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THE GEORGIAN TIMES: RESETTING RELATIONS. GEORGIA NOT A BARGAINING CHIP
“We want to work with them, but we can’t go back to old ways of doing business”
The long-awaited meeting between the leaders of the United States and Russia at the Group of 20 summit in London last week was watched carefully both in Tbilisi and Moscow. The first face-to-face talks between Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev were expected to shed light on what the notion of the “reset button” for US-Russian relationships promulgated by US Vice-President Joe Biden was really about. This meeting was well prepared for and planned, former senior US officials with vast experience of relations with the Kremlin having visited Moscow intensively.
For Georgia, its security was largely at stake and fears lingered among both domestic and foreign pundits that Georgia’s ambition to joint NATO could be seriously undermined by Washington’s possible embrace of Russia. When the chances of another Russian aggression against its tiny unstable neighbour, which serves as a corridor for the penetration of Western economic influence into the wider Central Asian region, are discussed, this very London meeting is frequently referred to.
However the meeting, and especially the rumours emerging from it as well as the actual statements of Obama, allayed fears that Georgia would be sacrificed or “sold” in exchange for a rapprochement after the recent years of US-Russia tensions, which have hit a post-Cold War low. The good news from London delighted the Georgian President who, encouraged by continued support from the new US administration, quickly ruled out the possibility of a future Russian invasion. “Some in Russia had the illusion that the United States would have traded off Georgia in exchange for Afghanistan and better relations with Iran. Nothing of that kind has happened. The Georgian issue – and I have information about this from Washington – was raised at a very important level during this meeting,” Saakashvili said after his visit to yet another American military vessel at the Black Sea resort of Batumi.
The American and Russian Presidents met in London after the leaders of the world’s leading economies gathered to agree upon common measures to tackle the global economic crisis. Obama and Medvedev discussed an array of issues ranging from Afghanistan to strategic arms to Georgia. While the leaders reached an agreement on the reduction of strategic arms and Russia’s assistance to NATO in its Afghanistan operation, the war in Georgia and US plans for a missile defence shield in Central Europe still split the former Cold War rivals.
After the meeting, the two leaders talked to the press in what looked a very amicable and calm atmosphere. They both regretted that bilateral relations had been hurt lately, and noted the many common interests that would now bring the parties closer. Medvedev said that the two nations shared considerably more positions than they had disagreements on, adding that recent relations had “drifted in the wrong direction” which was “neither in the interests of the U.S.A. or Russia, and neither for the situation in the world.” Obama spoke in the same positive tone. "I believe what we've begun today is a very constructive dialogue which will allow us to work on issues of mutual interest like the reduction of nuclear weapons and the strengthening of our non-proliferation treaties," the US President said.
However, despite the u-turn-like course of events which some years, even months, before would have seemed impossible, controversies remained, with the biggest one being about Georgia. The joint statement released after the meeting read that the two sides disagreed “about the cause and sequence of the military actions of last August” and added that, nevertheless, the leaders ”agreed that we must continue efforts toward reaching a peaceful and lasting solution to the unstable situation today.”
This apparently means that the US President denied Russian claims that it was Georgia who initially started military actions. What this passage could also mean is that the US President opposed the status quo in the Russian-occupied regions, which does not guarantee “a lasting peace,” preferring a comprehensive process of conflict resolution involving unbiased mechanisms for ensuring real security on the ground, which addresses the root causes of the conflict and the regions’ status, rather than the military and political situation unilaterally imposed by Russia.
At the meeting it seems that Obama, who on many occasions has advocated for the free choice of countries to join alliances like NATO, also pushed for Russia’s compliance with the ceasefire agreement which called for the withdrawal of Russian troops to their prewar positions and called on Russia to cooperate within the framework of the Geneva talks. “Bearing in mind that significant differences remain between us, we nonetheless stress the importance of last year’s six-point accord of August 12, the September 8 agreement, and other relevant agreements, and pursuing effective cooperation in the Geneva discussions to bring stability to the region,” the statement read. If Medvedev really agreed that the six-point agreement is important, then Russia has once again acquiesced to complying with it.
After the meeting, an unnamed White House official told the press that Barack Obama actually discussed the issue of Georgia with his counterpart very seriously. What is even more important, at a joint news conference with the President of France, Barack Obama repeated his criticism of the Russian invasion of Georgia and reiterated his support for the sovereignty of Russia’s neighbours. The US President expressed concern that the situation had not been stabilized in Georgia despite the French efforts and the ceasefire deal. “I think we have to send a very clear message to Russia, that we want to work with them, but we can’t go back to old ways of doing business,” he said. “I think we should be in a dialogue with them about how to maintain stability, while respecting the autonomy and independence of all countries in Europe – west, east, central, wherever they are.”
Such a position, against the background of continued US assistance for Georgia’s efforts to building the capability to protect its own security, clairifies what the Obama administration really means by the “reset button with Russia.” Comments from Russian politicians indicate that Russian leaders expected the US would be blackmailed by Russia’s forceful opposition to NATO enlargement in the South Caucasus and by its NATO-dividing gambits and tit-for-tat policies in the Middle East, Central Asia and Latin America. The Kremlin had hoped that its increasing power to inflict damage to American foreign national interests with respect to Iran, North Korea and Afghanistan would finally scare Americans into denying partnership with Georgia, legitimizing the August war land grab and giving up missile defence plans.
The April 1 meeting did not leave the impression that the US would make such a “reset” of its relations with Russia. It appears Washington’s new strategy simply means saying “no” to the Bush administration’s unnecessarily hawkish attitude towards Russia in most cases, even those vital to the Kremlin’s interests. This strategy means engaging Russia constructively where it is possible, heeding to Moscow where its legitimate interests are at stake, and not allowing Washington’s European partners to be distanced from transatlantic ties because of what was previously seen as American arrogance.
Where is Georgia in this strategy? In no way does it seem that the US will sacrifice the independence and vital security interests of its partners, whether in Central and Eastern Europe, Caucasus or elsewhere. Doing so would amount to the rejection of America’s core century-long self-projection as a unique nation with the mission of spreading freedom to oppressed nations and its friends. NATO’s expansion, to which America is committed, remains t the best tool of securing this supreme value and interest of the United States.
Nodar TANGIASHVILI
“The Georgian Times”, April 6, 2009
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