Russia: Dmitri Medvedev follows in Vladimir Putin's footsteps with warning to the West
Pastor Dale Morgan
Russia: Dmitri Medvedev follows in Vladimir Putin's footsteps with
warning to the West*
By Adrian Blomfield in Moscow
Last updated: 8:04 PM BST 09/05/2008
Dmitry Medvedev, Russia's new president, delivered a coded rebuke to the
West as Russia paraded its nuclear missiles through Red Square in a show
of force not seen since Soviet times.
Thousands of Russians thronged the centre of Moscow to wallow in
nostalgia for their superpower past as tanks rumbled through the streets
in a display of military might not seen since the end of the Cold War.
On a day designed to send an unmistakably bellicose message of Russia's
resurgence to the West, Mr Medvedev launched an apparent attack on the
United States, suggesting that its "irresponsible" foreign policy could
lead to world war.
"The history of the world wars shows that armed conflicts do not erupt
on their own," Mr Medvedev told Russian troops in Red Square during his
Victory Day address.
"They are fuelled by those whose irresponsible ambitions overpower the
interests of countries and whole continents." Mr Medvedev, speaking on
his third day as Russian president, also criticized countries that
intruded in other states' affairs, especially by redrawing their
borders, comments seen as an attack of the West's backing for Kosovo's
independence.
Russia, he warned, would respond to such interference extremely seriously.
"We cannot tolerate disrespect for international law," he said.
The new leader's comments appeared to bear the imprimatur of Vladimir
Putin both in content and in style.
Mr Putin, who has changed jobs to become prime minister but is expected
to remain the real power in the land, regularly attacked Western foreign
policy in his Victory Day speeches though he rarely mentioned the
aggressors he denounced.
Last year he likened the United States to the Third Reich.
Even if Mr Medvedev's speech was Putin-lite by comparison, it suggested
that a change in Russia's acerbic approach to the West was unlikely. The
address was the first time that Mr Medvedev had touched on foreign
policy since taking office on Wednesday.
It is unclear whether or not Mr Putin had a role in writing the speech,
but throughout its delivery the prime minister stood over his protégé's
shoulder in a further sign that he will not be taking a less visible
role in Russian politics.
Since his inauguration, Mr Medvedev has not appeared in public without
his mentor by his side, giving further credence to arguments that he
will be little more than a figurehead president and perhaps even Mr
Putin's puppet.
The parade itself was certainly more in tune with the tastes of Mr
Putin, a former KGB spy, than with those of Mr Medvedev, a 42-year-old
former lawyer.
Since 1990, the focus of Victory Day, commemorated in Russia a day later
than in Britain, has been one of quiet reflection for the more than 20
million Soviet lives lost in the Second World War.
This year's parade, however, was designed more to remember the Soviet
Union's past might and Russia's present military resurgence. Mr Putin
has quadrupled the country's defence spending over the past four years.
To resounding cheers, Russia's newest intercontinental ballistic
missiles joined a battery of ageing T-90 tanks that trundled across the
specially reinforced cobble stones of Red Square. Nuclear bombers and
fighter jets roared through the skies above the Kremlin as 8,000 troops
goose-stepped past St Basil's Cathedral.
Although the West is likely to be alarmed by so potent a resurrection of
aggressive Soviet symbolism, the United States has chosen to react
publicly with casual insouciance.
"If they wish to take out their old equipment and take it for a spin,
and check it out, they're more than welcome to do so," a Pentagon
spokesman said.