DATE=11/16/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=RUSSIA / O-S-C-E (L ONLY)
NUMBER=2-256231
BYLINE=PETER HEINLEIN
DATELINE=MOSCOW
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Russia has launched a heated defense of its
military offensive in Chechnya in advance of an
expected barrage of international criticism at this
week's European security summit. Moscow Correspondent
Peter Heinlein reports Kremlin officials are accusing
the west of using Chechnya to engage in Russia-
bashing.
TEXT: One foreign observer described it as a western-
style media barrage. In a series of interviews, news
conferences, and opinion pieces in influential
newspapers, senior Russian officials are taking their
case for the war in Chechnya to the court of world
opinion.
In the days leading up to the O-S-C-E summit in
Istanbul, a column by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin
appeared in the "New York Times", a column by Foreign
Minister Igor Ivanov was printed in London's Financial
Times, President Boris Yeltsin lashed out at foreign
criticism of the war during a rare appearance in the
Kremlin, and Foreign Ministry spokesman Vladimir
Rakhmanin briefed reporters in unusually strong terms.
With world leaders promising to speak out in Istanbul
against the use of indiscriminate force against
Chechnya, Mr. Rakhmanin warned Russia would not accept
outside complaints about what it considers an internal
affair.
/// RAKHMANIN ACT ONE - IN RUSSIAN - FADE UNDER ///
He says -- Russia will not yield to pressure.
Pressure is not the kind of language to be used in
talking with any sovereign state, certainly not
Russia.
Mr. Rakhmanin told Moscow's international press corps
much of the foreign condemnation of the war in
Chechnya is simply wrong.
/// RAKHMANIN ACT TWO - IN RUSSIAN - FADE UNDER ///
He says the settlement in Chechnya, which is an
internal Russian affair, is being assessed using the
criteria of international humanitarian law, which is
legally incorrect.
The spokesman charged that such criticism only helps
what he called -- the criminal enclave into which
Chechnya has been turned -- to win international
support.
In his opinion piece, Foreign Minister Ivanov went
even further. He charged several NATO countries were
trying to artificially inflame the atmosphere
surrounding the Istanbul meeting. He suggested an
anti-Russian campaign was being orchestrated in some
NATO capitals, adding that -- some of the loudest
voices in the choir are those who advocated barbarian
bombings in Yugoslavia.
The Russian media blitz is clearly aimed at deflecting
some of the complaints about Chechnya that President
Yeltsin is certain to hear in Istanbul. Many Moscow
commentators say Mr. Yeltsin's presence and his good
personal relations with western leaders should ease
some of the pressure.
Nevertheless, Russian leaders know Chechnya will
almost certainly be the dominant issue at the summit.
(SIGNED)
NEB/PFH/JWH/RAE
16-Nov-1999 13:27 PM EDT (16-Nov-1999 1827 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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