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Russia pays the price for being soft on India

Russia's unwillingness to succumb to persistent pressure from the US to 'curtail its arms deal with India and change its stand on the Iraq and Kosovo issues has led to the toughening of the International Monetary Fund's position on releasing fresh credits to Moscow, authoritative sources have disclosed.

Former senior Russian minister Sergei Glaziyev told Novostsi news agency that in their recent meetings with Russian Prime Minister Yevgeni Primakov, US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and her deputy Strobe Talbott ''persistently advised him to curtail Russia's activity in the armaments markets of India''.

However, the Russian prime minister expressed to the two visiting US leaders his country's unwillingness to concede its demands, except that relating to the ratification of the START-II treaty, which provoked 'ire' of the White House, the senior statesman disclosed.

Unable to prevent Russia from pursuing its independent course in the international arena, the US was now trying to block release of fresh credits from the IMF which, according to Glaziyev, is under the full sway of the United States.

According to a report by Izvestia, a leading Moscow daily, the US "is playing a geo strategic game vis-a-vis Russia and using the IMF as its ultimate weapon''.

Sources in political circles quoted by the Novostsi news agency point out that while on one hand the IMF has demanded a drastic curtailment in the social sector spending in Russia and doing away with subsidies to revive the national industry, on the other hand it is also keen to see to see the departure of one-time communist leaders, Yuri Maslyukov and Genadi Kulik from the Primakov cabinet.

If the premier does not accede to these demands, talks with IMF will collapse while the removal of the two communist leaders from the cabinet will explode the current political configuration in Russia, they point out.

According to a report in the daily Segodnya, the West sees ''the possibility of these loans being used for the communists election campaign'', hence their clamour for removal of communists from the Primakov cabinet.

However, according to the analysts, ''The current hysteria over difficulties in the talks with the IMF is aimed at squeezing out of the Primakov cabinet persons who are trying their best to safeguard the national interests''.

Political observers say the storm over the issue arose from a news item recently published in Russia's most circulated weekly Argumenti i Fakti about the president having given an ultimatum to the prime minister to ''purge communists from his cabinet in ten days time, otherwise...'' This, they say, encouraged those who do not see eye to eye with Primakov on several international and national issues to raise the demand.

However, political circles close to the Kremlin point out that the prime minister will be able to persuade the United States during his forthcoming visit to Washington to provide at least some portions of the credit promised by the IMF. Primakov will meet US vice-president Al Gore in Washington on March 23.

UNI

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