PUTIN SAYS NO SPLIT WITH MEDVEDEV ON LIBYA

PUTIN 

PLAYS DOWN 

TANDEM 

BREAKDOWN 

VLADIMIR PUTIN 

HOSTS RUSSIA'S ONE & ONLY (SO FAR) 

G-8 SUMMIT 

ST. PETERSBURG July 2006 

 A KEY PREROGATIVE OF BEING "PRESIDENT" OF RUSSIA 

What looks like a possible area of disagreement between the two halves of "Russia's Ruling Tandem" has materialized in the international sphere, on what to do with Libya.   Current Russian President Dmitry Medvedev instructed his foreign ministry officials "not to use our power of veto" in the U.N. Security Council.  "Russia did not use its power of veto for the simple reason that I do not consider the resolution in question wrong," explained President Medvedev. "It would be wrong," he continued, "for us to start flapping about now and say that we didn’t know what we were doing."  And furthermore, "we need to be very careful in our choice of wordings. It is inadmissible to say anything that could lead to a clash of civilizations, talk of ‘crusades’ and so on."  

So who had been talking about Libya and crusades, earlier that very day (Monday, March 21)?  Vladimir Putin, the current prime minister, and once and possibly future president.  He carefully said that his portfolio as head of the Russian government does not include "foreign affairs and foreign policy," and that he was offering his personal opinion.  He stressed that Russia did not vote for Resolution 1973, and that he was "concerned with the ease with which a decision can be made on the use of force in international affairs nowadays."  The Security Council Libyan resolution reminded him "of a medieval call to crusade, when someone calls upon others to go somewhere and free someone else." 

It no doubt bears mentioning that Putin made these remarks to workers in a ballistic missile factory in the Urals, the Votkinsk plant in Udmurtia.  So while he noted that Russia wants peace with everyone, "what is happening in Libya today proves once again that what we are doing to reinforce Russia's defence capabilities is right. And the new government armament program that I've just mentioned is designed to address these issues."  And, Putin concluded, "the Votkinsk plant has a large role to play in this program, and we are counting on your help."  

Today there came a clarification:  The Prime Minister denied there was a rift with the President. 

The next Russian presidential elections are due next year.  Putin will finally be eligible to run for a third term (always very interesting that he followed the constitution on this matter; after picking Medvedev as his successor, of course).