Primakov soothes West but looks east

HELEN WOMACK

Moscow

Russia's new Foreign Minister, Yevgeny Primakov, yesterday gave a finely- balanced performance at his first meeting with the press since President Boris Yeltsin appointed him to replace Andrei Kozyrev.

Russia was a "great power" and he would make it his priority to serve its interests, he said in comments likely to warm the hearts of Communists and nationalists who criticised Mr Kozyrev for being too compliant towards the West. But Mr Primakov went on to say that friendly ties with the West need not suffer because of this and certainly there would be no return to Cold War hostility.

"We are a great power and our policy must reflect our status," Mr Primakov told the packed press conference. "I consider it my main task to step up the Foreign Ministry's work in defending Russia's national interests. But I don't think that will contradict the development of ties with the United States."

While continuing to co-operate with the West, Russia would pay attention to relations with important neighbours to the East, such as China and Japan, and with traditional partners in the Middle East, which have lapsed somewhat since the collapse of Communism.

Moscow also needed to strengthen ties with the "near abroad", the now- independent republics of the former Soviet Union, he said.

Russia would oppose the eastward expansion of Nato, he said - Moscow has already made it clear it does not want to see former Warsaw Pact states such as Poland and Hungary joining the Western alliance. But there would be no return to the Cold War, Mr Primakov assured the West.

Earlier this week, when introducing his new man to the Foreign Ministry, President Yeltsin said the West should concern itself not with the personalities of Russian politicians but with the country's policies - and there would be no change in Moscow's foreign policy.

Mr Primakov's comments confirmed there was no U-turn now. The change towards a more assertive stance took place many months ago when Mr Kozyrev was still in office. Initially friendly to the West, Mr Kozyrev was using more nationalistic rhetoric towards the end of his term.

The appointment of Mr Primakov, 66, was politely welcomed in Washington but privately US diplomats expressed concern, saying he was conservative. Such labels are, however, misleading in today's Russia and whether Mr Primakov will turn out to be more conservative than Mr Kozyrev remains to be seen. In any case, it is President Yeltsin who sets the country's foreign policy. The Foreign Minister only carries it out.

US worries about Mr Primakov, formerly a journalist on the old Communist Party newspaper Pravda, were partly based on the fact that his last job was as head Russia's foreign intelligence service. But Mr Primakov was not a life-long secret policeman. He was made spy chief when the old KGB split up after the failed hard-line coup of 1991 and at the time eyebrows were raised because he had no KGB background.

American diplomats also remembered that Mr Primakov had been "unhelpful" to Washington's interests when, as a troubleshooter for the former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, he made a last-ditch attempt to negotiate with Saddam Hussein and prevent the Gulf war.