http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N18380946.htmWASHINGTON, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Despite calls for a harder U.S. line on Russia, President George W. Bush will likely question growing Kremlin authoritarianism in private, rather than in public, when he meets Russian President Vladimir Putin this week.
The calculation reflects a fear that public criticism of the Russian president could backfire, said U.S. officials, as well as the fact U.S. influence over Russia has waned in recent years, foreign policy analysts said.
The two presidents meet in the Slovak capital, Bratislava, on Thursday for talks expected to cover everything from the war on terrorism and efforts to dissuade Iran and North Korea from seeking nuclear weapons to growing Western concerns about Russian backsliding on democracy and the rule of law. snip
"If you talk to Russian experts, they will tell you Putin recoils from public criticism -- that's not the most effective way to deal with him," said another senior official. "Bush has been criticized by some for not being more vocal publicly. On the other hand, the point is (that) you want to be effective."
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http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/02/21/005.html
Inept Policy Has Made Bush Powerless
The upcoming meeting in Bratislava on Thursday between President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President George W. Bush will perhaps be the most useless summit in the history of U.S.-Russia interactions since the collapse of the Soviet Union. One side, Russia, no longer cares what the other has to say, while the other, the United States, has lost whatever leverage it once had in Russian politics, both domestic and international. This was the outcome of the U.S. policy orchestrated by the White House and its National Security Council, which until recently was led by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. This policy, though presumed to be pragmatic, has proven to be extremely ill-conceived.
Domestically, Russia is no longer dependent on the United States' financial help. Booming oil and gas prices allowed Russia to pay off its $3.3 billion debt to the IMF earlier this month. Putin has ordered Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin to pay back a huge hunk of the nation's $46 billion debt to the Paris Club ahead of schedule. Clearly, Putin values his freedom to maneuver above all else.
Condoleezza Rice's recent sermons about the United States' desire to spread democracy around the world, which she repeated time and again during her European tour as the new secretary of state, have fallen on deaf ears in Russia. And it's no wonder why: Since Bush came to office in 2000, the White House has developed a new approach toward Russia and has dealt with whomever would deliver whatever it was after, even if they happened to be politically questionable. The Russian side could gain the most from this policy by turning American pragmatism into Russian cynicism. It used those years of White House lip service to castrate democratic institutions and to build its muscle.
Internationally, Russia has clearly chosen to make alliances with countries regarded as the United States' competitors at best and enemies at the very worst, a choice very much against Russian national interests.
Regardless of the much-discussed clash of civilizations and the threat that China might pose to Russia in the long run, the Kremlin is further developing its close ties with the superpower to the east, which are based on Chinese lust for Russia's energy resources. Russia longs to have an ally that would allow it to present a challenge to the United States and Europe.
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