.S.-Russia Conference
The New York Times
October 22, 2008
By THOM SHANKER
HELSINKI, Finland — The United States and Russia sent their top military officers to this neutral capital, with its resonant legacy of cold-war-era talks, for a secretly arranged meeting on Tuesday to try to push their strained relations back on track, American officials said.
It was the first time that Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, had met his counterpart, Gen. Nikolai Makarov, since the Russian was appointed chief of the General Staff this summer. However, the two had spoken by telephone multiple times during the brief August war between Russia and the former Soviet republic of Georgia.
The conflict — in which much of the West sided with Georgia and its claims to two breakaway enclaves — worsened relations between Moscow and Washington, particularly after the enclaves declared their independence with Russia’s backing.
“I think it’s important that we talk when there isn’t a crisis,” Admiral Mullen said after the meeting.
American military officers said that the session, held at the Königstedt Manor along the Vantaa River, just outside Helsinki, was organized at the request of the Russians.
The admiral said he and General Makarov had discussed American disquiet over the war in Georgia — Russia’s first post-Soviet offensive outside its soil — as well as Russian unhappiness with the arrival of American warships in the Black Sea with humanitarian aid for Georgia.
Other topics included NATO’s relations with Russia and how to improve cooperation on countering terrorism, halting the proliferation of unconventional weapons and stemming narcotics trafficking.
Admiral Mullen offered no details of those discussions but said that he and his counterpart had pledged to continue talking.
“Clearly the relationship has changed because of what happened in Georgia,” Admiral Mullen said. “But by no means should it end. I don’t think it can resume exactly where it was before Georgia, but we also covered areas of mutual concern.”
He said that “even in our darkest days of the cold war we were talking to each other — and I think we need to continue.”
“I’ll go home encouraged by the opportunities that I had to discuss the issues in a very direct way, face to face, and the commitment that in the future we will stay engaged,” he said.
Relations were strained before the Russia-Georgia war. Russia has used its oil and natural gas to fill its coffers and rebuild its military since the disarray of the 1990s, and it has resumed flexing its might with flights by long-range bombers and surveillance planes to test American and NATO airspace.
At the same time, Washington’s recent agreements with Poland and the Czech Republic to host American missile-defense sites brought outrage and even threats of military action from the Kremlin. American officials have emphasized that the system — radar equipment and 10 interceptors — is intended to counter a potential Iranian missile attack and poses no threat to the Russian nuclear arsenal.
After returning to Moscow, General Makarov told reporters that Russia would “need to take measures in connection with the deployment of missile defense systems in the Czech Republic and Poland.”
As tensions have escalated, Admiral Mullen and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates have spoken in calm, calibrated terms of the Kremlin’s military decision-making and foreign policy. They have challenged the Kremlin to behave better in global affairs but have noted that Russia’s armed forces do not pose a global risk.
General Makarov was elevated to chief of the Russian General Staff this summer after a long career in the ground forces, although his most recent post was as chief of armaments and deputy defense minister for industrial procurement, according to his official biography.
Pentagon officials said his appointment appeared to be part of a Kremlin push to modernize Russia’s military and clamp down on corruption and waste in procurement and payrolls.
After the Russia-Georgia conflict, some newer NATO members expressed concerns about their own territorial integrity. Among the most concerned were the Baltic states — Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia — as well as Poland and the Czech Republic.
Admiral Mullen said it was vitally important for all of NATO to reassure members that the alliance’s mutual-security guarantees remained an imperative, and he pointedly visited Riga, the Latvian capital, after the Helsinki meeting.
Clifford J. Levy contributed reporting from Moscow.
(c) The New York Times
