Bush hails Russian 'bravery'

2005-05-08 21:08

Moscow - US President George W Bush on Sunday hailed Russia's "bravery and sacrifice" in defeating Nazism, as he met Vladimir Putin ahead of ceremonies marking the end of World War II.

Bush, who on Saturday criticised the decades-long Soviet occupation of central Europe, said he was looking forward to the ceremony on Monday on Moscow's Red Square, to be attended by over 50 national leaders.

"It is a moment where the world will recognise the great bravery and sacrifice the Russian people made in the defeat of Nazism," he said during a photo opportunity with the Russian leader.

Bush, on the latest stop in a European trip which has also taken him to Latvia and the Netherlands, was welcomed at Putin's official country residence outside Moscow for a private dinner.

The Bush-Putin talks came amid strains between Moscow and some Western capitals over the Soviet Union's dominance of eastern Europe that began with the Allied defeat of Nazi Germany.

In Latvia on Saturday Bush said that the Soviet occupation of the Baltic states and other countries in central and eastern Europe after World War II was "one of the greatest wrongs in history."

"For much of Germany, defeat led to freedom. For much of Eastern and Central Europe, victory brought the iron rule of another empire," he said.

The Moscow talks also came as Russia bristles at criticism about democracy and amid sharp divergences on a rising US profile in parts of the former Soviet Union where Moscow traditionally held sway.

Speaking ahead of the talks US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice tried to downplay tensions between Moscow and Washington and said Bush would not be "lecturing" Putin on democracy.

"I think it's highly unlikely this is going to be a source of tension in their meetings," Rice said.

- AFP