| Page 2 of 2 < |
Russian Continues the Tantrum Tradition at U.N.
|
TOOLBOX
   Resize
COMMENT
 Discussion Policy
 CLOSE
Comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.
Who's Blogging  |
"We did it to save his life; it was the right thing to do," said the senior official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Some observers said the Russians have used negotiations on a variety of important issues, including Iran's and North Korea's nuclear programs, to secure concessions on others.
For instance, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov eased his opposition to a resolution sanctioning North Korea only after U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice agreed to support a Russian-sponsored resolution criticizing neighboring Georgia, which had detained seven Russian soldiers who were accused of spying. The United States had previously argued that the dispute was a domestic matter that should not be handled by the Security Council.
The bluster technique has not always turned out so well.
In 1950, the United States ushered through a Security Council resolution authorizing the deployment of a U.S.-led force to repel North Korea's invasion of South Korea. The Soviet delegation had boycotted the council because it failed to grant a seat to China's communist government, so it could not cast a veto to deny the United States international backing for entering the Korean War.
Churkin took offense when John R. Bolton, the outgoing U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, compared Khrushchev's shoe-banging to North Korea's defiance of the U.N. Security Council. He appealed to the council president, Kenzo Oshima of Japan, "to use your influence" to discourage the use of such an "inappropriate analogy."
Staff writer Glenn Kessler in Washington contributed to this report.
