President George W. Bush arrived in Russia on Friday planning to press President Vladimir Putin at the weekend G8 summit over concerns the Kremlin is curbing the rights of the Russian opposition and media, Reuters news agency reports.
After pledging to "continually remind Russia" that good ties with the West depend on sharing common democratic values, Bush flew to St. Petersburg from Germany, a day before the meeting of the Group of Eight leading industrial nations.
Bush was to dine with Putin in the evening and was also scheduled to meet activists from non-governmental organizations as part of an attempt to urge Russia to ease restrictions recently placed on such groups.
There were no details on which groups he would meet. He has promised to raise his concerns over freedoms "in a respectful way," and not to lecture Putin.
Bush and Putin forged a bond in 2001 over the fight against terrorism, but since then U.S. criticism of Putin’s record on democracy has become a major source of tension.
The issue could overshadow the annual G8 summit, also attended by the leaders of Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Canada, whose agenda includes world energy supplies and other global problems. http://www.mosnews.com/news/2006/07/14/bushputinngo.shtml
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