The Hindu : International : Bush, Putin to reaffirm strategic ties

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Feb 24, 2005

International

International

Bush, Putin to reaffirm strategic ties

By Vladimir Radyuhin

MOSCOW, FEB. 23. At their meeting in Bratislava, Slovakia, the Russian and American Presidents, Vladimir Putin and George W. Bush, are expected to reaffirm their partnership in facing new threats and challenges, notwithstanding mounting criticism in the West of Russia's increasingly assertive domestic and foreign policies.

The Russian-American summit in Bratislava is taking place amid the fiercest anti-Russian campaign in the West since the end of the Cold War, provoked by Mr. Putin's moves to consolidate his power and re-assert Russia's influence in the former Soviet Union and beyond. Western media and politicians have accused Mr. Putin of rolling back democracy at home and nurturing neo-imperialist designs vis-à-vis his neighbours.

New crusade

Many Western analysts predicted a hardening of Washington's tone towards Moscow after Mr. Bush proclaimed a new crusade to spread American-type freedom globally during his second term in office, but the U.S. President himself said he intends to strengthen, rather than weaken, strategic ties with Russia.

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