Posted by Shyam Moondra
The U.S. and EU need to be firm in dealing with Russia in the aftermath of Russian invasion of Georgia. The Russian leaders Medvedev and Putin and the Russian military have behaved in a very irresponsible way without any regard for the well being of innocent civilians. Russian leaders signed a cease-fire agreement but they failed to fully comply with it. They initially insisted that they have no desire to invade any other neighbors, but lately they are talking about maintaining their "sphere of influence." Russian response to the initial military action by Georgia was undoubtedly brutal and disproportional. They ventured way beyond the disputed regions, threatening the democratically elected Georgian government. The unprofessional behavior of the Russian military, such as looting Georgian banks, stealing computers and furniture from the civilians' homes, destroying bridges and railway infrastructure that have no military value, and even hauling away the U.S. humvees that were waiting to be shipped to the U.S., made Russia look not as a great power but as a country of thugs.
It is important that the West take a firm stand against illegal Russian invasion. They need to go beyond just saying that it wouldn't be business as usual; they need to take concrete actions to send a clear message that this kind of behavior will not be tolerated in the 21st century. The EU summit, which is scheduled for September 1, 2008, is the right forum for taking forceful actions to clearly demonstrate that they mean it when they say that it wouldn't be business as usual.
Here is a list of things the EU, the U.S., and NATO could do to punish Russia. These actions will do a serious damage to Russian economy and will force them to change their behavior.
1. Send immediate financial and military aid to Georgians to help them rebuild their country and shore up their defensive capabilities.
2. Move overwhelming naval and other military assets to the Black Sea to prevent any possible action by Russia against other neighbors such as Ukraine.
3. Put the consideration of NATO membership of Ukraine and Georgia on a fast track.
4. Freeze relations with Russia, diplomatically and militarily. Isolate Russia, not just in Europe but world wide.
5. Drop Russia from G-8 (go back to G-7) and the Middle-East peace group.
6. Reduce energy dependence on Russia. Russia needs to sell their energy products just as much as EU needs to buy them. The reduced energy purchases from Russia will hurt their pocket-book and it will tame their aggressive posture.
7. Impose trade sanctions such as ban on business deals and technology transfer to Russia.
8. Deny Russia the entry to GTO.
9. Freeze the bank accounts of Russian officials and business executives in Europe and the U.S. It has been reported that many Russian politicians, including Putin, may have amassed vast hidden fortunes in secret EU and US bank accounts.
10. Arm Russian Federation provinces (e.g., Chechnya) that want to be independent.
11. Stop granting visas to Russians for visiting the EU and the U.S. This will hurt affluent Russians.
12. Limit the number of Russian diplomats and their movements within the host countries, including the U.N. (NYC).
