[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 81 (Thursday, June 23, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: June 23, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                         PARTNERSHIP FOR PEACE

 Mr. DeConcini. Mr. President, in an historic marking of the 
anniversaries of the creation of NATO and Nazi Germany's attack on the 
USSR, the Russian Federation has joined Partnership for Peace [PFP]. 
Although NATO rejected any special formal conditions for Russia's 
entry, which could have been interpreted as a right to have a say in 
NATO decisionmaking, NATO foreign ministers have promised Moscow a 
relationship that goes beyond the purely military dimension of PFP. The 
joint declaration on Russia's entry recognizes Russia's significance, 
and NATO will consult with Russia on European security.
  Many Russian politicians opposed joining the PFP. Not surprisingly, 
the Communist Party, and nationalist hardliners, such as Vladimir 
Zhirinovsky, bitterly protested the invitation as a national 
humiliation. Less expected, however, was the assessment of former 
Russian Ambassador to Washington, Vladimir Lukin, now the chairman of 
the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Russian Duma. He also objected to 
Russian accession, likening it last March to a rape of Russia. In fact, 
with anti-American sentiments increasingly popular today in Russian 
politics, plans to schedule joint United States-Russian maneuvers had 
to be canceled last month, and it seemed doubtful that Russia would 
join PFP.
  Nevertheless, President Yeltsin and his Government have evidently 
decided that entry offers more pluses than minuses. Some commentators 
theorize that the Russian military did not want to be left out of 
security consultations, others fear that Russia will try to use its 
membership to curtail NATO's military and political options in crisis 
situations like Bosnia. Still others worry that Russia will attempt to 
realize its publicly stated hopes to turn NATO into the military arm of 
the CSCE, or will seek--or, in the worst case scenario, may have 
already received--tacit understanding from NATO about Russian 
peacekeeping operations in the Commonwealth of Independent States.

  Mr. President, we must be mindful of these concerns, particularly the 
latter. It is especially important that the entry into PFP of the East-
Central European countries and many former Soviet Republics be used to 
foster respect for the sovereignty and independence of all the member 
states. Though not formally an alliance system, PFP nevertheless 
presumes certain fundamental common values among participants, and it 
would defeat the very purpose of the enterprise if some members felt as 
threatened by their neighbors, or by their perception of their 
neighbors' intentions, as they did before joining.
  These qualifications notwithstanding, I welcome Russia's entry into 
PFP. Having Russia in the West's new security arrangements is a 
positive breakthrough. It is preferable to worry about the implications 
of Russia in PFP than to have to worry about the consequences of Russia 
remaining outside, feeling isolated and threatened.

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