Chrétien to meet Putin to discuss relations with Russia
Former prime minister Jean Chrétien will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow next week to discuss that country’s relations with the West, it was announced Friday.
Chretien will hold his discussion with the Russian leader on behalf of the InterAction Council, a group of former world leaders.
His visit comes at a time of increasingly tense relations between Russia and the West, particularly Canada. Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Conservative government has been highly critical of Russia’s actions in relation to Ukraine and recently announced a two-year mission in which Canadian soldiers will be sent to train Ukrainian militia.
Chrétien is co-chair of the 41-member council that includes members such as former U.S. president Bill Clinton and former British prime minister John Major.
The council revealed Friday that in his capacity as co-chair, Chrétien “has arranged to meet with President Putin, whom he knows from his days as prime minister of Canada.”
It appears the meeting will occur Thursday, although it’s possible the timing could change.
The council said the “main agenda item” for Chrétien’s discussion with Putin will be the “current state of relations between Russia and the West.”
Chrétien will later report on his discussions with Putin when he meets with other members of the InterAction Council at a meeting in Wales in June.
The group was established in 1983 to “mobilize” the experience of former statesmen. The council says its members “jointly develop recommendations and practical solutions for the political, economic and social problems confronting humanity.”
The group submits its proposals directly to “national and international decision-makers.”
Chrétien first met Putin during his time leading Canada’s Liberal government between 1993 and 2003.
He has met the former KGB operative “multiple times” since then, a source said Friday.
Harper has developed a frosty relationship with Putin in recent years and has used strong language to describe the Russian leader in connection with Crimea and Ukraine. “He’s obviously a nationalist, an extreme nationalist, and he’s obviously an imperialist,” Harper said in a media interview last June.
“This is an individual who clearly believes that, if he’s able, he has the right and the ability to invade another country, to alter borders through military force.”