Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin and United States President George Bush endured one of the bitterest patches of their reputed friendship on Sunday when they made pointed criticisms of each other hours before a key meeting, and then papered over the cracks for the TV cameras.
Putin, who will host 53 world leaders for a military parade and Kremlin reception marking the 60th anniversary of the Soviet defeat of Nazi Germany on Monday, told CBS news on Sunday that, unlike the US, Russia would not ”poke its nose” into America’s democratic system.
The remarks came in advance of a meeting at Putin’s home on Sunday night, where the pair had an informal working dinner.
The US president and Russian leader put on a united front at a joint press conference, with Putin thanking Bush for his visit. He said US-Russian relations were ”experiencing a boom”. Asked if he trusted Putin, Bush answered: ”Why would I not trust President Putin?”
The US president said he was looking forward to dinner, knowing how Putin treated his guests, and the Russian leader let Bush drive him and the two first ladies to the residence’s restaurant in a 1956 ivory Volga sedan. ”Be careful,” Bush joked to reporters. ”He’s giving me a driving lesson.”
But their public show of friendliness was overshadowed by growing US criticism of Putin’s authoritarian style, and the Kremlin’s fury at America’s increasing sway in the former USSR.
In a barbed comment suggesting Bush’s controversial election in 2000 lessened his right to lecture other states on their democratic record, Putin told CBS: ”Four years ago, your presidential election was decided by the court. The judicial system was brought into it. But we’re not going to poke our noses into your democratic system because that’s up to the American people.”
Reiterating his view that Russia must be able to dictate its own pace of democratic development, Putin took a broad swipe at the cornerstone of Bush’s foreign policy: ”Democracy cannot be exported to some other place. [Democracy] must be a product of internal domestic development in a society.”
He also suggested the Russian electoral system was more democratic than the American one: ”In the United States, you first elect the electors and then they vote for the presidential candidates. In Russia, the president is elected through the direct vote of the whole population. That might be even more democratic.”
The comments fuelled the tense war of words being waged between the two men through the media. Bush once described Putin as a ”buddy” and said he had looked into the Kremlin’s head’s eyes, seen his soul, and liked what he saw .
But on Saturday, in Riga, the capital of Latvia, a former Soviet bloc country now bickering with Russia, Bush condemned Russia’s interference in former Soviet bloc states. ”No good purpose is served by stirring up fears and exploiting old rivalries in this region,” he said. ”The interests of Russia and all nations are served by the growth of freedom that leads to prosperity and peace. All the nations that border Russia will benefit from the spread of democratic values, and so will Russia itself. Stable, prosperous democracies are good neighbours.”
His remarks appeared to equate the influence of the Soviet Union over postwar Europe with Russia’s resistance to US models of democracy and its championing of the stability ushered in by Putin’s strongman rule.
The US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, and the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, said Bush and Putin discussed the Middle East, Iraq, North Korea, Afghanistan and Iran, among other issues. ”For the two presidents, there are no forbidden topics,” said Lavrov. – Guardian Unlimited