U.S. Congressman Says Russia 'Won the Cold War' When It Defeated Soviet Communism

Washington, D.C., May 5, 2005- U.S. Rep. Christopher Cox responded to Russian President Vladimir Putin's recent statement that "the demise of the Soviet Union was the greatest catastrophe of the 20th century" by telling the Voice of America (VOA): "I would say that the Soviet Union itself was the great catastrophe for Russia, for its neighbors and for the world."

Cox, a Republican from California, made his comments in an exclusive VOA TV interview that was broadcast in several languages, including Russian. "I consider myself, as do most Americans, a friend of Russia, " he told VOA. "As a friend of Russia, I had great hopes when the largest of the captive nations, Russia itself won the Cold War. That's what happened in 1991: Russia won the Cold War and defeated Soviet Communism."

The Russian language broadcast which carried his comments was Obektiv (Focus), a daily 30-minute television news broadcast. VOA's other Russian language broadcasts include 3 hours of radio programs daily via shortwave and affiliates, and a weekly 30-minute TV show, Okno v Mir (Window on the World). Programs are also available live on the Internet at www.VOAnews.com/Russian .

The Voice of America, which first went on the air in 1942, is a multimedia international broadcasting service funded by the U.S. government through the Broadcasting Board of Governors. VOA broadcasts more than 1,000 hours of news, information, educational, and cultural programming every week to an estimated worldwide audience of more than 100 million people. Programs are produced in 44 languages, including English.

For more information, call the Office of Public Affairs at (202) 401-7000, or E-Mail publicaffairs@voa.gov.