U.S. President George W. Bush announced the resignation of the Pentagon chief, Donald Rumsfeld, Wednesday, and put forward the candidacy of Robert Gates, a former head of the CIA, to the post.
Leonid Ivashov, vice president of the Russian Academy of Geopolitical Sciences, said: "U.S. policy toward Russia will remain the same, and that is also true of NATO's eastward enlargement and U.S. support for 'orange revolutions'."
Russian politicians have repeatedly hinted at U.S. financial involvement in the so-called velvet revolutions in post-Soviet states, namely in Georgia and Ukraine, where popular uprisings brought pro-Western governments to power in 2003 and 2004.
Ivashov said Rumsfeld had to go after Republicans lost midterm elections in the U.S. Tuesday.
"George W. Bush had to find a scapegoat, and Rumsfeld came in handy," the expert said. "Bush had to get rid of Rumsfeld to retain [Republican] chances for victory in the presidential elections."
U.S. presidential elections are scheduled for 2008.
The Russian expert also said Rumsfeld was not the main culprit of the critical situation in Iraq.
"Rumsfeld is a member of the Bush team," he said. "Yes, he is tough, he is a hawk, but I don't think he holds the main blame for the U.S. failure in Iraq."
Ivashov said the U.S. would have to cut its military contingent in Iraq. "Within a year, in the run-up to the presidential elections, the military presence in Iraq will be reduced," he said.
