BRUSSELS (AP) – The State Department’s point man on Russia Wednesday said Washington was concerned about democracy under President Vladimir Putin and disappointed over relations with Moscow.
“The trends unfortunately are not going in the right direction,” said David J. Kramer, U.S. deputy assistant secretary for European and Eurasian affairs. “We hope those trends will not continue,” he said.
Kramer spoke to reporters in Brussels ahead of talks with European Union officials to coordinate policy toward Russia and the EU’s other former-Soviet neighbors.
He said Washington’s concerns included an increasing concentration of power in Putin’s Kremlin, growing state influence over the media, the unsolved killings of journalists, pressure on opposition parties and nongovernment organizations, the arrest of critical business tycoons and continued human rights violations in Chechnya.
“We don’t have quite the partnership I think we aspired to when President Bush came into office and President Putin was elected,” Kramer acknowledged. “I wouldn’t describe it as a tense relationship, it’s a complicated relationship.”
Kramer expressed concern about the recent appointment of Kremlin-backed strongman Ramzan Kadyrov as president of Chechnya. “We hope the situation there stabilizes, but the new president of Chechnya doesn’t bode very well for that, I fear,” he said.
Human rights groups allege that security forces under Kadyrov abduct and torture civilians suspected of ties to Chechnya’s separatist rebels. Some observers suggest he was tied to last year’s murder of Anna Politkovskaya, a journalist who had reported extensively on Chechnya’s wars and sufferings. Kadyrov has denied any involvement.
Kramer also raised complaints about Russian foreign policy, criticizing pressure on Ukraine, Georgia and other neighbors; arms sales to Iran, Syria and Venezuela; and interruption of oil and gas exports.
On a more positive note he said the United States and Russia were working together to deal with the nuclear program for Iran and North Korea, fight international terrorism and help peace efforts between Israelis and Palestinians.
“We do work with the Russians in areas of common interest.”
In his talks with the EU, Kramer said he would also discuss efforts to boost democracy in Belarus, political developments in Ukraine, and the “frozen” conflict between Moldova and Russian-backed separatists in the breakaway region of Trans-Dniester, where he expressed “cautious optimism” on prospects for progress.
