Russia's Decision Represents Shift In a Long-Time Struggle With U.S.

MOSCOW -- Russia's decision to allow the deployment of U.S. troops and aircraft in former Soviet Central Asia represents a huge shift in a more than seven-year struggle between Moscow and Washington D.C. for ascendancy in the oil-rich region, once jealously guarded by Russia as its own sphere of influence.

But by backing the U.S.-led campaign, Russian President Vladimir Putin stands to reap substantial diplomatic dividends. Foreign policy analysts in Moscow say the West may now be encouraged to see Russia as an ally in a new kind of war, rather than a former Cold War adversary that's still barely trusted.

Possible military strikes on Afghanistan could also bring Russia tangible security benefits by destroying the threat posed to its vulnerable southern flank by the Taliban, military observers say. Russia hopes the anti-terrorist campaign could also silence criticism of its war in Chechnya, where its forces have faced widespread accusations of brutality from Western governments.

In a speech to the German Parliament on Tuesday, Mr. Putin said the world must move beyond obsolete Soviet-era cliches to face the new threats to its security. "We got so used to living in two opposing systems," he said. "The world has become much, much more complicated."

The Russian concession also marks a watershed for U.S. policy in the region. Since 1994, Washington has been trying to turn Central Asia and the Caucasus into an independent, pro-Western swath of territory between Russia and Iran. Central to that policy has been a U.S.-advocated oil export pipeline linking the Caspian and Mediterranean Seas.

Moscow has just as energetically resisted the advance of U.S. influence into an area it considers its own backyard, and punished states economically and militarily for going their own way. Independent-minded Georgia lost the Black Sea region of Abkhazia in a 1993 separatist war thought to be backed by Moscow.

Today, although Russia seems to be yielding to the prospect of the U.S.-backed pipeline from Azerbaijan to Turkey's port of Ceyhan, analysts say that earlier they couldn't have imagined Moscow agreeing to a U.S. military deployment in the region.

In a televised address to the nation Monday evening, Mr. Putin said Russia would open up its airspace to U.S. humanitarian flights, take part in search-and-rescue operations and supply arms to anti-Taliban forces in northern Afghanistan. He also said Russia had no objection to Central Asian states allowing U.S. planes onto their airfields.

The move paved the way for U.S. troops to be stationed on former Soviet territory for the first time. It came just 10 days after Mr. Putin's defense minister, Sergei Ivanov, declared there was not even a "hypothetical" possibility that NATO operations could be launched from former Soviet Central Asia.

"Putin sees the anti-terrorist action as a historic chance for Russia to enter the civilized world," said Igor Bunin, head of the Center for Political Technologies, a Moscow think tank.

But some commentators said Mr. Putin was simply bowing to the inevitable. The U.S. has already flown at least two military cargo missions into neighboring Uzbekistan, and in recent days, a number of Central Asian states have expressed their willingness to cooperate with the U.S. On Monday, Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev said the U.S. could use his nation's airports, military bases and air space, though he said no request for help had so far been received.

Pentagon officials say they want to station special forces and AC-130 combat planes in Uzbekistan, military medical and recovery teams in Tajikistan and use the entire region's airspace for military jet overflights.

"How things have changed," said Robert Ebel, director of energy and national security at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies. "It's a good time for the Central Asian states to demonstrate their independence."

But some analysts said Russia had merely realized its concerns about terrorism outweighed fears of a loss of influence in the region. "I see a reflection of a superior Russian priority -- dealing with terrorism and radicalism in places like Afghanistan," says Leon Feurth, who as chief foreign policy adviser to former Vice President Al Gore was a key player in U.S. policy in the Caspian region.

Mr. Putin hinted that in exchange for its backing, the West should see Russia's campaign in Chechnya as part and parcel of the "struggle against international terrorism." He combined his offer of support with an ultimatum to the Chechen rebels, giving them 72 hours to contact his representatives in the region to discuss laying down their arms.

Russia has repeatedly argued that it is fighting Islamic extremists trained and financed by Osama bin Laden in Chechnya. That view appeared to be supported by German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, who after talks with Mr. Putin said world opinion on Chechnya should be re-evaluated.

Russia's backing of the U.S. action was welcomed by pro-Western liberals in Moscow who have long hoped for a thaw in an East-West relationship strained by the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999, Russian concern at NATO expansion and American plans to build a national missile defense over Moscow's objections.

But some nationalists expressed irritation that Russia appeared to have received nothing in return. "For the first time ever, U.S. planes will now be making regular flights over former Soviet territory," said Alexei Mitrofanov, a leader of the right-wing Liberal Democratic Party. "The question is: what did Putin get in exchange? If nothing, then it was a big mistake.