Transatlantic Unity on Russia - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice

For much of the past month, the world's focus has turned to Russia. We took up the urgent, initial challenge of supporting Georgia after the Russian attack - a challenge that Poland was instrumental in meeting.

The main question going forward - which I addressed at length in a speech last Thursday - is, what do the events of the past month mean for Russia's relationship with the world, especially the United States and Europe?

The circumstances surrounding last month's conflict are well-known. Mistakes were made on both sides, but the response of Russia's leaders - invading a sovereign state across an internationally-recognized border, and then seeking to dismember it by recognizing Abkhazia and South Ossetia - was disproportionate. And the responsibility for this behavior lies not with Russia's neighbors, not with NATO enlargement, and not with the United States, but with Russia's leaders.

Perhaps more disturbing, though, is that Russia's attack fits into a worsening pattern of behavior over several years - among other things, its use of oil and gas as tools of coercion, its threat to target peaceful nations like Poland with nuclear weapons, and its curtailment of law and liberty at home. The emerging picture is an increasingly authoritarian and aggressive Russia.

The attack on Georgia has brought us to a critical moment - but not a deterministic one. Russia's leaders are making some unfortunate choices. But they can make different ones. Russia's future is in Russia's hands. But its choices will be shaped, in part, by the actions of others - especially the United States and our European allies.

Russia's invasion of Georgia has achieved - and will achieve - no enduring strategic objective. And our strategic goal now is to make it clear to Russia's leaders that their choices are putting Russia on a one-way path to self-imposed isolation and international irrelevance.

Accomplishing this goal will require the resolve and the unity of the United States and Europe. We cannot afford to validate the prejudices that some Russian leaders seem to have: that if you pressure free nations - if you bully, threaten, and lash out - we will cave in and eventually concede. The United States and Europe must stand up to this kind of behavior, and not allow Russia's aggression to achieve any benefit.
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