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Albright denies US endorsement of Russia over Chechnya

WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said on Wednesday there was no truth in the view that Washington, keen to avoid jeopardising arms control talks, was taking a soft line on Russia over Chechnya.

"There seems to be a view that the Clinton administration has actually 'endorsed' Acting President Vladimir Putin and that we have hesitated to criticise Russia for what it is doing in Chechnya. The truth, however, is very different," Albright wrote in an opinion piece in the Washington Post.

"No matter what agreements we seek on other issues, we have to bring Russia to see that this war must be resolved by political, not military means," she wrote, saying Moscow's current course could only lead to increased isolation.

Albright acknowledged that President Bill Clinton and other U.S. officials had described Putin, favoured to win Russia's March 26 presidential election, as capable, energetic and knowledgeable on the issues, but said this did not amount to an endorsement.

She said Putin's biography contained contradictions between his association with economic reformers and his long years of service in Russia's spy agency, the KGB, as well as his oversight of "the massively destructive Chechen military campaign."

"There's little to be gained by trying to make a final judgment at this point because we're going to have to deal with what Putin does, not with what he thinks," Albright wrote.

"I've heard it said that the administration won't criticise Russia because we fear that doing so will damage prospects for arms control," she said, without identifying who held this view.

"We are definitely working hard on arms control. But pulling our punches on Chechnya would be contrary to American principles and interests, and we won't do so."

Albright said the United States respected Russia's territorial integrity and did not question its duty to combat terrorism on its own soil. "But where Russian actions have called for criticism, we have not minced words."

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said on Tuesday there were troubling questions about human rights in Chechnya, and welcomed a planned visit to the region by the top U.N. human rights official.

The United States and other Western countries have harshly criticised Russia for causing extensive human suffering in Chechnya. Putin has earned wide domestic popularity ahead of the March 26 election largely on his pledge to continue the assault against Chechen militants until they have been wiped out.-Reuters