Cheney Rebukes Russia, Calls Energy Plans `Blackmail'
May 4 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney rebuked Russia for rolling back democratic ``gains of the past decade'' and called on the country's state-controlled energy companies to stop intimidating nations in the region that need oil and natural gas to grow their economies.
``No legitimate interest is served when oil and gas become tools of intimidation or blackmail,'' Cheney said in a speech in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius, where he's attending a conference of Baltic and Black Sea countries. ``And no one can justify actions that undermine the territorial integrity of a neighbor or interfere with democratic movements.''
The U.S. and Europe ``want to see Russia in the category of healthy, vibrant democracies,'' Cheney said. ``Yet in Russia today, opponents of reform are seeking to reverse the gains of the past decade.''
President Vladimir Putin last month said political opposition in Europe may force Russia, the region's biggest oil and gas supplier, to focus more on Asia, where economic expansion is increasing demand for fuel. European and U.S. politicians have expressed concern that Russian state-run OAO Gazprom's plans to expand in their gas markets will increase the region's dependence on Russia.
Cheney said ``in many areas of civil society'' Russia has infringed on individual freedoms, including ``from religion and the news media, to advocacy groups and political parties.'' He said ``other actions by the Russian government have been counterproductive, and could begin to affect relations with other countries.''
St. Petersburg Meeting
The Group of Seven industrial countries, at a meeting hosted by Putin, 53, in St. Petersburg in mid-July, will try to persuade Russia to foster economic and political ties in the region, Cheney said.
``We will make the case, clearly and confidently, that Russia has nothing to fear and everything to gain from having strong, stable democracies on its borders and that by aligning with the West, Russia joins all of us on a course to prosperity and greatness,'' Cheney said. ``None of us believes that Russia is fated to become an enemy.''
Cheney, 65, was U.S. Defense Secretary in the George H.W. Bush administration from 1989 to 1993, during the years of the Soviet empire's collapse and the region's initial steps away from communist rule and planned economies.
Russia's Choice
Russia ``has a choice to make,'' Cheney said, ``and there is no question that a return to democratic reform in Russia will generate further success for its people and greater respect among fellow nations.''
Cheney's scolding of Putin's government came toward the end of a speech devoted largely to encouraging Russia's neighbors to embrace democracy and free markets.
``The freedom movement is far from over and far from tired,'' he said.
Officials from Poland, Lithuania and other Baltic countries and former Soviet republics have expressed concern that a Russia- to-Germany gas pipeline in the Baltic Sea will leave the region's developing economies without enough energy supply and at the mercy of Russian shipments.
``The Bush administration is increasingly concerned about growing Russian state control of the energy sector,'' said Celeste Wallander, director of the Russia and Eurasia program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
Russia is the world's biggest natural-gas producer and second-biggest oil exporter and Putin is building state-run OAO Rosneft and Gazprom into energy champions able to compete with Exxon Mobil Corp., the world's largest investor-owned oil company. The government increased its stake in Russia's oil industry to about 30 percent of output last year, up from about 10 percent two years ago.
`Kremlin Control'
``There is, frankly, virtually nothing the U.S. can do about alleviating their concerns or addressing the fundamental problem of Kremlin control and use of energy in these non-transparent ways for wealth and power without a Europe that has gotten its act together,'' she said.
Countries such as Poland, Lithuania, Ukraine and Georgia that need cheap energy to fuel their emerging economies are ``very concerned'' about the pressure Russia's energy industry is applying, Wallander said.
``Without a common European policy toward Russia, there is no chance for a common European energy policy toward Russia, which would be necessary to create leverage,'' Wallander said. Cheney ``ought to be visiting Berlin, Rome, London and Paris if the U.S. wants a truly effective policy toward Russia to help to deal with the concerns of the countries he is visiting on this trip,'' she said.
Belarus Warning
Cheney also called on the government in Belarus to release opposition leader Alyaksander Milinkevich, saying ``the world knows what is happening in Belarus.''
Cheney said in Belarus, ``a climate of fear prevails under a government that subverts free elections and bans your own country's flag.''
Cheney's trip to three countries in the region -- he travels to Kazakhstan tomorrow and Croatia on Saturday -- comes at a time when the U.S., the U.K. and France are seeking Russian and Chinese support for a draft resolution demanding that Iran cease uranium enrichment or face sanctions should the government in Tehran fail to comply.
WTO Talks
Russia, which opposes the resolution, is building a nuclear power plant for Iran.
Still, Russia needs U.S. backing to join the World Trade Organization, which it has tried to achieve for more than a decade. Russia estimates that inclusion in the WTO, an arbiter of trade and investment rules for 148 member nations, would add $10 billion a year to its economy because of the increased access Russian exports would have to WTO-member markets.
Russian citizens ``deserve now to live out their peaceful aspirations under a government that upholds freedom at home and builds good relations abroad,'' Cheney said.
A U.S. State Department report on Russia released in March said ``the most notable human rights development during the year was continued centralization of power in the executive branch.'' That reversal of Russia's previous strides toward political and economic freedoms ``resulted in an erosion of the accountability of government leaders to the people,'' the State Department report said.
