Medvedev slams US post-9/11 foreign policy

Oct 8, 2008, 14:58 GMT

Paris - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Wednesday fiercely criticized US foreign policy after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, saying that Washington's global ambitions had ruined a chance for peace.

Speaking at an international conference in the south-eastern French resort of Evian, Medvedev said that after the events of September 11, 2001, Washington had missed a chance 'to build a truly democratic world order' because of its 'determination to enforce its global dominance.'

'Russia - like many other states - instantly, without a second thought, stretched out a hand of friendship to the Americans (after the attacks),' Medvedev said. 'And we did that not only to rebuff terrorism ... but also for the sake of finally overcoming the division in the world which was caused by the Cold War.'

However, Washington undertook what he called 'a series of unilateral actions which were coordinated neither with the UN nor even with a number of the United States' partners. It's enough to recall the decisions to abandon the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty or to invade Iraq.'

Medvedev went on to say that military bases were now being established 'all along the perimeter' of Russia and that parts of the American global anti-missile shield were being constructed in Poland and the Czech Republic.

'The question is: Why is it needed, for what reasons? And why, when taking these decisions, was it not possible at least to have a preliminary consultation with one's allies?' Medvedev said.

Medvedev urged a de-escalation of the kind of confrontational rhetoric that had marked the Cold War.

'That all belongs to the past - just as Sovietology does,' he said. 'Sovietology, like paranoia, is a very dangerous disease, and it is pity that part of the US administration still suffers from it.'