Rice, Russian Clash Over Kosovo Plan, Missile Shield
Disputes Could Overshadow Approaching G-8 Meeting

By Glenn Kessler
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, May 31, 2007

POTSDAM, Germany, May 30 -- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Wednesday tangled fiercely over U.S. proposals to grant Kosovo independence and build a missile defense shield. Lavrov accused the United States of starting a new arms race with its plan to install a radar system in the Czech Republic and 10 interceptor missiles in Poland.

On Kosovo, Lavrov all but threatened a veto if Western nations attempted to pass a U.N. Security Council resolution backing a plan for Kosovo's independence, saying he hoped such a response would not be necessary. "This is an issue on which our positions are diametrically opposed," he said. "At the moment I don't see any chance of the positions moving towards each other."

The disputes, laid bare at a news conference following a meeting of the Group of Eight foreign ministers, signaled that rising U.S.-Russia tensions could dominate next week's G-8 summit on the Baltic Coast.

Rice had flown to Moscow this month in an effort to calm the rhetoric between the two sides, but at the news conference, Lavrov took umbrage at her comment this week that the Russian position on the missile shield was "ludicrous."

"For Russia, this situation is not ludicrous at all," Lavrov rejoined. "At the moment, all they are saying is, 'Don't worry, it is not aimed at you.' But such answers are indeed ludicrous."

The foreign ministers spent the day meeting in the English Tudor-style Cecilienhof Palace, where President Harry S. Truman, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin and other victorious allies met in 1945 to negotiate the postwar landscape of Europe. Now, growing strains and suspicion between Russia and the United States have begun to mirror some of the disputes over power and influence that led to the Cold War.

The statement issued afterward by the German host covered a list of issues, such as Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan, but even it could not soft-pedal the increasingly contentious dispute over Kosovo. During the meetings, diplomats said, only Lavrov opposed moving forward on Kosovo, citing other separatist conflicts that he said should be settled first, including Cyprus, Western Sahara, the breakaway Moldovan province of Trans-Dniester and the breakaway Georgian province of South Ossetia.

On Kosovo, Russia backs Serbia, its longtime ally, in opposing a plan proposed by U.N. mediator Martti Ahtisaari that would give the ethnic Albanian majority of the Serbian province independence with international supervision. Serbia wants to grant Kosovo only broad autonomy.

The Germans, French and British also back the Ahtisaari plan. Lavrov looked irritated whenever one of the foreign ministers expressed a desire to bring Serbia into Western institutions such as the European Union.

Kosovo has been independent of Serbian control and under U.N. supervision since the end of the NATO-led war in 1999. U.S. officials say a failure to resolve the issue would destabilize the region. Rice argued that Ahtisaari offered his plan only after attempting to mediate a solution between the Serbs and the Kosovo Albanians. But Lavrov insisted that the two sides should reach their own solution.

"Until that happens, we don't see any way to solve this problem," Lavrov said. "As to whether we would slap a veto on a Kosovo resolution, I hope that this will not be necessary."

The missile defense issue was not raised in the meeting, but Lavrov and Rice traded barbs over it during the news conference. The United States says the shield is necessary to defend against rogue states such as North Korea and Iran, but Lavrov asserted that "the arms race is starting again."

Lavrov objected to Rice's assertion Tuesday, as she was flying to Europe, that "the idea that this somehow would degrade Russia's strategic nuclear deterrent is just ludicrous, and the Russians know it's ludicrous."

He said the Americans had provided only facile explanations for the plan, but Rice noted that a succession of U.S. officials, including Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, had tried to assuage Russian concerns with "detailed analysis" and offers of cooperation.

Rice noted that Russia had said this week that its ballistic missiles could "overwhelm, penetrate, destroy" any missile shield the United States would build. To laughter, she pointedly added: "We quite agree."

Lavrov jabbed back: "I hope that nobody has to actually prove that Condi's right about that."