Analysis: Putin humiliated next to Bush
Bratislava, Slovakia, Feb. 24 (UPI) -- We may not yet be talking about divorce but the extended honeymoon period between U.S President George W. Bush and his increasingly autocratic Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin came to a definitive end Thursday at a summit between the two leaders in the Slovak capital of Bratislava.
It all happened following the end of bilateral talks when a televised press conference turned into a relentless and devastating assault on Putin's backsliding on democratic reform.
Since global democratization has been made the centerpiece of Bush's second term foreign policy agenda, analysts and politicians in the United States and elsewhere had billed this meeting as the first key test of the American president's credibility.
As Russia analysts James M. Goldgeier and Michael McFaul had put it in a commentary in the current issue of the Weekly Standard:
"If the president neglects to affirm his commitment to freedom with Putin at his side, Bush will be signaling that his words don't count."
So most of us were expecting the issue to be raised, if only in passing.
But no one could have been prepared for what was about to unfold.
While observing diplomatic niceties, President Bush's opening remarks included a pointedly blunt statement of his concern that Russia was not fulfilling "fundamental" democratic principles.
And this was nothing to what President Putin was forced to endure in the subsequent questions, every single one of which focused on democracy.
"I think it's very important that all nations understand the great values inherent in democracy," said President Bush standing just three feet away from Putin.
Bush asserted that in his country he was held to account by a free press, and that his laws were checked by a constitution upheld by a free judiciary -- the very elements of a free society that rights groups have become increasingly vocal in criticizing Putin for deliberately destroying in Russia.
A slavishly loyal question to Putin from Russia's Interfax news agency merely served to underline how far Russia now stands from normal democratic procedures.
The reporter petulantly asked what this talk about lack of freedom in Russia "was all about" suggesting President Putin should raise issues about press freedom in the United States. Journalists lose their jobs in America too, he said.
When President Bush said it was true that journalists did get fired in America, but by their editors and not the government, one almost started to feel sorry for President Putin.
Putin, to be fair, did at least maintain his cool, rejecting accusations that Russian freedom was under threat. And Bush maintained a gentle disposition, saying at least he could trust the Russian president's word, even when they disagreed.
Nevertheless, there was no getting away from it. Vladimir Putin had just gone through the most humiliating experience of his presidency.
Amid such extraordinary scenes it would be easy to forget that other major issues crucial to both countries were also discussed.
The two leaders pledged to work together more closely on preventing the spread of nuclear materials. They both agreed, at least President Bush said so, that Iran and North Korea should not be allowed to develop nuclear bombs.
They also agreed to work on enhancing energy cooperation and to bring peace to the Middle East.
And it is important, of course, that Russia does cooperate with the West on such issues because without Russian cooperation such issues will be that much more difficult to resolve.
What happens now between the two leaders will be interesting to watch.
President Putin's standard response to criticism from abroad is to resort to Soviet style accusations against "foreign interference".
It could be that he kept his cool Thursday because he couldn't quite believe what was happening to him.
When goes back to Russia, he may reflect bitterly on what went on in Bratislava and that could herald some harsh words in retaliation against America.
It will also be interesting to see whether this summit will weaken his credibility further at home.
This week's events come in the wake of a string of serious blows to him both from inside Russia and from surrounding countries.
Late last year he publicly backed the losing candidate in presidential elections in Ukraine which were won by pro-Western reformist Viktor Yushchenko -- a man who wants to pull his country out of Russia's ambit and integrate it with the West.
This was more than a humiliation. Putin has built his political personality around the image of a man capable of restoring Russia's national pride. Losing Ukraine was not part of the plan especially since he had already lost Georgia in that country's own democratic revolution a short time before.
His policies in Chechnya have also failed spectacularly and were brought home in the most brutal fashion in the Beslan siege when Chechen militants took over a school and left more than 330 dead, around half of them children.
To cap it all, there is widespread discontent in Russia about welfare reforms, particularly pensions.
One recent poll suggested Putin's support had dropped to only just over 40 percent from levels of around 65 percent a year ago.
We will have to wait and see what unfolds.
From the Bratislava summit however, three things are certain. The first is that Vladimir Putin emerged from it as a beaten man. The second is that George W. Bush has just passed his first real test since he pledged last month to put democratization at the heart of his presidency. And the third is that Presidents Bush and Putin will never quite look at each other in the same way again.
It was a spectacle not to be missed.
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