Will the Iraq War Lead to Worse Russo-US Relations?

Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Defence Committee Alexei Arbatov has announced at a Moscow press conference that the war in Iraq will most likely lead to complications in Russo-US relations.

According to him, the harder things become for the Americans in Iraq, the more they look for guilty parties, "including among other states." The politician said that the United States would demand the support of Russia and European countries, and then when this was denied, would make accusations against other states.

At the same time, he rejected claims that Russia and the USA would return to the type of relations seen during the Cold War. In his opinion, the main difference between the current times and that era is that "official propaganda was then anti-American, while the nation as a while had a good attitude towards the United States, just as now the situation is the complete opposite: official propaganda is trying to play down tension and not set people against the USA, but the population's mood is extremely anti-American." When predicting how events will develop, Arbatov suggested that the USA would sooner or later turn to other states and the UN for help to resolve the situation. The parliamentarian concluded that the friction and contradictions could then disappear.