Oranges and lemons perturb Putin
by Jeremy Page

The Times (London)
February 19, 2005, Saturday

A MAP of the former Soviet Union must be a troubling, if not colourful,
sight for a former KGB officer such as Vladimir Putin as he prepares
for a summit with President Bush next week (Jeremy Page writes).

Since Mr Putin became President of Russia in 2000, the United States
has relentlessly encroached on Moscow’s sphere of influence in
Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia. First the conflict in
Afghanistan brought US troops to Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. Then the
Rose Revolution swept a Western-minded liberal into power in Georgia in
2003. Within a few months the US was training Georgian special forces.

Next Nato fighter jets arrived in the former Soviet republic of
Lithuania after its accession to the alliance in 2004. And late last
year Russia lost its foothold in Ukraine when the Western-leaning
liberal Viktor Yushchenko came to power.

But the erosion of Russia’s strategic orbit does not stop there,
analysts say. They are predicting a series of copycat “revolutions”
in Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Armenia and, possibly, Kazakhstan that will
dash for good Mr Putin’s aspirations to reassert Moscow’s influence
over its former empire.

The Russian media have even come up with names for future revolutions:
grape for Moldova; apricot for Armenia; aubergine for Azerbaijan;
and amber for the tiny Russian enclave of Kaliningrad.

One of the places they are not predicting revolution is in Russia
itself, where Mr Putin recently abolished direct elections for
regional governors.