Secretary of State Colin Powell admonishes Russians

While being appointed as Secretary of State by the US Congress International Relations Committee on January 17, 2001, Colin Powell touched upon the Caucasus and trans-Caucasus countries.

“We have to make it clear to those nations that just as we want nations anywhere else in the world to govern themselves and be self-determining, we believe that for them as well. And we have to make it clear to the Russians, even though they may have concerns in the periphery of the old Soviet Union and now the periphery of Russia, they cannot act in a heavy-handed way, and they cannot intimidate these countries, and they cannot threaten these countries, and they should not think about trying to recreate the old Soviet Union in some smaller way. This will not further their interests in the West.

So I think we have to be clear in our dialogue with the Russians that movement in this area and threatening activities, such as cutting off gas to Georgia, are not helpful. And I’m pleased that the Clinton administration, which immediately protested the most recent cut-off of gas to Georgia, succeeded, with others, in persuading the Russians that this was not the direction to move in.

I think the Russians need to work with us in the West, and we have leverage in that regard. If they want to be accepted into the Western economic system, if they want to benefit from a relationship with us, they have to act in accordance with what we believe are commonly accepted principles of behavior,” Mr. Powell said*