According to him, Dr. Rice has been an expert on U.S.-Russian relations at the George Bush administration.
Steve Hadley replaced her on the post of the U.S. President's national security advisor. He took an active part in the dialogue between our countries, Mr. Kosachev said. "Thus succession is preserved in the U.S. foreign policy in Russia's respect," the committee's chairman noted.
Meanwhile, he believes that the U.S. foreign policy on the whole will become tougher after Dr. Rice's appointment. "Under Condoleezza Rice, who is known for her radical and resolute moods, the U.S. foreign policy will become more determined and aggressive," Mr. Kosachev noted.
"I can say that she is a new Republican version of Madeleine Albright," the parliamentarian added.
Head of the Rodina faction Dmitry Rogozin believes that Russia should not expect any surprises from Condoleezza Rice's appointment.
Mr. Rogizin said that he met Dr. Rice and considered her "a smart and prudent politician".
"She knows Russia well," he noted and added that she is a pragmatic and predictable person.
"She will be our partner, although a difficult one," he also said.
Chairman of the State Duma committee for CIS and compatriots affairs Andrei Kokoshin believes that Condoleezza Rice's appointment as the U.S. Secretary of State will rather change the style than the contents of American diplomacy.
"We should expect certain changes in the style of the U.S. diplomacy rather than in its contents after Colin Powell's resignation and Condoleezza Rice's appointment," Mr. Kokoshin said in a RIA Novosti interview.
In his words, "the American diplomacy, in particular, the new Secretary of State, has to solve great problems". Among them is the political-diplomatic settlement of the Iraqi problem, which is impossible without adequate and interested participation of international community, the parliamentarian noted.
