US President George W. Bush urged Russia on Monday to "renew a commitment to democracy and the rule of law" and said Europe and the United States should make such reforms central to relations with
Moscow.
Days before he was due to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Bush said in a speech that "for Russia to make progress as a European nation, the Russian government must renew a commitment to democracy and the rule of law."
"We recognize the reform will not happen overnight. We must always
remind Russia, however, that our alliance stands for a free press, a
vital opposition, the sharing of power and the rule of law," he said.
"And the United States and all European countries should place democratic reform at the heart of their dialogue with Russia," he told European leaders in the keynote speech of a three-country trip to Europe.
Bush and Putin, who has worried the West with a series of steps widely
seen as increasingly autocratic, were due to meet in the Slovak capital Bratislava on Thursday, the final day of the US President's visit.
Alarm bells rang in the United States after Putin's moves against the
oil giant Yukos, a clampdown on the media, new Kremlin authority to
appoint regional officials and alleged interference in Ukraine's presidential election.
Washington has also closely watched Russian nuclear cooperation with Iran, which US officials accuse of trying to acquire atomic weapons.