Bush visit to test Russia tension

05/06/2007| IslamWeb

US President George W Bush is in Prague where he is expected to give a speech criticizing what he sees as Russia's growing authoritarianism.

Mr Bush, en route to the G8 summit in Germany, is visiting the Czech Republic and then Poland - two countries where the US seeks to build a missile shield.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has threatened to aim weapons at Europe if the US sets up a missile shield.

His words have widely been received as recalling the rhetoric of the Cold War.

White House officials insist that President Bush's speech is not about Russia but rather renewing his commitment to spreading freedom and democracy.

However, the BBC's Jonathan Beale, who is travelling with Mr Bush, says the president is expected to talk about the difficulties of promoting democracy in countries such as Russia and highlight concerns about the Kremlin's tightening grip on power.

Washington has dismissed talk of a new Cold War but says the rhetoric coming out of the Kremlin has worrying echoes of that era. It wants the words toned down.

Any criticism will not be welcomed by Moscow and can only lead to further strains, BBC correspondent says.

Washington wants to deploy interceptor rockets in Poland and a radar base in the Czech Republic to counter what it describes as a potential threat from "rogue states" such as Iran and North Korea.

On Sunday President Putin said Iran was not a threat to the US, hinting that Russia was the target.

Speaking on the way to Europe, Mr Bush's national security adviser, Stephen Hadley, said Mr Putin's remarks were "not helpful".

Nato spokesman James Appathurai described Mr Putin's words as "unwelcome", while new French President Nicolas Sarkozy said he would have "frank" talks with the Russian leader.

Polish Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski, meanwhile, said Mr Putin's comments were reminiscent of the Cold War rhetoric of Nikita Khrushchev, Soviet leader in the 1950s and 60s.

"This is language which has never been used by [Boris] Yeltsin, nor [Mikhail] Gorbachev and not even [Leonid] Brezhnev... This is the language of Khrushchev," he said.

Mr Putin's spokesman has since attempted to soothe the row, describing the comment as a "hypothetical" response to a "hypothetical" question.

Missile tests

Mr Putin issued his warning in an interview with foreign reporters ahead of the G8 meeting in Heiligendamm, Germany, on Wednesday.

"If the American nuclear potential grows in European territory, we will have to have new targets in Europe," Mr Putin said.

He said neither Iran nor North Korea had the weapons that the US was seeking to shoot down.

Mr Putin said Washington had "altered the strategic balance" by unilaterally pulling out of the anti-ballistic missile (ABM) treaty in 2002.

He hoped US officials would change their minds about the missile plan, and said that if an arms race resulted it would not be Russia's fault.

Last week, Moscow announced it had tested a ballistic missile to maintain "strategic balance" in the world.

PHOTO CAPTION

US President George W Bush