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Putin Shows True Colors, Backs North Korea
by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700
Copyright
June 4, 2014
All Rights Reserved.
Seizing Crimea March 1, 61-year-old Russian
President Vladimir Putin flashed his true colors, pivoting away from the United
States and European Union to form alliances with Beijing and North Korea. Since taking the reins from
reform-mined, pro-Western Russian President Boris Yeltsin May 7, 2000, Putin’s
feigned interest in partnering with the West, only to find himself painted into
a ant-Western corner. Booted out
the G7 March 25 and faced with sanctions since March 20, Putin decided to end
the pretence and rejoin the rogue nations where he can take the lead. Seizing Crimea March 1 has cost
Putin dearly, turning the once Western-leaning country into the same pariah
state that tormented Poland and seized much of Eastern Europe and Caucasus
region in Cold War. Turning to North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un, Putin showed he’s not trustworthy to the
West.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel hasn’t caught up with recent Russian
developments, making Russian energy purchases to Germany and the European Union
untenable. Germany currently
receives about 30% of it petroleum and natural gas from Russia, making
transition to alternative suppliers more complicated. Turning to Pyongyang shows exactly
how unprincipled Putin is regarding partnerships with anyone that can rescue the
lost revenue from U.S. and EU sanctions.
Building new alliances in China and North Korea show that Putin isn’t
concerned with whom he does business.
For nearly 15 years, Putin feigned that he wanted closer ties to the
West, often referring the U.S. and EU has his American and European partners. His decision to do business with Kim
shows it doesn’t matter just how far Putin has turned back the clock on
relations with the U.S. and EU.
U.S. and EU officials, primarily because of selfish business deals,
miscalculated Putin’s Russia—a totalitarian state that controls the press and
every aspect to Russian life.
Whatever made the strange bedfellows between the U.S. and Russia fighting Nazi’s
in WW II, there’s little in common in today’s Russia. Yeltsin and Gorbachev’s attempts to
remake Russia has failed under Putin, who doesn’t trust free markets—and all the
goes with it—to improve the Russian state.
Joining alliances with North Korea and China shows the extent of Putin’s
contempt for the West. Putin sees only his self-interest in seizing Crimea to protect Russian bases and punish
Ukraine’s post-revolutionary government that toppled Russian-backed Viktor
Yanukovich Feb. 22. Redirecting the Russian Federation toward the East,
Putin wants to prove that he doesn’t need the West.
Putin’s alliance with Pyongyang hopes to stall any progress toward
nuclear disarmament, throwing a monkey wrench in U.S. plans toward maintaining
peace on the Korean Peninsula. With
a veto-wielding voice on the U.N. Security Council, Putin can cause the U.S. and
EU plenty of problems backing rogue regimes, including Bashar al-Assad’s Syria,
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s Iran and Kim Jong-Un’s North Korea. Former President George W. Bush wasn’t that far off when he labeled Jan. 29, 2002 all
three regimes as the “Axis of Evil.”
Where Bush went wrong was leaving Vladimir Putin’s Russia off the list. Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Yuri
Turtnev, Putin’s envoy for Russian Eastern provinces, sees the “culmination of a
new phase in Russian-North Korean relations taking shape—a sort of renaissance
if you will,” confirming Putin’s retaliatory moves.
Refusing to reverse course on Crimea, Putin sees no hope in restoring
relations with the West unless he’s willing to get out Ukraine. Finding buyers for Russia’s natural
gas and petroleum in the East, Putin hopes to avoid a recession now threatening
the Russian economy. With the
Russian stock market and currency sinking, Putin’s hurt the Russian economy. His decision to annex Crimea has
already cost the Russian economy billions, promising more downside as time goes
on. Once seen as a promising investment for American companies, Putin’s oppressive policies
have discouraged foreign investment.
“It’s still an open question whether the current crisis in Ukraine will
result in any more substantial shifts in Russian policy toward North Korea,
particularly in deal with the nuclear and missile issues,” said Alexander
Vorontsov, a North Korean expert at the Russian Academy of Sciences.
Putin hopes its new alliance with North Korea and China pressures the
West to abandon Russian sanctions.
As long as Russia stays in Crimea, it’s going to be difficult for the U.S. and
EU to normalize relations with Putin.
Russia’s new foreign policy tilts toward its old communist buddies,
pushing Western powers, especially the U.S. and EU, from making overtures to
Moscow. Ukraine’s recently elected
President Petro Poroshenko wants Putin out of Crimea at the earliest possible
time. Without Putin backing North
Korean nuclear disarmament, there’s little hope for the foreseeable future on
the Korean Peninsula. “North Korean
will not denuclearize anyway,” said Japanese security expert Narushige
Michisshita, seeing Putin’s recent moves in North Korea as harming disarmament
talks. Putin’s estrangement from the U.S. and EU hurts the nuclear disarmament process.
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