Friends of Russia

Dmitri Trenin of the Carnegie Moscow Center wrote in Foreign Affairs that Russia has given up on joining the West and is creating its own Moscow-centered system. Former Soviet republics are again a priority, he said. Petr Vančura, a former Czech diplomat, said that Russia is run by the former KGB elite and has infiltrated the CR. From the very beginning, he said, Václav Klaus has conducted a pro-Russian policy. Klaus was against Nato, is against the EU and was always fundamentally against any U.S. initiatives, Vančura said. Pavel Máša of Lidové noviny said he entirely agrees with Vančura, and he added that ČEZ (without mentioning it by name) has also had an exclusive role in influencing the Czech-Russian relationship. As the G7+1 leaders gather in St. Petersburg this weekend, Russia is drifting farther from the West, but it still has a few strong allies in the heart of Europe. [Czech Republic Soviet Union USSR FSB LN European Union G8]