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Gorbachev upbeat on US-Russia relations

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February 15, 2001 

MOSCOW-- (AP) - Mikhail Gorbachev on Wednesday dismissed grim forecasts about U.S.-Russian relations under President George W. Bush, but warned of two potential threats: U.S. plans for a national missile defense and Russian corruption.

"Some people are jumping to conclusions and saying we will have a worsening relationship with the new administration," the last Soviet president told a conference of American and Russian executives. "I believe we should not take seriously these negative scenarios. They are irresponsible."

Gorbachev, who worked with Bush's father in arms-control negotiations in the waning years of the Soviet Union, urged Washington to proceed more cautiously with the missile defense plans.

"This is a proposal that needs to be scrutinized, reconsidered," he said. "We need to determine whether this is a project that needs to be done or will cause serious problems in world stability."

The United States wants to alter the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty to deploy the missile defense. Russia strongly opposes changing the treaty, calling it a cornerstone of strategic stability.

Both Gorbachev and business leaders at the conference said that Russia must work harder to win the confidence of foreign investors.

Gorbachev praised Russian President Vladimir Putin for stabilizing the country since his election last year and for taking the "first steps" toward enforcing law and order and fighting corruption.

"But we are still far from where we need to be," he said. "If Putin doesn't make clear changes soon it could take a turn for the worse."

Andrew Somers, chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in Russia, predicted increased investment in Russia in 2001 but said violations of shareholder rights, punitive taxes and labyrinthine bureaucracy remain key obstacles.

"Corruption is a serious problem. Serious efforts must me made to overcome it," he said. Efforts by Putin to de-bureaucratize the economy should improve that ... but there still is a long way to go."

Meanwhile, Yuly Vorontsov, Russian ambassador to the United States in 1994-99, said that part of the problem lies with U.S. investors who are "spoiled" by the clarity and ease of the U.S. market and have a weak understanding of Russia's economy.

Gorbachev urged Putin to distance himself from Russia's so-called oligarchs, who used close ties to former President Boris Yeltsin's inner circle to amass empires, often through dubious privatization deals.

Putin "should orient himself toward the national interest, and not toward the interest of small groups of people, particularly those people who would like to see him as heir to the previous regime," Gorbachev said.

Gorbachev also said he was shocked at CIA director George Tenet's recent description of Russia as a security threat. "I would fire him," Gorbachev said.