• Military

• WMD Menu                           

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

BUSH-PUTIN BOND INTACT, FOR BETTER OR WORSE

RIA Novosti

PARIS (by columnist Angela Charlton for RIA Novosti) - The "democracy question" loomed large, but it didn't derail George W. Bush's talks with Vladimir Putin. In the end, all that talk of democracy failed to change either man's mind.

Both men were so eager to dispel the tension that had built up around Thursday's meeting in Bratislava that they strained to stay on good terms. Clinging to that goal, at times they appeared not to hear each other's complaints. That deafness meant neither side was offended and neither side had to make concessions.

Bush stuck to the theme of his European tour and his second inaugural address, preaching democracy to Putin as he has to everyone else in his audience in recent weeks. But Putin's critics - in the United States, Europe and Russia - wanted more. They wanted Bush to back up his words with a threat or at least a warning of possible sanction over Putin's election policies, Chechnya, Yukos and Russia's weakened media.

Bush declined. He reaffirmed his friendship with Putin, offered hearty support for Moscow's bid to join the World Trade Organization, and even promised to attend Russia's Victory Day celebration in May.

The meeting produced no breakthroughs or major relational shifts, but it did produce a clear picture of Bush's Russia policy in his second term: accent the positive, avoid direct confrontation, apply pressure indirectly.

Putin, meanwhile, sternly defended his unchallenged leadership of Russia and made it clear that he sees Bush as an equal, despite America's global dominance. He thanked Bush for the WTO backing, but avoided any implication that Russia needs U.S. help. He promised to consider some of Bush's ideas, but added wryly, "I wouldn't call it advice."

Bush will not be as forgiving as in his first term, when a need for anti-terrorist partners allowed him to ignore Putin's domestic troubles. Bush no longer shies away from talk of Putin's politics, but he is committed to their friendship and to avoiding open conflict.

The key test of this will be Iran. While both presidents insisted they don't want Iran to have nuclear bombs, neither budged from his position at Thursday's meeting. Bush still says Iran sponsors terrorism, though he toned down his rhetoric during his talks with European leaders earlier in the week. Putin remains unapologetic about Russia's construction of a nuclear reactor at Bushehr, and Russia's nuclear minister is to sign the final deal for the reactor on Saturday.

The one area where Bush looks willing to challenge Putin is around Russia's periphery. In a speech just before meeting Putin, Bush predicted a wave of democratic revolutions near Russia's borders, singling out Moldova and Belarus as ripe for the kind of change that has rocked Ukraine and Georgia. Bush also met this week with Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko, whose victory pained Putin and caused the deepest strain in US-Russian relations in years.

These suggestions of democracy-spreading in Russia's backyard alarm the Kremlin and those Russians who already accuse Washington of trying to take over the world. Kremlin leaders can easily dismiss European efforts to nag or cajole them into political change at home, but are much more apprehensive about western involvement in third countries where Moscow's influence is waning.

Still, such indirect pressure may not be enough to quiet Putin's critics. By focusing on his similarities with Putin, Bush invited questions about his own democratic credentials, including restrictions on personal and media freedoms in post-September 11th America. Many Russians have long drawn this parallel between their leaders and were glad to see it in the international spotlight.

U.S. officials sought to emphasize different areas of common ground, insisting that the two countries are working together on what really matters - nuclear security and fighting terrorism. But even those projects look hollow in the face of Russia's nuclear deals with Iran and the uneasy relationship in Central Asia, where both the United States and Russia have military bases.

In some ways the Slovakia meeting of 2005 resembled the two presidents' "first date" in Slovenia in 2001. Both began shrouded in tension over Putin's plans for Russia, and both ended with Bush cheerfully, repeatedly, calling Putin a friend.

But the similarities end there. Bush and Putin long ago shed the nervousness of their early presidencies - along with their willingness, and need, to compromise. The frankness that Bush hailed during Thursday's meeting is encouraging, but only if it leads somewhere. Otherwise their meetings, and the US-Russian relationship, will fade into the background of more momentous world events.