RUSSIA is seeking peaceful co-existence and ‘compromise’ both with the EU and Ukraine’s new president Petro Poroshenko, President Putin’s supreme economic adviser, Andrey Belusov has revealed.
Speaking to German newspaper Die Welt (DW), Belusov admitted he is relying on Poroshenko to be ‘a prudent politician’.
The interview was published last Tuesday as Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov announced direct ties between Moscow and Kiev ‘have never stopped’.
As ‘prudent’ Poroshenko was launching a military blitzkrieg against pro-Russian civilians in east Ukraine, Russia was signing the historic Eurasian Economic Union agreement with Belarus and Kazakhstan, and a gas plan with China.
Belusov began by warning EU leaders against more sanctions.
DW What would be the impact of further sanctions on economic growth?
Belusov We are hit the most by the so-called soft sanctions, bans or recommendations to companies to cancel projects in Russia and appeals to the banks not to finance such projects. Among others, I can mention three evident effects: there was nervousness not primarily among Russian, but rather among foreign companies operating in Russia.
For example, there are about 6,000 German companies in Russia, and many have already contacted us to ask whether the Russian government will stop them from doing business here. I always tell them that that they need not worry, and I can honestly say that, currently, we are not planning to take such action in response. The second effect is that our establishment has closed ranks and is backing our president and the government like never before.
DW You wanted to mention a third effect of the sanctions …
Belusov I do not deny that the threat of sanctions has caused the state leadership to increase political and economic efforts to look for new markets – above all, in Southeast Asia, in China – and to act to increase the security of the Russian industry’s infrastructure, including the financial infrastructure.
DW The search for new markets gives the impression that Russia is turning its back on the West.
Belusov I do not say that this is being done to the detriment of cooperation with the West. It is a matter of finding additional markets.
DW In his speech at the St Petersburg Economic Forum on Friday (23 May), Putin stressed the necessity of a new basic agreement with the EU…Why should we now all of a sudden need a new agreement?
Belusov Our relations with certain EU countries are developing far better than relations with Brussels. The reason for the delay in signing a new agreement is the extremely inflexible position of the leadership of the EU Commission’s trade policy department.
I am happy that my counterpart in the EU, Mr De Gucht (EU trade commissioner), will resign. He is unwilling to look for a compromise. We reached agreement with practically all other departments. Essentially, the new basic agreement was ready.
DW But why has this document suddenly become so important now for Russia?
Belusov The EU is our main trading partner. We cannot develop bilateral relations as long as we have not won this fortress.
DW What does Russia expect from such an agreement?
Belusov We expect the agreement to pave the way for the creation of a free trade zone. If our negotiation partners in the EU Commission had been more flexible, we could have acted quite differently, for example, on the Ukraine issue.
DW What is that supposed to mean?
Belusov What were the reasons that led to the current development? We had many disputes with Ukraine, but relations started to take shape. It was only thanks to the efforts of Petro Poroshenko that we signed a contract about the free trade zone.
At that time, Poroshenko was economy minister, like me. We have resolved these issues. But we have not regulated our relations with the EU. When the EU and Ukraine considered signing an Association Agreement, we became aware that this would affect both our agreement with Ukraine and our potential agreement with the EU.
If we had had clear rules with the EU and could have reached agreement with Ukraine within the framework of these rules, we would not have seen the current crisis.
DW You already threatened to appeal to the WTO if the West were to decide economic sanctions against Russia …
Belusov I do not say that this is a measure that we will take on any account. But in terms of trade policy, economic sanctions mean to deprive Russia of the status of a country that enjoys the WTO’s fundamental principles of most favoured nation and national treatment.
If it comes to it and Russia decides to appeal to the WTO Dispute Settlement Body, there are two possible outcomes. Either, Russia wins, which is not unlikely, but this would be a political disgrace for the United States and Europe. They would have to cancel their sanctions.
Or Russia loses in a WTO dispute, but this would create a precedent in a way that one country can deprive another of the most favoured nation and national treatment status.
DW You yourself mentioned Poroshenko, who will now become president of Ukraine. Is that to say that you will be trying to find a common language with him?
Belusov We sometimes succeeded in that. But this was when he was economy minister and not president. I do not know what position Poroshenko will adopt as president. Some of his statements in the election campaign made us prick up our ears, but I think that they were due to the election campaign. I rely on Poroshenko to be a prudent politician and a person who makes balanced decisions after the election.
• Ousted Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych has criticised the new Kiev authorities over the ongoing military operation in the country’s southeast.
‘This is a very bad sign to start the presidency with such a bloody and deadly fireworks show which causes anger and curses of mothers who see their children, husbands and fathers suffering and dying,’ Yanukovych said.
‘Most Ukrainians believed that with the arrival of new authorities, the political crisis would be settled and a peaceful period would begin: people are tired of confrontation that erupted in a real war,’ Yanukovych went on to say.
He believes that after the presidential election came a ‘shock’, as instead of ‘peace and stability there is a massacre’.
• The Russian State Duma said on Thursday it is willing to extend whistleblower Edward Snowden’s stay in the country, which will run out on August 1st.
Snowden earlier revealed in a TV interview his intention to ask the Russian authorities to extend his temporary asylum.
A short while after, Duma MP Mikhail Starshinov (One Russia faction) said no obstacles stand in the way of extending the term of temporary asylum to the former employee of the US Nation Security Agency.
Starshinov said: ‘Here one should first of all be guided by humanitarian considerations. Judging by the policy conducted by the USA, there is nothing good waiting for this person if he ends up in the legal system of his homeland.’
The member of the central headquarters of the All-Russia People’s Front added: ‘Based on the considerations of a humanitarian nature, it would be sensible to accommodate Snowden’s request and extend the term of his temporary asylum.’
