In May of this year, Deputy Prime Minister of the State of Kuwait, Foreign Minister Muhammad Al-Sabah paid an official visit to Moscow. The 54-year-old politician is a member of the ruling family and is the nephew of the current Emir of the country. He held talks with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov and met with Prime Minister of the Chechen regional government Oles Baysultanov. Below we publish his interview given to Elena Suponina.

- You have come to Moscow to prepare for the visit of the Emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, to Russia. When will this happen? And what contracts are being prepared for this visit?

- We are just determining the dates of the visit. Perhaps His Highness will come to Russia before the end of the year. Such visits are made not for signing contracts, but for high-level political consultations and strengthening relations. Russia is a great country, and the Emir of Kuwait will also visit it as the current chairman of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Persian Gulf (GCC), as well as the chairman of the Arab Economic Summit, in other words, the representative of the entire Arab world in economic matters.

Of course, bilateral cooperation will also be discussed. Kuwait has adopted an ambitious five-year economic program. It is expected to spend $ 150 billion on its implementation.! Based on an average of $ 30 billion annually. These are infrastructure development, construction of new cities, construction of bridges and overpasses. The experience of Russian specialists may well be applied here. A separate topic is our plans for the construction of power plants and the desalination of seawater using nuclear energy technologies. We would like to cooperate with Russia in this area, and I personally head the committee for the development of these technologies in Kuwait.

- Does this mean that Kuwait is even ready to build nuclear power plants?

"Yes, it is.

- Surprisingly, a few years ago you yourself told me that Kuwait is wary of the construction of the Bushehr nuclear power plant in Iran. One of the reasons was that there were man-made disasters at nuclear power plants - in the American Triple Island in the late 1970s and in the Soviet Chernobyl in 1986. Why are you now ready to build such stations yourself?

- We are currently holding serious negotiations on this topic with the Russians, the French, the Americans, and the Koreans. We want the future nuclear power plants in Kuwait to be exemplary in terms of safety. Nuclear technologies have advanced and become much safer in recent years. Therefore, we are ready to consider the possibility of building such stations in our country. Our neighbors in the region-the United Arab Emirates-last year already signed a contract with foreign partners for the construction of four nuclear reactors. All Arab states show interest in modern nuclear power plants. The oil that we and other States possess is not infinite. I will-

Materials of this section were prepared within the framework of the RGNF project N 09 - 03 - 0711 a / R.

the most important thing is for renewable energy sources: solar, wind, and nuclear. We remain concerned about Iran's nuclear program. Both from the point of view of ecology, and in the question of whether this program will be exclusively peaceful? If it suddenly has military objectives, then it is dangerous for everyone. Kuwait is just over 120 kilometers from Bushehr, Iran. We need to be fully confident that the safety standards at the nuclear power plant there are at the highest level. There is no such certainty yet.

We also want guarantees that Iran's nuclear program is not intended for military purposes. We need to be calm about this, and so should the whole world. We therefore call on our friends in Iran to work more closely with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). These are technical issues that should be resolved by the experts of this organization, and not by the UN Security Council.

- But Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, with whom you held talks in Moscow, always says that the Bushehr nuclear power plant is under permanent control of the IAEA. Russian specialists are completing the construction of this station in accordance with international standards. Why don't you trust them?

- No, no, we just trust Russian specialists. This is a question for the entire Iranian nuclear program, because it is all interconnected. If at least some links of this program remain under suspicion, then this is dangerous for us.

- The United States proposes to tighten international sanctions against Iran. But before that, sanctions against Iran have already been imposed three times, and questions about its nuclear program remain. Do you think tougher sanctions are an effective measure?

The Persian Gulf, where our state is located, needs stability. New international sanctions will increase tensions. And military scenarios in the region are out of the question. We are afraid that someone will make a mistake in their calculations and assessments of the situation. The slightest mistake can lead to disaster.

We are trying to convince the Iranians that it is time to end the confrontation, that all doubts about the nature of their nuclear program should be dispelled, and that they should cooperate more closely with international atomic energy experts. We also don't want new sanctions on Iran. But we also say to the Iranians: help us with your actions, and then we will help you.

- Maybe we should invite Iran to join the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Persian Gulf, which is currently chaired by Kuwait?

- This organization unites six Arab countries of the Persian Gulf-Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and the Sultanate of Oman. We do not intend to expand the ranks of this organization, but we want to establish closer cooperation with our neighbors and create special mechanisms for this. We are talking not only about Iran, but also about Arab countries - Iraq, Yemen, Jordan, Egypt.

- The council headed by you was going to introduce a single currency for the countries of the Persian Gulf. When will this happen?

"There should be no rush here. The question is not in terms of time, but in readiness. We are closely monitoring what is happening in the European Union with the single currency euro. And we want to learn from this, because nothing like this has ever happened before in the world. In any case, the crisis with the euro has already changed some of our approaches and slightly delayed the introduction of our single currency. These plans, I emphasize, have not been canceled. However, we need time to think, study everything and answer the question: what will the single currency become for us: a way to solve problems or a new problem?

- But two of the six member states of the council have already refused to introduce a single currency?

- The Sultanate of Oman has long and immediately stated that it wants to keep its own currency, as did the United Kingdom, which, as a member of the European Union, kept its pound sterling. The Emirates also have a special position, they are concerned about where the single central bank will be located in the event of switching to a common currency. And here we have

there is enough time to resolve the existing differences and return to discussing the introduction of a single currency together with the Emirates.

- You talk about stability in the region, but in your neighborhood, in addition to Iran, there is another hotbed of tension - this is Iraq. Maybe the American troops should hurry up with the withdrawal from this country?

"American troops play an important role in training the Iraqi national forces so that they can ensure the country's security and sovereignty in the future. There are also terrorists who are hindering the construction of a new Iraq, and we must fight them. It is not in the interests of Iraq and the entire region to withdraw American troops until these problems are resolved. We do not support the idea of a rapid withdrawal of US troops from Iraq.

- The Iraqis are still paying Kuwait for the damage caused by the aggression of 1990. However, those terrible events happened under the former Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein. Why doesn't Kuwait give up reparations today to help its neighbors build a new Iraq?

- Reparations, and not only to Kuwait, are determined by the UN Security Council, and we respect the decisions of this international organization. Huge damage was done to our country. Iraq is a large country rich in natural resources. Just 5% of all Iraq's oil revenues, which are paid to us as compensation for damages, is not a big burden for this country. This is not much, given the potential of the Iraqi economy. However, we understand that Iraqis need investment more than ever, which is not enough to restore the country's infrastructure and develop the economy. We are ready to discuss our participation in this project. And we are ready to invest a part of the sums allotted to us in Iraqi economic projects.

- Why don't Kuwaiti businessmen invest in projects in Russia?

- Due to problems on both sides. Kuwaiti businessmen invest in many countries around the world, but for some reason they do not invest in Russia, although it is a friendly country. The problem is definitely not in politics, but it's definitely not in money. We have financial opportunities to invest abroad. We need to find out what the reason is. Perhaps it is the lack of information that Kuwaiti investors could receive from their Russian counterparts. This and other issues will be discussed at a meeting of the intergovernmental commission on cooperation, which is headed by energy ministers from both sides. It was supposed to meet in early May, but at the request of the Russian side, the meeting was postponed. We want to develop cooperation with Russia and are interested in continuing its participation in solving the problems of our region.

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