Pall over Russian democracy as Bush meets Putin

US PRESIDENT George W Bush met Russian leader Vladimir Putin last night, certain to raise worries the Kremlin is stunting democracy even as the two leaders prepared jointly to mark a World War II anniversary.

Mr Bush, Mr Putin and more than 50 other world leaders will attend a Red Square parade today to pay homage to the huge role played by the Soviet Union in the defeat of Nazi Germany 60 years ago.

However, sharp US criticism of Mr Putin’s record on democracy and Bush’s open sympathy for complaints by the Baltic states about relations with neighbouring Russia have given the celebrations an uncomfortable edge for the Kremlin leader.

Mr Bush met Putin at his country house west of Moscow where they were also having a private dinner with their wives.

Bush, on a four-nation European tour, earlier flew in from the Netherlands, where he paid tribute to the soldiers who died to free Europe from the Nazis and said a new generation was working to bring liberty to the Middle East. Russian television footage showed Putin and Bush studying a wall map of Russia. The two men looked in good humour and shared a brief hug before walking off to a private office.

“Russia is a great nation and I’m looking forward to working together on big problems and I want to thank you for your help on Iran and the Middle East and there’s a lot we can do together,” Bush told Putin.

Last month on a trip to Moscow, however, US Secretary of State Condelleeza Rice made unusually sharp criticism of Russian democracy, saying the Kremlin leader had too strong a grip on power and was preventing a free press.

Though Putin has always had warm personal relations with Bush, the criticism from Rice and others in the United States suggest that relationship may be fraying. Earlier yesterday, Mr Bush paid tribute to the soldiers who died to free Europe from Nazi Germany 60 years ago and said a new generation was working to bring liberty to the Middle East. Mr Bush joined Queen Beatrix, Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende and hundreds of veterans to mark the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe at a cemetery in the Netherlands, where around 8,000 US war dead are buried.

Mr Bush and Queen Beatrix laid large floral wreaths in front of a tall stone memorial decked with long US and Dutch flags before a gun salute, a solemn bugle call, the national anthems of both countries and a flyover by seven fighter jets.

About 10,000 people braved wet and windy weather to attend the ceremony at the Margraten cemetery in the southern Netherlands.

Commemorations to mark the end of the war that cost at least 50 million lives worldwide also took place in Berlin, London, and Paris yesterday.

The war in the Pacific ended three months later and the Allies mark their victory over Japan on August 15.