Russia. A matter of Russian honour

Vladimir Putin should solve rather than stoke regional conflicts

AFTER a humiliating decline as a world power, Russia is working hard to regain respect and authority. That is a fair, even praiseworthy aim. But to achieve it, Russia must respect other countries too, including places once ruled from Moscow. It will prosper more with friendly, confident countries around it - not weak, frustrated ones. Russia understands that, but often seems incapable of showing it.

By offering unconditional support to rebel regimes in the Georgian provinces of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, Russia dishonours itself and destabilises its neighbourhood. Since South Ossetia broke away from Georgia 12 years ago, it has degenerated into a smugglers' paradise. Russian soldiers prop up a sleazy regime that peddles vodka and arms. Moves by Georgia to cut this illegal trade have led to a violent summer. Heavier fighting, and open Russian intervention, are a risk.

The crisis needs delicate handling, but the fundamentals are simple. South Ossetia is not a viable state. It lives on crime. Its government needs to be closed down as part of a generous settlement which Georgia now offers. Abkhazia, Georgia's other breakaway province, is a tougher problem, and its local government even less legitimate - in that it speaks for even fewer of the region's lawful residents - than South Ossetia's.

Of the two places, Abkhazia has more claim to separateness - and it was the scene, in 1992-93, of a war where both sides fought dirty. Any settlement must include some deal for Georgians who fled Abkhazia; but only a limited right of return may be possible - and not straight away. On the positive side, Georgia wants to talk, and will offer Abkhazia any arrangement short of independence. But by underwriting the separatists, Russia is holding up such a solution.

Faced with this, America and Europe should give more help to Georgia's Mikhail Saakashvili, whose openness to ethnic co-existence and western values make him the region's most promising leader for decades; the governments of the West should steady his hand while affirming his choices.

They should also look beyond Georgia, to other “frozen conflicts” in the region. One is in Moldova, where another rebel statelet, Transdniestria, lives on smuggling and Russian guns. Then there is a far bigger stand-off: over Nagorno-Karabakh and its environs, where a decade ago Armenians broke free from Azerbaijan and expelled local Azeris. That logjam has other causes besides Russian meddling - but it would be easier to shift if Russia worked constructively with the West.

All these conflicts destabilise countries on the new borders of NATO and the European Union. The four Russian-backed statelets at the heart of these disputes have something in common: they have no legal existence, and can easily serve as a free-for-all for illegal activity of every kind.

That should be a worry for Russia too. If it sponsors adventurism and racketeering in Georgia and Moldova, that is partly because its policy there has been captured by crooks. The West should take its worries to the top, putting it to Vladimir Putin in plain language. Will the president continue backing separatist regimes that live on smuggling? Is a miserable bit of local power worth the harm done to Russia's name as a responsible state? Of course it is not. But only when Mr Putin takes a stand will the behaviour of more lowly Russians change. And he will do so only if other countries persuade him that his reputation, and that of Russia, are at stake.

Editorial argues that the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, should solve rather than stoke regional conflicts.

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