Nobody has cancelled the meeting between Vladimir Putin and Barack Obama, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced. Earlier, sources in Washington said that the American president may refuse to come to Moscow while Edward Snowden remains there. After that, Venezuela and a few other Latin American countries agreed to offer asylum to the whistle-blower. Konstantin Simonov analyzes the fate of the martyr Snowden and the prospects for Russian-American relations.
It seems that it was not for nothing that we named a street in Moscow after the former Venezuelan president. Venezuela has saved us from the difficult situation with Edward Snowden, stuck at Sheremetyevo Airport.
Snowden has quickly managed to reach the top of the list of America’s enemies. The probability of granting him asylum in Russia in particular caused a nervous reaction from Washington. It even suggested that Obama might refuse to come to Russia in September—if, of course, Snowden was still on Russian territory.
But this is what’s interesting: The threat of Obama not coming was very quickly refuted. Here is another significant topic: Mass media wrote about the banning of those who figure in the Magnitsky Act from entering the United Kingdom, which again was swiftly refuted. This doesn’t of course mean that Russia can now do whatever it likes, but we can definitely observe caution on the part of Western countries.
Like it or not, Russia is once again a serious player in the international arena; many issues do not get resolved without its contribution. A significant example of this is Syria. Russia does not hand Syria over; the regime still stands. The British prime minister must fly to Sochi in order to urgently discuss this issue with Putin. At the G-8 summit, a sensationally lenient and smooth decision is made—even though many promise to flog Russia for it. Without us, Syrian Solitaire cannot be played.
In the meantime, the West is teaching us political pragmatism—why the prospect of building gas pipe lines from Qatar and the Arabian Peninsula through Syria and Turkey into the European Union is not convenient for us at all. Essentially, the U.S. and Europe think the same way. There are economic interests which have to be protected by political tools. That’s why regimes which are significantly more cannibalistic but useful do not get noticed at all.
So even if Snowden decided to spend the winter at Sheremetyevo, Obama would come to Russia anyway. But thank you, Snowden; your revelations have reminded us once again that a perfect world does, after all, not exist. Neither in the East, nor in the West. The end still justifies the means.
In geopolitical terms, ends may still justify means, depending on how corrupt a given government is. Actually, what Snowden was reminding us is that there’s far too much room for improvement to be ignored.