Journalists writing about the U.S. President’s farewell visit to Moscow are in a difficult situation. On the one hand, they are fed cheerful dispatches from U.S. news agencies and official institutions, claiming the visit was a perfect success and that important documents were signed and the favorable impression the new Russian President Vladimir Putin made on Bill Clinton. On the other hand, such journalists cannot but listen to colleagues saying the top-level visit proved a complete fiasco. Therefore, one must trust one’s own eyes that saw both presidents looking displeased at the news conference. And the grim faces of the Russian and U.S. entourage (although the Americans tried to look energetic, Aleksandr Voloshin and Igor Ivanov looked plainly sour).
So what happened in reality? Nothing out of the ordinary, one might say. Russian-U.S. summits are known to have taken place that, due to circumstances, would never result in any serious decisions or breakthroughs. Precisely the case with the latest top-level meeting. President Putin has just taken the reins of power and he is well aware that the crucial phase in the Russian-U.S. dialogue may be reached only after the new president moves into the White House. In fact, Vladimir Putin made his stand quite clear at the news conference, saying he would like to reach an understanding with Bill Clinton, knowing that he was actively involved in the campaign for his Vice President Al Gore. Suddenly it transpired that protection against the nuclear threat was of utmost importance for that campaign. Therefore, Bill Clinton’s initiative is associated with the prospects of the Democratic candidate, so that if Mr. Clinton agreed to Mr. Putin’s proposal about a joint antimissile system (which U.S. experts estimate will slow down the development of the American system twofold) would mean considerably lowering the chances of the Democratic candidate.
So there was nothing to make a deal on, but here was an opportunity to appear on Moscow Echo radio and television and at the Duma with optimistic speeches. Yet here, too, there were hitches. Clinton could not but demonstrate his support of the freedom of expression in Russia, so he selected Media-Bridge-affiliated audiences, something Putin’s administration could not have appreciated, knowing its attitude to Vladimir Gusinsky’s structures. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright visited Radio Liberty’s Moscow Bureau as another obvious gesture in support of the station (frequently mentioned of late in conjunction with reporter Andrei Babitsky’s disappearance in Chechnya). At the Duma, even MPs representing pro-Cabinet factions (let alone Communists and Zhirinovsky people) were displeased by the mild criticism of Russia’s actions in Chechnya. And so Mr. Clinton gave his last flashing smile to Putin, visited Yeltsin, and boarded the flight to Kyiv, hoping to be accorded a more cordial welcome in the Ukrainian capital (and he did and was met with a standing ovation on St. Michael’s Square).
