Which Way Russia?

In the aftermath of Rice's trip to Russia and declaration that it is not heading towards a totalitarian state, one wonders how to interpret Putin's remarks. Putin decries the collapse of the USSR and declares that Russia will choose their own pace for reforms. Sounds like a message to me.

Perhaps, Putin is telling the U.S. to back off? The reports are drawn from Putin's State of the Union Address, and are more interesting than puzzling.

The Guardian article notes:

"Vladimir Putin today delivered a rebuke to critics of Russia's apparent retreat from democracy when he said Moscow would choose the "pace, terms and conditions" of reforms.

In his annual state of the union address to parliament, the Russian president told MPs that Russia must develop as a "strong and democratic" nation - but not at the expense of maintaining law and order and the stability required to attract investment."Guardian 4/25/05

It goes on to state:

Mr Putin has been accused of concentrating an increasing amount of power to himself and the Kremlin. Last year, elected provincial governors were replaced with appointees, and critics have said Mr Khodorkovsky's trial is politically motivated.

Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, last week told a Moscow radio station she queried Mr Putin's personal power and said Russia needed an independent media to "debate and decide together the democratic future"."

I won't go into the hypocrisy of Rice telling Putin that Russia needed and "independent median."

Meanwhile, the BBC (4/25/05) focused on a slightly different aspect of the speech:

"He (Putin) said the break-up of the USSR in 1991 was "a real drama" which left tens of millions of Russians outside the Russian Federation."

...

"'We are a free nation and our place in the modern world will be defined only by how successful and strong we are'."

While the last quote's context seems to be in relationship to how Russia handles "terrorism," it seems equally a signal to the rest of the world that Putin is committed to super power status. It also seems a clear message to Cold War Russian expert Rice to tell the U.S. to back off.

So much for charm and diplomacy from the Bush Administration's leading lady.

Posted by rowan at April 26, 2005 8:44 AM | TrackBack | [eMail this article!] |