Thursday, March 29, 2007
MOSCOW:Russia's President Vladimir Putin has sent a letter to a summit of Arab leaders, the Kremlin said Thursday, calling for a time limit for U.S. military presence in Iraq and issuing what sounded like a veiled criticism of U.S. foreign policy.
Putin's letter to the summit which opened Wednesday in the Saudi capital reflected efforts by the Kremlin to expand Russia's global clout and take a higher profile in international affairs.
Putin said in the letter that Russia highly values "the Arab world's contribution to building a just multipolar world order and political and diplomatic settlement of crises."
Russia has repeatedly pushed for a multipolar world — a term underlining its opposition to the unipolar world of U.S. domination.
In what sounded like a veiled criticism of the U.S., Putin complained in the letter against a "policy of unilateral use of force and a desire to monopolize conflict settlement." He also criticized those seeking to "provoke a confrontation between civilizations and faiths."
Putin openly assailed what he described as U.S. over-reliance on force and a unilateral approach to global affairs in last month's speech at a security conference in Munich, Germany.
In a foreign policy review released earlier this week, the Russian Foreign Ministry also strongly warned the United States against attacking Iran, warning that it could trigger a "war of civilizations."
Putin said that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been at the root of unrest in the region and reaffirmed Russia's call for an international conference on the Middle East.
Russia is a member of the international Quartet of Mideast peacemakers which also includes the U.N., the U.S. and the EU, and it has sought to take a broader role in peacemaking efforts.
Putin also repeated Russia's call on Washington to set a time limit for its military presence in Iraq, saying it would become an important factor helping national reconciliation.
Russia has opposed the U.S. military action in Iraq and has not contributed any troops to the U.S.-led coalition force. It said it was willing to help peace efforts, but urged Washington to revise its policy in Iraq by giving more say to opposition groups and by inviting nations such as Iran and Syria to take part in peace-building.
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