Gorbachev backs Putin actions Says authoritarian moves necessary

Monday, July 30, 2007

By David Holley, Los Angeles Times

MOSCOW -- Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, whose reforms played a major role in freeing the Soviet Union from totalitarianism, defended authoritarian moves by Russian President Vladimir Putin as necessary "to prevent the disintegration of the country."Mr. Putin has chosen "to use certain methods ... that were evenauthoritarian to some extent," the Nobel Peace Prize winner said in arecent interview. "But even though he used those methods sometimes, hecontinued to have the same goals -- the goals of moving towarddemocracy, toward market economics."

Mr. Gorbachev blamed tensions between Washington and Moscow on the"victory complex" of some U.S. leaders, and said Washington and Moscowshould tone down harsh rhetoric and work together to solve globalproblems.Asked what advice he would have for Mr. Putin and President Bush, Mr.Gorbachev replied: "First of all, to preserve the climate of trustthat emerged during the years of perestroika, when we were able towork together with the United States to discuss the issues andultimately to end the Cold War. I believe that this trust is now injeopardy."Mr. Gorbachev's reform policies of the late 1980s, known as"perestroika," played a major role in the collapse of the Soviet Unionand laid the groundwork for U.S.-Russian friendship in the 1990s.But in the past few years, tensions have grown again. Dissatisfactionin the United States has been fueled by a perceived rollback ofdemocracy in Russia, Moscow's alleged linkage of oil and gas exportcontracts to political demands on its neighbors, differences over howto deal with Iran's nuclear program, a dispute over the future ofKosovo and other issues.Russians have been angered by U.S. plans to install an antimissilesystem in Eastern Europe.


Washington says it is needed to defendEurope and North America, citing the possibility of missile attacks byIran. Moscow has expressed fears that the move would be a step toward a global missile-defense system aimed at devaluing Russia's andChina's nuclear deterrents, and also that the system could be modifiedfor offensive missiles that would be close to Russia's borders.Tensions have been stoked further by the radiation poisoning in London last year of Alexander Litvinenko, a former KGB agent turned fierce Kremlin critic. In a written statement prepared shortly before his death, Mr. Litvinenko accused Mr. Putin of ordering his killing, a charge the Kremlin has dismissed as "nonsense."The widespread perception in the United States is that the deterioration of U.S.-Russian ties has been caused by the Kremlin's actions. But Mr. Gorbachev said much of the blame for current tensions should go to what he described as a "victory complex" held by some top U.S. officials who believe that pressure exerted by then-PresidentRonald Reagan brought about defeat of the Soviet Union in the Cold War. He included Vice President Dick Cheney among this group."I believe that this victory complex is very dangerous," Mr. Gorbachev said. "The United States has really not achieved anything alone. I believe that only when the United States worked with others was it able to achieve anything. Where they acted alone the result was a real mess."

Mr. Gorbachev said he was encouraged, however, by the atmosphere of the Bush-Putin summit held in early July in Kennebunkport, Maine."The more difficult the situation is, the more dialogue there should be, so I am pleased that it seems to be beginning to change," he said."It seems now that perhaps with the moderating help of President Bush the father, the senior President [George H.W.] Bush, something is beginning to happen and something useful is resulting." Mr. Gorbachev expressed hope that the recent summit could lead to a compromise on the antimissile system that would ease Russia's concerns and bring international cooperation in this field. Another problem aggravating U.S.-Russian relations, Mr. Gorbachevsaid, is that Western journalists, analysts and politicians often fail to acknowledge the depth of Russia's problems in the 1990s, under then-President Boris Yeltsin, and the practical justifications for some of the nondemocratic methods used by Mr. Putin to re-establishthe authority of the Russian state after he became president in 2000.

In the late 1990s, "The country was really in dire straits," Mr.Gorbachev said. "People were living in poverty and there was chaos inthe country. ... So in this situation Putin was faced with thequestion of what kind of methods to use in order to prevent the disintegration of the country."Mr. Gorbachev did not spell out what sort of authoritarian-flavored steps he believed Mr. Putin had taken. But Mr. Putin has been criticized by democracy advocates for establishing state control over all nationwide television networks, ending the direct election of governors and establishing a pliable parliament with election rules that make it difficult for opposition forces to win seats. Although Mr. Gorbachev typically defends Mr. Putin in public comments,at the same time Mr. Gorbachev is the key political backer and an important financial supporter of the country's most fiercely independent newspaper, Novaya Gazeta, which frequently carries reporting and commentary sharply critical of Mr. Putin. Copies of the newspaper prominently are displayed in the lobby of the GorbachevFoundation, which studies social, economic and political issues.

Mr. Gorbachev portrays his backing of Novaya Gazeta as support for democracy, not an anti-Kremlin line. At the same time, his support forMr. Putin is not so one-dimensional as seen in much pro-Kremlin media. His argument is that what Mr. Putin is doing, with all its flaws, should be seen in its historical context."I believe that re-emphasizing the role of the state, consolidatingthe state, which is what Putin did, is justified," Mr. Gorbachev said."When the country was really lying on its back, when the country was in really bad shape, during the Yeltsin years, when half the population of the country, and even more, were living in poverty, the West was applauding Yeltsin," he added. With living conditions dramatically improved today, he continued, "Idon't know why the [foreign] media is so negative about Russia. "Are you, the reporters, talking to only one group of people whose thoughts all go in the same direction? Well, I would suggest that you talk to a larger group of people, to all kinds of people."