U.S. troops not threat to Russia, Powell says

MOSCOW -- Secretary of State Colin L. Powell sought to assure Russians on Tuesday that despite American plans to deploy some troops to former Soviet-bloc nations in Eastern Europe, the United States had no intention of encircling or threatening their country.

Interviewed on a Moscow radio station, Powell said that while the level of American forces in Europe was falling to fewer than 100,000 from more than 300,000, the Bush administration has been looking at the possibility of putting "temporary facilities" in Eastern Europe for training or use as air bases. Forces based in these areas might be sent in emergencies to the Persian Gulf, the Middle East and Central Asia, he said.

"It is not essentially moving our army closer to the Russian federation, and people should not see it in that light," Powell said on the popular independent radio station Ekho Moskvy. "The number of troops overall will be going down. Therefore we are not trying to surround anyone."

But Powell's comments appeared to reflect a sense that many Russians, though perhaps not many Russian leaders, did indeed see American moves "in that light." For three days, first in the nation of Georgia and then in the Russian capital, Powell has been trying to allay such suspicions.

Since the end of the Cold War, Russians have objected generally to the eastward march of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization but have yielded with each expansion after tough discussions with the United States and its European allies.

American officials say they do not expect significant opposition from the Kremlin to the establishment of American bases in former Soviet satellites like Poland, Romania or Bulgaria.

More problematic, however, is the American military presence on the southern border of Russia, particularly in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, where the United States has access to Soviet-era bases it refurbished to support the war in Afghanistan. There is also a small American military contingent in Georgia to conduct counterterrorism training, but Powell promised this week that this limited force would soon depart.

The secretary flew back to Washington on Tuesday afternoon after an arduous two days of private and public diplomacy.

Copyright C 2004 Deseret News Publishing Co.
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.