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Russian media's obsessive praise for Putin |
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July 25, 2000
MOSCOW (AP) - President Vladimir Putin's behavior persuaded the Group of Seven to treat Russia as an equal at this weekend's summit, the country's media said Monday - celebrating a major feat for a nation tormented by its fall from a superpower to the West's poor cousin. "Russia, represented by Vladimir Putin, took part in the dialogue as an equal," the daily Segodnya wrote. "Moreover, the president's account of his visit to the 'terra incognita' - North Korea - became a real best seller of the summit." Putin made a stopover in North Korea en route to Okinawa, Japan, for the summit. He apparently secured a promise from North Korean leader Kim Jong Il to abandon Pyongyang's missile program in exchange for other nations' help in launching North Korean satellites - something that boosted Russia's standing and thrust Putin into the limelight at the G-8 summit. "Putin acted not only as the discoverer of totalitarian North Korea, but as an active and equal participant in the discussion about the global problems of humanity, to which the three-day summit was largely dedicated," the daily Vedomosti said. Among the more significant results of this was the drop - at Putin's request - of a special section on Russia from the summit's final communique, and hints that next year Russia may finally be invited to participate in G-8 meetings on purely financial matters. Foreign leaders attributed the change in the group's attitude to Russia in part to Putin's frankness in talking about his country's economic problems and the government's reform plans, and to his "confident, but not overdrawn appearance," according to German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. Putin himself acknowledged the success at the summit in his characteristic reserved manner. "These were the kinds of results we had expected," the Russian president, who was visiting the Far Eastern Kamchatka peninsula on Monday, was quoted as saying by the ITAR-Tass news agency. Still, he welcomed the improvement of Russia's standing among the G-8. "These results will help improve the role and the place of the Russian Federation in international affairs," Putin said. Despite talk of equality, Moscow still needs to work out an agreement on rescheduling its huge Soviet-era debts to western creditors. A draft version of the Russia section, which was eventually dropped from the summit's communique, stated that the Russian government will have to demonstrate its ability to reform the economy before it gets any debt relief, the Dow Jones Newswires reported The draft, dated July 22, said Russia needs to overhaul its tax system and government spending, fight corruption and money-laundering, and strengthen the rule of law. |