Many Obstacles on Russia's Road to the West

U.S. President George Bush and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, may enjoy each other's company, but a former Canadian ambassador to the Ukraine, Greece and Hungary says that serious differences have to be overcome and future frictions prevented for closer relations between Russia and the West. "Putin is using the threat from terrorism to bring Russia closer to the West," says Derek Fraser, director of the EastWest Institute of Canada, which supports reform in Eastern Europe, and is part of UVic's Centre for Global Studies. "However, there are obstacles on this path. These include differences on anti-ballistic missiles, human rights concerns, Russia's arms exports to countries such as Iran, and violations of the treaty limiting European conventional forces. Future sources of friction may be NATO, the EU expansion, and differences over the war against terrorism."

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