Putin Opposed to Black Lists of 'Evil Axis' States

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, February 12, 2002

Putin Opposed to Black Lists of 'Evil Axis' States

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Russian President Vladimir Putin said this week that he is against drawing up black lists of the so-called "axis of evil" countries and using force against them without a United Nations Security Council permission.

However, Russia is ready to work together with the United States to neutralize threats to the world community, Putin said in an interview with the U.S. Wall Street Journal newspaper, published Monday.

He admitted that terrorism has acquired an international character and stressed that it is necessary to speak about problems and look for ways to solve them.

Citing Iraq as an example, he said that if that country was suspected of producing weapons of mass destruction, it is necessary first of all to see U.N. observers get back to Iraq.

There are many ways to solve the problem, and the military way is not the only one, not the universal one, and, possibly, not the best one to do that, he noted.

The use of force, as in Afghanistan with the Taliban regime, should be well grounded, and it should be proved that there is no other way to solve that problem, Putin said.

He stated that in future Russia could, on certain conditions, join hands with the U.S. in solving the problem of terrorism within the framework of an anti-terrorist coalition. He said "it should simply go in line with international law norms".

He noted that a technical expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) would be counterproductive.

The Russian president said in his opinion, NATO is a defensive bloc the first place, and its expansion "should promote the improvement of world security, as well as the security of its member states".

On the Russia-U.S.ties Putin said the two countries "may continue to stick to different opinions on various world problems, and it is quite natural". At the same time, the present relations between the two countries are of an "entirely new quality", flowing from "an entirely different, very high degree of mutual trust".

He believed that Russia and the U.S. could be very natural, effective partners, as the economic situation and economic policy of the two countries could make them "attractive partners for each other".

On Central Asian issues, he said Russia's relations with Central Asian countries are based on reality, not imperial ambitions.

Central Asian countries are independent states who determine their foreign policy themselves, he said.

The Russian leadership realizes this reality perfectly well and develops its policy on this basis, but this does not mean that Russia does not have national interests or will not work persistently to carry them out, he said.

Putin said he does not see any mistake in the closure of the Russian naval base in Camranh Bay, Vietnam. The decision was correct because the navy has not used it for almost nine years and because of "the sentiments of the Vietnamese leadership".

The same applies to the closure of a radar station in Cuba, Putin added.

Nevertheless, Russia has signed a long-term agreement with Azerbaijan to keep a military presence at a key facility -- the Gabala radar station, he said.

"These are not arbitrary decisions of one person. They are balanced military-political decisions based on realities," he said.

Now, guaranteeing the speed of economic growth and resolving social problems on this basis are fundamental issues for the future of Russia, he stressed.

He expressed hope that the consumer index in Russia will reach the same level as in Western industrialized countries in 10-15 years.

In this respect, Russia made a serious breakthrough last year. Consumption virtually doubled among other factors of economic growth: in 2001, its share rose to 62 percent from the 37 percent in 2000.

"This was a revolutionary change," he said, predicting that Russia's economic growth will rely mainly on domestic factors in the future.

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