Putin under scrutiny in Bulgaria over Iraq

By Ron Popeski

SOFIA: Russian President Vladimir Putin sets about cementing post-communist friendship with Bulgaria on Sunday, but attention will focus on whether he will stand firm in opposition to the use of force against Iraq.

Putin, making only his second trip as president to an ex-ally of the defunct Warsaw Pact, will find his hosts among the strongest supporters of Washington’s hawkish line on Iraq — following U.S. backing for Bulgaria’s membership of NATO. The Kremlin leader briefly met President Georgi Parvanov on Saturday evening. On Sunday, he meets Prime Minister Simeon Saxe-Cobourg, Bulgaria’s ex-king who has made improving ties with Moscow a foreign policy priority, along with joining NATO and the European Union.

As the U.N. Security Council nears a debate on a resolution backed by Washington that lays the ground for war, diplomats will be watching for any hint Moscow could drop its resistance to such a draft.

Putin has rejected any resolution liable to be used as a trigger for military action and said Moscow could use its veto as a permanent member of the Council. He has backed alternative French-German proposals to give inspectors a further four months to search for suspected banned weapons.

Russia says inspections have produced results and Putin last week praised a tough U.S. line for making Baghdad more “pliant”.

The Russian Foreign Ministry welcomed Baghdad’s destruction of al-Samoud missiles on Saturday as “highly important evidence of Iraq’s cooperation with the United Nations”.

Analysts suggest Moscow could abstain in a vote on the U.S.-backed proposal to preserve its alliance with Washington.

Diplomatic manoeuvres: Interviewed by Bulgarian media prior to his arrival, Putin said the threat from Iraq’s alleged weapons of mass destruction should not be exaggerated.

“We...do not believe the threat from Iraq is greater than that from other countries,” he said. “And in official and unofficial discussions with our colleagues many, in fact, agree with us.”

Russian diplomatic manoeuvres in the past week have left open the possibility of a change.

Putin dispatched to Baghdad ex-Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov, a longstanding friend of President Saddam Hussein who failed in two 1990 missions to avert a U.S.-led operation to remove Iraqi forces from Kuwait. He also sent to Washington Alexander Voloshin, his powerful, pro-Western chief of staff.

Bulgaria, which is also currently a member of the Security Council, has granted Washington the use of a Black Sea air base and its airspace and approved the deployment of 150 troops to tackle non-conventional warfare threats in the Iraq region.

Officials say Western-oriented policies should have no effect on efforts to restore virtually frozen post-Soviet ties.

“Bulgaria’s accession to NATO and the European Union would not hamper relations with Russia,” Deputy Prime Minister and Economy Minister Nikolai Vassilev told private television.

“Quite the opposite, our Russian partners are well aware of our warm feelings and pragmatic approach.” —Reuters

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