Putin's Summit Strategy

The first one-on-one meeting between President Clinton and recently inaugurated President Putin takes place in Putin’s private apartment in the Kremlin and lasts over two-and-a-half hours. After some small talk about sports and exercise, Putin starts with flattering Clinton, remembering their meeting in New Zealand in September 1999 soon after Putin became Prime Minister. He tells Clinton he remembers “how kind you were, how friendly, how supportive when I was making my first steps in the leadership. I remember how after dinner you took me by the hand and led me to that gallery and we were applauded there together.” Putin continues by praising Clinton’s contribution towards the building of U.S.-Russian relations during his eight years in office. Talbott’s notes emphasize Putin’s attempt to define areas of common ground (“I agree with you absolutely”) and the compliments: Putin calls Clinton “one of the leading citizens of the world,” “a skilled seasoned statesman,” and compares him to Franklin Roosevelt.

The notes also show that Putin is very well prepared for the meeting and in full command of details on a variety of subjects like the U.S. electoral campaign, national missile defense proposals, the situation in the Balkans, and his favorite subject, international terrorism. Putin emphasizes common interests and mutual benefit on every subject. The two presidents engage in a “very confidential” discussion on Serbia and how to “get Milosevic out.” The two leaders seem to completely agree on the subject and pledge to work together, yet Putin cautions, “we have to be careful not to make it a public political objective to remove him.”

Putin is also eager to discuss the situation in Chechnya, which he defines exclusively as a terrorist threat, emphasizing the Chechens’ brutality, cruelty and anti-Semitism. At the same time, Putin objects to the descriptions of “alleged, mythical atrocities committed by the Russian army. They are spoken of all the time. But people keep silent about real atrocities.”

In the end of the conversation, Putin gives Clinton a history lecture, which he would often do in his conversations with foreign leaders in the future. This one is on the origin of the Soviet nuclear program, when secret police chief Lavrenty Beria was appointed by Stalin to be head of the Soviet nuclear program. Putin seems to admire its efficiency: “Those who met their assignment on time were made Heroes of the Soviet Union; those who didn’t were shot.”

The meeting is very substantive and cordial. Clinton is satisfied with Putin’s cooperativeness and tells him “I think you’re the right person to lead this country.”

The official memcon of this meeting is still classified.

This “one-on-one” conversation comes just before the formal plenary session on security issues and raises “matters I’d just as soon not get into in the larger group,” as Clinton says. Compared to the cordial and friendly tone of the night before, uncomfortable questions come up here, such as (in Clinton’s words) “the problem of Chechnya, the problem of your political development, of your free press, of religious freedom.” Clinton tells his Russian counterpart that the reports about civilians killed in Chechnya and the lack of proper investigations of military crimes as well as possible Russian military involvement in Georgia would create problems in U.S.-Russian relations and at the meeting of G-8 in Okinawa.

Putin’s first response is to say, “I feel some agreement with you,” but then he pushes back, while repeatedly telling Clinton that his framing is correct, “precisely the right question.” Putin says he remembers “vividly and painfully” when, during the meeting in New Zealand, Clinton doubted Russia’s military ability to expel Chechen terrorists from Dagestan. Putin emphasizes that the military operation was in fact successful. While agreeing that there could be no purely military solution, he again presents Chechnya as an issue of terrorism and banditry, calling the Georgian authorities “idiots and chickens” for their inability to deal with the Chechens on their territory.

After a passionate effort to present the situation in Chechnya in his terms and showing his cooperation on terrorism—even approval of Clinton’s strikes against Iraq—Putin moves to open flattery. He says he values Clinton’s views highly, that he heard about Clinton for years, “about how you’re a powerful, effective political actor of the world stage. I listen to what you say and I heed you.” He says both that he agrees with Clinton’s view and, at the same time, tries to impose his own view of the situation and present it in terms of a common interest in fighting terrorism. One key passage here provides a window into Putin’s views on force. He tells Clinton, “I’ll never repeat something I’ll tell you now. If you quote me, I’ll deny it. The first time you did those air strikes” (here Talbott inserts his own commentary, “it’s not clear from context whether he’s talking about Iraq, after the anti-Bush plot, or against the UBL camp in Afghanistan”) my personal reaction was, ‘Way to go!’ But that’s not because I thought you were going to bomb those people into negotiating with you. Rather, I felt you were giving them what they deserved.”

This plenary meeting lasts slightly over an hour but covers an impressive number of important subjects that had been previewed the previous night during the Clinton-Putin one-on-one. On Nagorno-Karabakh and the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) status, Putin emphasizes the Russian cooperation and early progress on equipment withdrawal but also notes the limitations and the fact that CFE does not cover troops, only equipment. When Clinton raises the issue of anti-terrorism cooperation, specifically on Osama bin Laden, Putin notes how well U.S. and Russian counterterrorism services work together and then talks about a “kind of Terrorist International” that threatens both Russia and the United States and how the Central Asian states are vulnerable to the Islamic terrorist threat. Clinton talks about problems of missile strikes that could kill civilians, and Putin seems to agree with all the points.

The middle of the plenary features a curious conversation about possible NATO membership for Russia. Putin is enthusiastic about cooperation with NATO as a way of integrating Russia into Europe: “There should be full-scale relations between Russia and NATO.” He is saying it just a little more than a year after the NATO strikes against Belgrade, when all relations with NATO were frozen. He even expresses his full support for the idea of Russian membership, to which Clinton replies, “we should start now.” Putin responds, “This is the first time that we have heard such a statement from the United States and I must say I am pleased.” Clinton says, “I am serious about being ready to discuss NATO membership with Russia.” Is he, really, or is it Clinton’s persistent wishful thinking about integrating Russia into Europe while expanding NATO at the same time (two tracks that have previously collided)?

During the NATO discussion, Clinton makes an interesting statement that shows how Putin’s effort to define Chechnya just as a terrorist issue had some traction. Clinton speaks about a future world where most serious problems would be resolved, and “then the biggest international problems will be like Chechnya, pitting the civilized world against terrorists, drug traffickers, rogue states, and so forth.” After some more discussion about NATO, the two leaders move to the “deliverables,” which are quite impressive. They agree to sign a document on principles of strategic stability, a memorandum about creating a Shared Early Warning Center, and statements of agreement on plutonium disposition and a climate change statement. The summit is a success for both leaders.

The third one-on-one session is held at the end of the summit, on Monday morning before Clinton flies to Kiev. After Clinton remarks on the various statues of former Czars in the Kremlin, Putin praises the U.S. president on his knowledge of Russian history and says to Clinton: “You could be the President of this country. Or maybe we could switch places.” After the usual flattery, Putin addresses Clinton on a very personal level trying to persuade him to abandon the idea of national missile defense. Putin frames it as a sphere where they could work jointly, but if not “Russia will be capable of an adequate response […] maybe quite unexpected, probably asymmetrical.” After this veiled threat, he calls for cooperation. He also emphasizes his Western orientation: “We like Chinese food, but we can’t imagine living there, whereas we can imagine living in America or Europe.”

Turning to NATO, Putin reminds Clinton what he said the day before about Russian eligibility. Putin presses for further Russia-NATO cooperation, such as the development of “a mechanism for implementing the NATO-Russia Founding Act,” and proposes that officers from the Russian General staff “take part in the work of the planning committee of NATO.” Clinton is much less forthcoming on this issue than had been the day before. At the end of the meeting, Putin complains to Clinton about his problems with the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church, “who has warned him he’ll refuse to see the Pope if the Pope comes to Russia.” Putin expresses his strong support for the papal visit, even if it is made in his capacity as a head of state.