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Clinton says US can "do business" with Putin

WASHINGTON: Despite US-Russian tensions over Chechnya and nuclear arms, President Bill Clinton said on Monday he believes the United States can "do business" with acting Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"What I have seen of him so far indicates to me that he is capable of being a very strong, effective, straightforward leader," Clinton said in an online interview with based on questions submitted via e-mail and CNN's live chat room.

Clinton's public embrace of Putin was in contrast to some of the private concerns held by US officials, who feel Putin is still to some extent an unknown quantity.

"Based on what I have seen so far I think the United States can do business with this man," Clinton said, echoing former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's famous initial assessment of Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.

Clinton was asked how one could know whether Russia and the United States were at peace.

"Because we're not fighting with them or on the edge of fighting," he answered. He recounted cooperation to reduce nuclear weapons, and said, "I hope very much that after the next Russian election we'll be able to make further progress on reducing nuclear weapons."

One issue that has divided the two countries has been Chechnya, the breakaway region where Russian troops have been engaged in a bloody crackdown to root out separatist rebels.

Clinton drew a clear distinction between the conflict in Chechnya, which the West has condemned, and Kosovo, where NATO engaged in an 11-week air war to dislodge Yugoslav troops and allow ethnic Albanians to return home.

Asked why Western nations had not "done enough for Chechnya like they did for Kosovo," Clinton said: "I don't think the situations are parallel, but I think the Western nations have spoken out against the excesses."

He also stressed that there is a difference between "the legitimate political forces" in Chechnya and the paramilitary forces there.

These forces, he said, "have to bear their share of responsibility for what happened as well. I think some of them actually wanted the Chechen civilians attacked because they thought it would help improve their political position."

Putin became acting president on Dec. 31, taking over from Boris Yeltsin, who resigned. He is the leading candidate in Russian presidential elections in six weeks.

Secretary of State Madeleine Albright's recent visit to Moscow was dominated by disagreements over the war in Chechnya and a US request for amendments to the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) treaty, which limits missile defence systems.

Russia has opposed amendments, saying the treaty as it stands is the bedrock of the arms control regime. The United States says the proposed missile defence system is aimed at "rogue states," not at Russia's massive nuclear arsenal.

Albright said after the trip that Putin was more open to US views on the subject. She said he also accepted the idea of a linkage between the ABM treaty and a treaty which would further reduce the size of the US and Russian nuclear arsenals.

The Russians would like to cut the number of strategic warheads to 1,500 for each side but the United States prefers a higher limit, in the 2,000 to 2,500 range.-Reuters