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Bush: Don't look for public scolding of Putin
By Olivier Knox
AFP
WASHINGTON
Petroleumworld.com 07 12 06
US President George W. Bush, who seeks Moscow's help on Iran and North Korea, will raise Russia's "backsliding" on democracy at the G8 summit but has hinted that his criticisms won't be public.
"I don't necessarily agree with every decision he's made about what's happening inside of Russia, but it's very important for me to keep a good personal relationship with him so I can have good, candid discussions," Bush told CNN television.
"But nobody either wants to be lectured by somebody, nobody, either, likes to be scolded publicly," said the US president.
Bush will meet one-on-one with Russian President Vladimir Putin on July 15, a day before the beginning of the Group of Eight gathering of seven major industrialized democracies plus Russia gets underway.
The summit comes as Washington courts Moscow and Beijing's help on two severe international crises: The standoff over Iran's nuclear programs and North Korea's atomic ambitions and recent missile barrage.
Putin and Chinese President Hu Jintao -- who will attend the summit as a guest -- have opposed US efforts to impose new UN sanctions on Pyongyang and have generally resisted Washington's hard-line policies towards Tehran.
Bush hopes to get a G8 joint statement stepping up pressure on both surviving members of his "axis of evil," but will also raise Moscow's political and human rights record and regional role when he sees Putin, aides said.
"It's a safe bet that our concerns about backsliding of democracy in Russia -- as I said, Russia's policy towards some of the countries in its region will also be on the agenda," a senior US official said Thursday.
"Russians clearly have greater freedoms, greater choice now than they did 15 years ago," the official said at a briefing for reporters organized by the White House on condition that he not be named.
"But over the past couple of years, we have been concerned about the concentration of power in the Kremlin, about the diminishing of the space for public debate, a narrowing of the debate in the press, the recent legislation on NGOs," non-governmental organizations, said the official.
"We want to gain reassurances that Russia is, indeed, committed to democracy, to a democratic future for Russia, and we would hope that they would take some actions that would demonstrate that they are moving in that direction," said the official.
Not that Bush has been shy about angering Russia: He recently promised during an Oval Office meeting with Georgia President Mikhail Saakashvili that he would try to "make the path a little smoother for Georgia" to get into NATO.
Moscow has warned against admitting Tbilisi and Kiev into the alliance conceived to contain the Soviet Union.
And on May 4, US Vice President Dick Cheney used a speech in Vilnius to accuse Russia of "improperly restricting" human rights, reversing democratic gains of the past decade and using its vast oil and gas reserves as "tools of manipulation and blackmail" to pursue political goals.
Putin flatly rejected those criticisms.
While Bush suggested that any discussion of those sensitive issues with Putin would likely stay between them, the White House hinted at other public events during the trip meant to underscore Washington's concerns.
"One of those events will highlight our support for civil society in Russia, civil society as an essential element to the democratic development of any country, including Russia," said the anonymous US official.
AFP 12 0254 GMT 07 06
Copyright ©2006 AFP. All Rights Reserved.
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