Washington— In an exclusive interview with JLBC, Congressman Eliot Engel (D-NY), a ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, explains how U.S. strategy has not stopped Russia’s President, Vladimir Putin, from selling weapons to Syria, strengthening ties to Iran, invading Ukraine or overseeing the Crimea’s secession referendum at gun point—which resulted in secession from Ukraine early this week. And in the midst of this political and military chaos, Israel’s Foreign Minister, Soviet-born Avigdor Liberman, has been working to strengthen ties between Russia and Israel.

U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke following the Crimea vote. Obama told Putin the vote—in which more than 95% of ballots cast were in favor of joining Russia—“would never be recognized by the U.S. and the international community.”

On Monday morning, the U.S. and its allies began isolating Russia, and imposed sanctions on key individuals Washington deems responsible for the current crisis in Ukraine. Assets of 11 Russian and Ukrainian officials, including two of Putin’s top advisors, and ousted Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, are being frozen.

In an executive order issued earlier, Obama declared that the policies and actions of the Russian Federation “undermine democratic processes and institutions in Ukraine; threaten its peace, security, stability, sovereignty, and territorial integrity; and contribute to the misappropriation of its assets, and thereby constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States.”

Russia is seeking to become the new energy supplier for all of Europe and Eurasia, as well as imposing hegemony on some former Soviet Union states. To get the view from Capitol Hill, JLBC contacted Rep. Engel, because of his role on the House Foreign Affairs  committee.

The Jewish-Link of Bergen County (JLBC): Avigdor Liberman has been trying to strengthen relations between Russia and Israel. Why would he do that except for a change in the perception of American strength?

Eliot Engel: Israel is an independent country and has the obvious right to forge independent relations with whatever countries it chooses to do so. Russia is an important country, has influence over a wide range of things and while the U.S. will always be Israel’s principle friend and ally, Israel is free to have other relations with other countries.

JLBC: Considering Dalia Grybauskaite’s (President of Lithuania) comment about Russia, “With smaller countries, it’s either total obedience or you’re an enemy. There is no desire to recognize others as equals,” how do you think a stronger relationship between Israel and Russia would play out?

EE: I think a stronger relationship between Israel and Russia won’t mean that they’ll be allies. I think Israel is the ally of the U.S. and U.S. is the ally of Israel and I don’t think that Israel is looking to be an ally of Russia the way that Israel is an ally of the U.S. But I do think that Israel would look for friendly relations with all countries because Israel would like to pull Russia away from collaborating with Israel’s enemies. We don’t want a situation where Russia is making trouble for Israel, so I think it makes sense for Israel to try to have good relations with other countries. Israel has relations with China. I don’t think these things are mutually exclusive. They are multifaceted and each country does what is in its own self-interest. I don’t think Israel would ever do anything to harm U.S. interests.”

JLBC: What is the relationship between Russia and Iran and Russia and Syria?

EE: Russia is one of the chief backers of Assad (President of Syria, Bashar al-Assad.) Russia has a major base on the Mediterranean Sea in Syria so Russia wants to protect that base and so Russia’s been an unhelpful country threatening to actually veto U.N. Security Council resolutions that would have ended the carnage in Syria, that would have stopped the killing of civilians, the bombing of civilians, using Sarin gas as a tool of war. They have been instrumental in propping up Assad and so has Iran. Those two are more responsible for it than anything else.

JLBC: Do you think that Putin actually fears Iran or Syria having nuclear and chemical weapons?

EE: Yeah, I do. But I think there are other things right now on Russia’s plate. That’s why I think Russia is participating in part of the G5+1 (U.S., U.K., France, Germany, Russia and China) negotiations with Iran to ostensibly at the end of it have an agreement where Iran would not have nuclear power for the purposes of making a bomb.

JLBC: How is it possible (for countries) to compartmentalize in such a way?

EE: Because I think nothing’s black and white. I think there are all kinds of shades of gray. It’s troubling to me that we need Russia in the negotiations with Iran or that we need Russia in trying to stem the turmoil in Syria. Just the way it bothers me that we’re sitting and negotiating with Iran at the same time Iran is the leading support of terrorism around the world, the leading funder of Hezbollah. Part of the Hezbollah’s fighting force has left Lebanon and gone directly into Syria to fight on the side of Assad. It looks like it (Russia) is having it both ways.

It troubles me but international relations are always multifaceted and you have abide by reality. The reality is that the objectives to a large extent between the U.S. and Russia are similar in that both countries regard radical Islam as a threat to world peace. Russia doesn’t like it any more than we do. (There are estimated to be 500,000 Muslims in Ukraine, with 300,000 Crimea Tartars, descendants of those deported from Russia because of their alleged collaboration with the Nazis in World War II. Now they are mostly pro-West.)

JLBC: Do you see what is happening in the Ukraine as a Russian grab for more land, more power, a means of destroying Ukraine economy or a means of strengthening Russia’s economy?

EE: I think Putin has a Cold War mentality. He is, after all a KGB person and he looks at things with a Cold War perspective. I think it’s a shame because I think Russia was moving towards closer ties with the West. I think the U.S. and Russia and the other countries of the E.U. (European Union) could have been partners in many different things but Putin, unfortunately is bringing Russia back to the bad old days of the Soviet Union and looks at the Russian Customs Union and the Eurasian Union as a recreation of the old Soviet Union. [Ed. note. These countries, including France and Germany, are dependent on Russia for their energy needs. The Crimean area the Russians seized last week was a natural gas distribution center.]

JLBC: How is what’s happening now different than in the 60s when the U.S.S.R. constructed the Berlin Wall while at the same time courting Israel?

EE: Well again, I think that Putin looks at himself as a leader of a Soviet Union type country. He looks at Russia as a hegemonic power in the region and thinks that he can try to recreate the Soviet Union as best as he can. He obviously cannot do all of it because some of those states are incorporated into NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) like Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia and the old eastern bloc states like Poland, Hungry and Romania, but I think he’s trying to hold onto everything that was part of the old Soviet Union.

JLBC: What d you think of the referendum on Sunday?

EE: This referendum was a phony referendum. I think this is a power play for Putin and the rationalization he puts into it should be rejected. Putin must learn there is a price to pay. In my opinion the price should be heavy sanctions that hurt Russia and Putin in his pocketbook and at the same time, we should offer financial measures to help Ukraine and integrate Ukraine into the EU.

By Anne Phyllis Pinzow