A recent episode at Russia’s Mission to the United Nations seems to have captured the Russian imagination: It seems that the Russian Ambassador received a letter from John McCain, asking if he’d consider donating a ‘modest’ sum of between $5,000 and $35,000 dollars to make him U.S. president.
Apparently, some Russians consider this to be a symbol of something much larger.
In light of this episode, Russia’s Argumenty i Facty carried this column, which asked three prominent Russians what, in their opinion, Russia could or should do to help the United States in its moment of financial distress. Some of the answers are surprising – and not at all adversarial.
For example, Vladimir Sergeevskiy, a strategist for the FINAM, a Russian Investment Company, responds this way:
“It’s unlikely that in the next few years, the U.S. would directly ask Russia for assistance. Rather, the country will seek assistance from various international organizations. Russian funds make up a share of the budgets of many of those international organizations, and therefore the Russian Federation will indirectly participate in America’s rescue. Directly, this isn’t something we can pull off as of yet – the scope of our economy isn’t comparable to that of the United States. But of course, the collective bailout of the United States is a worthy cause.”
By Alexey Malashenko, Vladimir Sergeevskiy and Yefim Rachevskiy
Translated By Yekaterina Blinova
October 21, 2008
Russia – Argumenty i Facty – Original Article (Russian)
Alexei Malashenko, a Scholar-in-Residence at the Carnegie Moscow Center, Vladimir Sergievsky, strategist for Russian Investment Company FINAM, and Yefim Rachevsky talk of what Russia might be able to do to help the United States.
The current political week began with a comical incident: Russia’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations received a letter signed by U.S. presidential candidate John McCain, with a request for financial assistance. In the letter, McCain appealed to Russian Ambassador Vitaliy Churkin for a rather modest sum to support his election campaign – from 5,000 to 35,000 dollars. McCain himself, as well as representatives of his campaign, assured us that this was a result of a regrettable computer glitch; But the mere fact that America would ask Russia for financial aid is somewhat symbolic, especially given the backdrop of the global financial crisis. We asked our respondents in what ways Russia could help the United States:
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