Rice scolds Russian counterpart

2005-02-06 08:21

Ankara - US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice met with her Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on Saturday and pressed Washington's message that Moscow's slow pace of democratic reforms could hamper relations.

A senior state department official said Rice had a 2-1/2 hour working dinner with Lavrov at her hotel here on the fourth leg of her tour of eight European capitals and the Middle East.

The meeting was aimed at preparing for a summit between presidents George W Bush and Vladimir Putin in Bratislava on February 24.

But Rice used her first talks with Lavrov since taking over the helm of US diplomacy last week to make clear continuing concerns over Russian democracy, the official said.

She cited the government's move against the oil giant Yukos, a clampdown on the electronic media and a concentration of power in the Kremlin that now appoints regional governors and other officials.

The US official, who asked not to be named, said Rice stressed "that these things do make it more difficult to pursue a full and deep relationship".

She "wanted the Russians to understand that that did raise concerns and create problems in moving forward", he said.

Not ready 'to go down to the mat'

But speaking to reporters on the plane from Warsaw to Ankara, Rice signalled that Washington was not ready at this point to go down to the mat with the Russians over the democracy issues.

"I don't really think that the isolation of Russia from the broad trends that are developing worldwide is the answer," she said. "Rather it is a combination of helping and supporting those in Russia who are trying to support democratic developments."

The senior US official said Rice and Lavrov had a "fairly extensive and somewhat detailed" discussion of internal developments in Russia but also went over areas of co-operation outside.

These included efforts to combat terrorism, curb the spread of nuclear weapons, check Aids and stem the flow of narcotics out of Afghanistan. Iraq came up in general terms, he said.

US support for Russia's entry into the World Trade Organisation was also discussed as were regional issues, including developments in Karabakh, the Ukraine, Georgia and Central Asia, the official said.

Although Rice is a fluent Russian speaker, the two spoke only in English, the official said.

- AFP