US-Russia relations 'worst I have seen', says ex-Soviet propagandist

 

We caught up with the one-time Soviet propagandist just before he disappeared into a vast hanger called 'Terminal E'.

Vladimir Pozner was in a hurry - on his way to Iceland in fact - but there was something important that he wanted to say.
"I think relations between Russian and the US are the worst I have ever seen," said the lively 82-year-old.
"Back in the days of the Soviet Union, the relationship was more official.
"They didn't like White House or Wall Street but there wasn't much anti-Americanism at the grassroots level. But now it's more pronounced. I think the situation is very dangerous."
It was a sober-sounding warning on an icy Moscow day and it was delivered by a man who knows more than most about the old, Cold War.

Image Caption: The US-Russia relationship is 'almost sad', says Mr Pozner

Possessing impeccable English and Parisian French, he defended the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the downing of a Korean Airliner in 1983, before handing back his Communist Party card a few years later.
He remembers the scene 30 years ago as the Cold War just began to thaw: "You know it is almost sad when I think of it, how hopeful everyone was then and what we have today."
Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and US President Ronald Reagan met in a modest-looking house in Reykjavik and began a two-day discussion about disarmament.
They did not come to an agreement - but both parties were surprised by what the other was willing to discuss. "It was 1986, and I was (presenting) a television show," he said.

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"There were people participating in it from Leningrad and Seattle - actually talking to each other. It was the first sign of glasnost."
There is not much talking going on now.
The merciless bombardmen of Syria and a catalogue of other acts, including cyber-warfare against the Democratic Party in the US and the downing of fight MH17 in Ukraine, have all been blamed on Russia.
The Americans are not sounding very diplomatic: Secretary of State John Kerry threatened them with prosecution for war crimes last week.
Vladimir Putin hit back today, saying he would not cave in to western pressure.
"We see what is happening (with these) completely baseless accusations of all the deadly sins, of all crimes," the Russian President told an investment forum.
"Such methods on the international stage are called pressure and blackmail."

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The lines of communication still seem to be open however.
The Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, says he plans to talk about the crisis in Syria with Secretary Kerry in Switzerland this weekend. But few - if any - expect a meaningful outcome.  
All of which raises one significant question in the mind of Vladimir Pozner - who was trying to catch a flight to mark the commemoration of the Reykjavik summit when we delayed him.
"You know what really upsets me? Nobody is out in the streets protesting any of this," he said.
"No one is telling their governments 'hey, we don't want to go to war, we don't want any part of this, you're threatening my life and my kids'.
"Back in the bad old days, at least there were people out on the streets."