RFE/RL Security Watch Vol. 1, No. 24, 2 January 2001
PUTIN SEEKS CLOSER TIES WITH IRAN, IRAQ... President Vladimir Putin said that Russia,"as a member of the G-8" should cooperate with the international community on Iran and Iraq but that it must not ever forget its "own national interests." In an interview published in "Nezavisimaya gazeta" on 26 December, Putin said he would pursue closer ties with both countries. Both are changing, he suggested, and Russia should not be "shy" in responding to those changes as other countries have been.
...AS DEFENSE MINISTER PUSHES WEAPONS SALES IN TEHRAN. Defense Minister Igor Sergeev met with the Iranian President Mokhammad Khatami and his defense minister, Ali Shamkhani, to discuss the possibility of Iranian purchases of Russian weapons systems, Interfax reported on 27 December. (A Russian official who accompanied Sergeev said that Tehran could eventually purchase some $4 billion of Russian weapons.) Sergeev dismissed American objections to such sales by saying that "of course, not everybody in the world agrees with our position, but we will pursue our own goals." At the same time, he said that he would urge Iran to join with Russia and the U.S. in containing the Taliban movement in Afghanistan. "Security and stability in Central Asia are in the interests of both Russia and Iran," he said.
Copyright (c) 2001. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.http://www.rferl.org
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