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Good relations with West under Putin predicted

WASHINGTON: Russia's acting president, Vladimir Putin is modern and pragmatic and will maintain good relations with the United States and the West, said a senior Russian government adviser who was predecessor Boris Yeltsin's chief spokesman.

In a frank discussion at the national Press Club, former journalist Dmitry Yakushkin acknowledged that Yeltsin was so irritated by President Bill Clinton's position on Kosovo that he sometime avoided talking with him.

He said relations with Putin should be better, although he predicted the Chechen crisis would take years to resolve.

"We wan't have any hawkish declaration," he said forecasting relations under Putin as "much more calm, much more pragmatic, much more workmanlike in the future".

"This will be a more predictable, more reliable country," Yakushkin said adding that Russians are acutely aware of the economic and political problems that grip their nation and are trying to solve them. "I don't see any hint of possible future confrontation".

Yakushkin, a deputy to Putin Chief of Staff Alexander Voloshin, said he expects no major economic measures to be announced by Putin before the March 26 presidential election he is expected to win easily.

But he said Putin will use his support in the election "to promote difficult economic decisions". He said some of Putin's moves likely will not be very popular but will be "obligatory".

Yakushkin said Yeltsin's resignation came as a complete surprise to him, although he now can point to signs it was coming, including speeches Yeltsin made in which he mused over his 10 years in power. Putin recently revealed that he was informed 10 days in advance of the announcement.

Yakushkin described Yeltsin as a dominant figure, the strongest politician in Russia during his time in office, but said he clearly has left. Despite a few familiar faces around the Kremlin, including his own, Yakushkin brushed aside rumours of continuing Yeltsin influence over the Russian government.

"There is no double center of power," Yakushkin said.

He noted that Putin's firm stand on Chechnya underpins his popularity among Russians, who view leaders of the Chechen rebellion as outlaws. He said final resolution of the crisis will take "not months, but year," possibly including strong rule from Moscow.

"Maybe it needs dictatorship," he said, explaining afterwards that he meant only that tough measures must be taken to impose order, discipline and the rule of law on Chechnya.

Yakushkin said he planned no official visits while in the United States for Putin's government but was here to get the views of private American analysts, journalists and others on the new Russian government.