FLASHBACK: Solzhenitsyn accused U.S., NATO of encircling Russia in 2006

FLASHBACK

Pravda | April 27, 2006

Nobel laureate and former Soviet dissident Aleksander Solzhenitsyn in a newspaper interview accused the United States and NATO of seeking to encircle Russia, and praised President Vladimir Putin for working to restore a strong state.

In a rare interview, the reclusive 87-year-old author, who rose to prominence for his accounts of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin’s repression and labor camps, told the liberal weekly Moscow News that NATO’s ultimate aim was the loss of Russia’s sovereignty, according to a full text of the interview posted on its Web site edition Thursday.

“Though it is clear that present-day Russia poses no threat to it, NATO is methodically and persistently building up its military machine into the east of Europe and surrounding Russia from the south,” Solzhenitsyn was quoted as saying.

“This involves open material and ideological support for ‘color revolutions’ and the paraxodical forcing of North Atlantic interests on Central Asia,” he reportedly said, adding that there was “little substantial difference” between the actions of the U.S. and NATO.

“All this leaves no doubt that they are preparing to completely encircle Russia and deprive it of its sovereignty,” Solzhenitsyn was quoted as saying.

Russia was furious at what it saw as Western encroachment on its home turf after a series of peaceful revolutions brought opposition leaders to power in the former Soviet republics Georgia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan.

Solzhenitsyn lashed out at the pro-Western government in Ukraine for its drive to obtain NATO membership, and said Russia would “never betray in any way the multimillion Russian population in Ukraine and renounce our unity with it,” according to report.

The author, known for his conservative Slavic views, accused former reformist Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev of capitulating to the West, and Russia’s first post-Communist president, Boris Yeltsin, of pursuing the same policy as well as presiding over the massive theft of state resources and a descent into chaos.

But he said in the interview with Moscow News that Putin, a former KGB career intelligence officer who was elected in 2000, was making efforts to restore Russia’s shattered statehood.

“Foreign policy, considering our current situation and possibilities, is being conducted sensibly and ever more forward-thinking,” Solzhenitsyn said.

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