Bush Raps Russia on Democracy, Rule of Law is a Reuters headline which pretty accurately sums up what George W Bush has had to say about Russia in the run-up to his summit with Vladimir Putin.
Russian state media outlet ITAR-TASS sees things differently, however. Here is a selection of what it has been reporting about Bush in the last couple of days - and not a single occurrence of the word democracy in any of them:
Presidents’ friendship helps Russia-US understanding - Bush
“We don’t need a fresh start in my personal
relationship with Vladimir Putin. We are friends,” Bush said. “It’s
important so that we can – he and I can have good talks, and we can
understand each other and understand the decision-making process.”“Vladimir makes a lot of decisions. And I make a
lot decisions,” Bush said. “And I like to talk about him about well,
why did you do this, or why did you do that? And I suspect he likes to
ask me the same questions,” Bush said.“We’ve got the framework for a good strategic
relationship… I think this relationship can be invigorated,” Bush said.
He recalled the U.S. presidential elections of last year and said “you
kind of shut down when the campaign comes… But – and so this is a
chance to reinvigorate.”
Bush to attend VE Day celebrations in Moscow
In an exclusive interview with Itar-Tass and Channel One ahead of the
U.S.-Russian summit to be held in Bratislava on February 24, Bush said
he would definitely go to Moscow for the celebrations.
Bush aims to strengthen relations with US friends, allies
Within the framework of the Russian-US summit in Bratislava on February
24, the United States and the Russian Federation are also planning to
conclude an agreement on exchanges of information on portable
anti-aircraft missile systems. … It is not ruled out that as a
result of the meeting, the sides will adopt joint statements on other
matters as well.
The closest I could come to an acknowledgement that Bush has an agenda deeper than professing his undying love for Vladimir Putin and his government was this: US needs strong Europe to promote peace in world – Bush
The United States and its European allies intend to promote freedom and
peace in the whole world, U.S. President George W. Bush said in
Brussels on Monday.
Still no mention of democracy though, and certainly nothing about Russia being less than perfect.
Ah, there’s nothing like being ‘on-message’.
- What next?
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{ 2 comments }
Peter 02.22.05 at 1:11 pm
An interesting package of articles, but you are making the mistake of following Reuters’ line too blindly. If you look at today’s article on Bush stance over Russia in the Moscow Times you’ll see a somewhat different line. Also, put the weakness of Bush remarks in constrast with the repeated harsh comments coming out of the EU;
“For Russia to make progress as a European nation, the Russian government must renew a commitment to democracy and the rule of law,” he said.
This is weak stuff when you consider the full range of evils that rights activist have charged Russia with. In fact, the remark is completely specific of a context, which leaves us wondering what it is Bush is referring to. There’s a lot choose from between Chechnya, Yukos and the clampdown on free press. Well, actually it doesn’t leave us wondering because we know full well that Bush has been extensively briefed by his Senate to do something about the Khodorkovsky question. So how harsh will Bush be with Putin when they meet face to face? Let Bush speak for himself;
“I have got a good relationship with Vladimir and I intend to keep it that way,” Bush told reporters.
Andy 02.22.05 at 2:50 pm
In the post above I was attempting to demonstrate that, while Bush criticises Russia, ITAR-TASS reports only how friendly relations are between Bush and Putin.
The Reuters report itself addresses both sides of the issue (details of the cosy Bush-Putin relationship are on page 2), although I would have been better to have drawn attention to it in the post.
It’s also worth pointing out, at this point, that the ITAR-TASS approach to the story is not necessarily copied by other Russian media outlets.
As for how harshly Bush will be with Putin when the two meet on Thursday, I’d suggest not all that harsh. Although Russia’s democratic reforms (or lack of them) will be on the agenda, as will Russia’s potential membership of the WTO, there is little real leverage that Bush has over Putin these days. The Yukos issue will probably only appear on the agenda as a retrospective item - the dismemberment of Yukos is too far advanced for either of them to stop now - although the issue of Khodorkovsky’s future will probably be an issue for discussion.
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