Putin offers a frosty reception as President Bush heads to Moscow

Knight Ridder Newspapers
Published Saturday, May 07, 2005

RIGA, Latvia -- On the eve of a meeting with President Bush, Russian President Vladimir Putin questioned Bush's goals in Iraq and suggested that Russia is more democratic than the United States.

In an interview scheduled for release Sunday, Putin signaled that he's in no mood for any criticism from Bush when the two leaders meet Sunday at Putin's dacha near Moscow. Bush arrived in Latvia late Friday on his way to the Russian capital.

The strains between Bush and Putin were apparent as the two men shadowboxed in advance of their meeting. Bush is traveling to Moscow for a ceremony on Monday marking the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe.

Putin will host a private dinner for Bush and his wife, Laura, the night before the two presidents join more than 50 other world leaders in Moscow's Red Square for a military parade.

Before leaving Washington, Bush told Latvian journalists that he could understand why some countries are boycotting the Moscow celebration.

For countries in the Baltics and in Eastern Europe, the war was followed by decades of oppression under the Soviet Union.

Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga is going to Moscow, but Lithuania and Estonia, two other Baltic countries that fell under Soviet domination, are boycotting the celebration. Despite protests from Moscow, Bush will meet with leaders from all three Baltic nations on Saturday.

"I understand there's a lot of people in the Baltics who ... don't view the celebration in Russia as a day of liberation," Bush said in an interview with Latvian National Television. "I can understand why some leaders of countries aren't going and some others are."

Putin fired back in an interview with CBS' "60 Minutes" that's scheduled to air Sunday. The television network released excerpts of the interview Friday.

The Russian leader bristled at suggestions that he's backsliding on his commitment to encourage democracy in Russia.

Putin cited the U.S. Electoral College system and the disputed 2000 presidential election as evidence that Russia could be considered "even more democratic" than the United States.


"And you have other problems in your elections," he added. "Four years ago, your presidential election was decided by the court."

Putin also questioned Bush's effort to bring democracy to Iraq.

"Democracy cannot be exported to some other place," he said. But Putin, whose opposition to the war contributed to the tensions between the White House and the Kremlin, urged Bush to finish the job in Iraq.

"If the U.S. were to leave and abandon Iraq without establishing the grounds for a united and sovereign country, that would definitely be a second mistake," he said.