By Vitaly PORTNYKOV, The Day
Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Igor Ivanov failed to hold back his
irritation over the Washington summit of some former Soviet republics,
where Tashkent joined the alliance of Kyiv, Tbilisi, Baku, and Chisinau
(thus turning GUAM into GUUAM). "What does it mean when a regional GUUAM
organization is being formed and expanded exactly in Washington during
the NATO summit? For what purpose is this organization being created, of
all places, in Washington? To what ends is this organization being conspicuously
formed against the backdrop of Balkan events?" asked the leader of Russian
foreign policy. In Mr. Ivanov's opinion, "This is not a chance coincidence;
this reflects a policy to be pursued or being pursued by the leaders of
the states that take such steps." "All this will be undoubtedly taken into
account whenever Russia determines its position," Mr. Ivanov warned.
At first glance, these utterances of the Russian Minister of Foreign
Affairs appear unjustifiably abrupt and confrontational. However, they
are quite in the spirit of the bellicose and often far-from-reality rhetoric
one can hear from Russian officials - and, above all, from Mr. Ivanov himself
and his patron Yevgeny Primakov - since the very first days of NATO action
against Yugoslavia. The refusal of CIS countries to join Moscow at the
Commonwealth summit in its condemnation of the NATO action, the decision
of the leaders of almost all former Soviet republics to attend the NATO
jubilee celebrations in a situation when Russia boycotted this ceremony
(only Minsk supported Moscow in this), and the Ukraine-NATO summit naturally
provoked Russia's opposition, for these facts demonstrate how Russia is
losing its place in the world and in relations with even its closest neighbors.
However, it is common knowledge that this weakening is often associated
with its own self-isolation and inability to react adequately to a changed
situation. It is an open secret that the tough position of the Russian
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which excluded Russia from mediating in the
Yugoslavia conflict, was one of the reasons why Viktor Chernomyrdin was
appointed President Yeltsin's special envoy in Yugoslavia. At the same
time as Mr. Chernomyrdin has to meet such people as CIS leaders and the
Japanese Premier, the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs generously dishes
out harsh judgments.