``No legitimate interest is served when oil and gas become tools of intimidation or blackmail,'' Cheney said in a speech in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius, where he's attending a conference of Baltic and Black Sea countries. ``And no one can justify actions that undermine the territorial integrity of a neighbor or interfere with democratic movements.''
The U.S. and Europe ``want to see Russia in the category of healthy, vibrant democracies,'' Cheney said. ``Yet in Russia today, opponents of reform are seeking to reverse the gains of the past decade.''
President Vladimir Putin last month said political opposition in Europe may force Russia, the region's biggest oil and gas supplier, to focus more on Asia, where economic expansion is increasing demand for fuel. European and U.S. politicians have expressed concern that Russian state-run OAO Gazprom's plans to expand in their gas markets will increase the region's dependence on Russia.
Cheney said ``in many areas of civil society'' Russia has infringed on individual freedoms, including ``from religion and the news media, to advocacy groups and political parties.'' He said ``other actions by the Russian government have been counterproductive, and could begin to affect relations with other countries.''
St. Petersburg Meeting
The Group of Seven industrial countries, at a meeting hosted by Putin, 53, in St. Petersburg in mid-July, will try to persuade Russia to foster economic and political ties in the region, Cheney said.
``We will make the case, clearly and confidently, that Russia has nothing to fear and everything to gain from having strong, stable democracies on its borders and that by aligning with the West, Russia joins all of us on a course to prosperity and greatness,'' Cheney said. ``None of us believes that Russia is fated to become an enemy.''
Cheney, 65, was U.S. Defense Secretary in the George H.W. Bush administration from 1989 to 1993, during the years of the Soviet empire's collapse and the region's initial steps away from communist rule and planned economies.
Russia's Choice
Russia ``has a choice to make,'' Cheney said, ``and there is no question that a return to democratic reform in Russia will generate further success for its people and greater respect among fellow nations.''
Cheney's scolding of Putin's government came toward the end of a speech devoted largely to encouraging Russia's neighbors to embrace democracy and free markets.
``The freedom movement is far from over and far from tired,'' he said.
Officials from Poland, Lithuania and other Baltic countries and former Soviet republics have expressed concern that a Russia- to-Germany gas pipeline in the Baltic Sea will leave the region's developing economies without enough energy supply and at the mercy of Russian shipments.
``The Bush administration is increasingly concerned about growing Russian state control of the energy sector,'' said Celeste Wallander, director of the Russia and Eurasia program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
Russia is the world's biggest natural-gas producer and second-biggest oil exporter and Putin is building state-run OAO Rosneft and Gazprom into energy champions able to compete with Exxon Mobil Corp., the world's largest investor-owned oil company. The government increased its stake in Russia's oil industry to about 30 percent of output last year, up from about 10 percent two years ago.
`Kremlin Control'
``There is, frankly, virtually nothing the U.S. can do about alleviating their concerns or addressing the fundamental problem of Kremlin control and use of energy in these non-transparent ways for wealth and power without a Europe that has gotten its act together,'' she said.
Countries such as Poland, Lithuania, Ukraine and Georgia that need cheap energy to fuel their emerging economies are ``very concerned'' about the pressure Russia's energy industry is applying, Wallander said.
``Without a common European policy toward Russia, there is no chance for a common European energy policy toward Russia, which would be necessary to create leverage,'' Wallander said. Cheney ``ought to be visiting Berlin, Rome, London and Paris if the U.S. wants a truly effective policy toward Russia to help to deal with the concerns of the countries he is visiting on this trip,'' she said.
Belarus Warning
Cheney also called on the government in Belarus to release opposition leader Alyaksander Milinkevich, saying ``the world knows what is happening in Belarus.''
Cheney said in Belarus, ``a climate of fear prevails under a government that subverts free elections and bans your own country's flag.''
Cheney's trip to three countries in the region -- he travels to Kazakhstan tomorrow and Croatia on Saturday -- comes at a time when the U.S., the U.K. and France are seeking Russian and Chinese support for a draft resolution demanding that Iran cease uranium enrichment or face sanctions should the government in Tehran fail to comply.
WTO Talks
Russia, which opposes the resolution, is building a nuclear power plant for Iran.
Still, Russia needs U.S. backing to join the World Trade Organization, which it has tried to achieve for more than a decade. Russia estimates that inclusion in the WTO, an arbiter of trade and investment rules for 148 member nations, would add $10 billion a year to its economy because of the increased access Russian exports would have to WTO-member markets.
Russian citizens ``deserve now to live out their peaceful aspirations under a government that upholds freedom at home and builds good relations abroad,'' Cheney said.
A U.S. State Department report on Russia released in March said ``the most notable human rights development during the year was continued centralization of power in the executive branch.'' That reversal of Russia's previous strides toward political and economic freedoms ``resulted in an erosion of the accountability of government leaders to the people,'' the State Department report said.
posted by Marko at 5/04/2006 07:38:00 AM
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