Putin's games

Russia announces the closure of its military facilities in Cuba and Vietnam in what is seen as an attempt to appease the West.

UNTIL September 11, Russian President Vladimir Putin stood tall among contemporary world leaders with his own brand of principled politics. He stood centrestage on the international scene, defending Russia's national interests while pushing at the same time the agenda for global peace. He had consistently called for a sustained fight against international terrorism much before the horrific events of September. Putin and Chinese President Jiang Zemin had also put up a united front against the unilateral attempts of the United States to scuttle the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty and start a new nuclear and missile race. However, after the events of September, Russia's foreign policy seems to have undergone a marked change. Some Russian commentators have described the recent moves by Putin as an attempt to "embrace the West" and as an abandonment of former Prime Minister Yevgeni Primakov's "multi-polar world" concept which the Russian government had followed in the past five years.

Moscow has been very supportive of Washington's military action against Afghanistan. Although Russia is not directly involved in the war, it is providing Washington with intelligence inputs and other unspecified help. It has not objected to U.S. troops operating out of Uzbekistan. Putin has been in touch with President George Bush since the international crisis erupted in September and there has been a significant rapprochement between Washington and Moscow.

Before the Shanghai summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in the third week of October, Putin made a significant concession to Washington. Without adequate warning, Russia fulfilled a long-standing U.S. demand when it announced that it was withdrawing from its last military bases abroad. These bases are the Electronic Surveillance Centre at Lourdes in Cuba and the Cam Ranh naval base in Vietnam. The official confirmation of Russia's withdrawal from Cam Ranh did not come as a surprise. Both Hanoi and Moscow had come to an understanding about that some time ago.

Cash-strapped Russia did not have the wherewithal either to maintain the base or to keep strategic assets there. The base was also of no immediate military importance for Russia in the post-Cold War era. Cam Ranh was officially leased by Vietnam free of charge to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) in 1979. The base was originally built by the U.S. in the 1960s when it started its military intervention in Indochina. During the 1980s the base was a major military outpost for the Soviet Navy, with a regiment of Tu-95 Bear strategic bombers stationed there.

In recent years the Cam Ranh base was virtually deserted, operated by just 400 Russians, who included workers, technicians and navy personnel. The base was meant for Russian warships patrolling the Indian Ocean and the South Pacific. Not many Russian ships have ventured that far in the past few years. In 1998, an equally cash-strapped Hanoi asked for $200 million as annual rent for the base.

FINANCIAL reasons are cited for the Russian withdrawal from Lourdes. Russia used to provide $200 million annually for the use of the surveillance base since the mid-1990s. The Cuban government was taken by surprise at the timing of Russia's announcement to withdraw, coming as it did only a few days before the APEC summit. During a state visit of Cuba at the end of last year, Putin, accompanied by Cuban President Fidel Castro, had visited the Lourdes facility. There was even talk of modernising and developing the facility.

It was an ideal "listening post" as Russia was able to get more than 75 per cent of its intelligence data on the U.S. through the centre. The U.S. secret services have for long claimed that all e-mail, radio and telephone messages that were not coded could be intercepted by the Lourdes surveillance facility.

General Yuri Drozdov, a former chief of the KGB's covert-intelligence directorate, is among many Russians who have opposed the decision to close down the bases. He said that the new satellites that Russia proposed to launch would not be able to replace information that was received by Russia through the Lourdes facility. He added that the Russian President had made a wrong decision that would only benefit "certain Russian and U.S. circles." He noted that Russia and the U.S. had apparently become partners and asked: "But why did the Americans not withdraw their warships and planes from Diego Garcia?"

Putin's statement on October 18 emphasised that the decision to close the Lourdes facility was taken "after lengthy negotiations with our Cuban partners. It was recognised that withdrawing the Electronic Radar Station from Cuba would be a positive move." Even more surprising to Cuba was the statement by the Chief of General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, General Anatoly Kravshnin, that Russia was withdrawing its military bases from Cuba and Vietnam as a result of the changes in the military-political situation in the world and in view of the savings for the Army and the Navy. Besides the annual lease, there was the cost of maintenance of the staff. "With this money we can buy and launch 20 reconnaissance satellites and purchase around 100 radars," Kravshnin said.

Havana has pointed out that clubbing the two bases together in the Russian declaration will only serve to mislead international opinion. It has said that the Cam Ranh base was built by the U.S. 20,000 km away from its territory. It was leased to the USSR only in 1979. The Lourdes station, on the other hand, was established in 1964, two years after the Cuban missile crisis. Vietnam faces no threat of aggression from the U.S. in the foreseeable future, while terrorist plots are hatched continuously against Cuba from U.S. soil.

Cuba has also pointed out that it started charging rent from Moscow only after 1992, when the Soviet Union collapsed. In the same year, the Russian Federation, which had assumed the responsibilities of the Soviet Union, unilaterally withdrew the military brigade that had remained in Cuba for more than 30 years after the missile crisis. However, Moscow wanted to retain the Lourdes facility, stating that it was an important element in its strategic security, particularly as a means to verify compliance with the agreements on nuclear disarmament and weapons reduction adopted under the ABM Treaty.

The political and ideological understanding between Havana and Moscow evaporated during the Yeltsin years. Cuba says that the rent it has been charging in the last four years is a pittance compared to the economic losses it incurred owing to the annulment of trade agreements with the socialist bloc after the collapse of the USSR.

The Cuban authorities had observed a change in the Russian government's attitude before the current international crisis erupted. Moscow had begun showing a marked reluctance to meet its financial obligations in recent months despite the improvement in the Russian economy and the rise in the country's foreign exchange reserves to $30 billion.

When the negotiations concerning the future of the base was in a delicate stage, a special envoy of the Russian President, who was in Havana, announced the closure decision despite Cuba's objections. The government was told that the urgency on the part of the Russian government was owing to the scheduled meeting between the Russian and the U.S. Presidents in Shanghai. Fulfilling the long-standing U.S. demand was the special gift presented by Putin to Bush. Bush reciprocated by postponing some of the missile tests scheduled in November. These tests were linked to the National Missile Defence system which the Bush administration wants to instal. However, U.S. Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has categorically stated that the U.S. will abandon the ABM Treaty in the near future. The Russian newspaper Izvestia wrote that the friendly gestures by Moscow will help Russia get admission into the World Trade Organisation.

An official statement issued in Havana on October 17 has stated that "the agreement on the Lourdes Electronic Radar Station has not been cancelled since Cuba has not given its approval. Russia shall continue negotiating with the Cuban government, given that there are still important issues to resolve with regard to the matter." The statement also expressed the hope that the "disagreement can be resolved in a reasonable, fair and honourable manner."