![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
NY Times: Nato and Russia
Apr. 22nd, 2005 10:25 amhttp://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/22/international/europe/22diplo.html?th&emc=th
VILNIUS, Lithuania, April 21 - NATO moved Thursday toward opening discussions with Ukraine about its becoming a member, while Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met here with opposition leaders who want to oust the Russian-backed government in Belarus next door. At the same time, NATO reached an accord with Russia that foresees expanded military cooperation.
Taken together, the three steps reflected the contradictory state of American-Russian relations right now.
...
Nikolai Cherginets, who heads the Commission on International Affairs and National Security in the upper house of the Belarussian Parliament, had a particularly sharp and personal reaction to Ms. Rice's remarks, according to Interfax, an independent Russian news service. He called her description of Belarus as Europe's last dictatorship "an appeal to overthrow the administration of a sovereign state, and this is a reminder of the cold war."
Mr. Cherginets also said Ms. Rice should not be taken too seriously. "A woman euphoric with power is a dangerous creature," he said, "but we should not overrate her."
In Moscow earlier in the week, Ms. Rice heard complaints from officials and call-in listeners on a radio show that Russians fear that the United States is trying to surround Russia with allies and in some cases military forces. She told reporters that Russians seemed mired in a "19th-century" view of the world.
...
VILNIUS, Lithuania, April 21 - NATO moved Thursday toward opening discussions with Ukraine about its becoming a member, while Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met here with opposition leaders who want to oust the Russian-backed government in Belarus next door. At the same time, NATO reached an accord with Russia that foresees expanded military cooperation.
Taken together, the three steps reflected the contradictory state of American-Russian relations right now.
...
Nikolai Cherginets, who heads the Commission on International Affairs and National Security in the upper house of the Belarussian Parliament, had a particularly sharp and personal reaction to Ms. Rice's remarks, according to Interfax, an independent Russian news service. He called her description of Belarus as Europe's last dictatorship "an appeal to overthrow the administration of a sovereign state, and this is a reminder of the cold war."
Mr. Cherginets also said Ms. Rice should not be taken too seriously. "A woman euphoric with power is a dangerous creature," he said, "but we should not overrate her."
In Moscow earlier in the week, Ms. Rice heard complaints from officials and call-in listeners on a radio show that Russians fear that the United States is trying to surround Russia with allies and in some cases military forces. She told reporters that Russians seemed mired in a "19th-century" view of the world.
...
