Rice Avoids Criticizing Putin as U.S. Seeks Russia's Cooperation

MOSCOW, Oct. 13 -- With the Kremlin backsliding on democracy, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has responded with expressions of dismay over a crackdown on independent institutions, while steering clear of any direct criticism of President Vladimir Putin's possible plan to extend his hold on power by becoming prime minister next year.

On the second day of her trip here, Rice assured human rights activists and other members of Russian civil society that she supports their efforts to protect "universal values" such as freedom of expression, worship and assembly.

A few hours later, however, Rice told reporters that she had not raised the issue of Putin's political future when she met with him Friday, saying the topic was not appropriate for a meeting devoted to security issues.

"There's a lot of speculation about who's going to be president, whether President Putin is going to take any number of jobs or no job at all," Rice said in an interview with reporters traveling with her. "I just think speculating on that is not going to help the situation." But she added, "I think there is too much concentration of power in the Kremlin."

Administration officials once thought that Putin's decision on his future would be a defining moment for Russia, when it would become clear whether the rule of law or the rule of one man would win out. Their careful language following Putin's recent announcement that he might become prime minister shows how cautiously Rice and other officials are now balancing concern about the Kremlin's autocratic moves with the need to enlist its cooperation on confronting Iran, missile defense and other volatile issues. It may also reflect a recognition that the United States has limited influence on Russia's decisions.

Rice is one of two old Soviet hands at the top of the Bush administration -- the other is Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, a former CIA director. Both were deeply enmeshed in Soviet affairs during the administration of George H.W. Bush, when Rice was a young National Security Council staffer. On a visit to an ice rink Saturday, Rice chatted briefly in Russian with a young figure skater, although in official meetings she spoke English, which was translated.

Given her background, the troubles in U.S.-Russian relations are all the more frustrating for U.S. and Russian experts, who diverge on how much Rice should be faulted. In Moscow, some leading commentators said Rice is viewed somewhat sympathetically, as someone officials can deal with in an administration regarded as hostile. The view appears to be less favorable in Washington, where specialists across the political spectrum see Rice as having misunderstood Putin and mishandled relations with Russia.

Sergey Rogov, head of the Institute of U.S.A. and Canada Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said Rice was not responsible for what he called the "very poor" state of Russian-American ties, with disputes over economic relations, arms control, missile defense and regional issues.

"All of this is much broader than the portfolio of the secretary of state," he said. "In general, she is respected in Russia. It would be a mistake to blame her. Because this is the attitude of an American administration where the secretary of state is not the number one player. There are other players, first of all Dick Cheney, who is rightly considered to take a hostile position on Russia."

After meeting with Rice on Saturday morning at the U.S. ambassador's residence, Tatyana Lokshina, head of the Demos Center, a Russian human rights group, described the secretary of state as an "impressive and an interesting interlocutor" but said Rice and other officials had lost leverage over democracy in Russia because of Iraq and other issues.

"Whatever criticism the Russian authorities get is wasted to a large extent since the Russians say the U.S. does not have the right to criticize us because of their own record. American criticism alone, the American voice alone, cannot be effective today," she said in an interview afterward.

Lokshina said that when she challenged Rice over the U.S. detention facility for terrorism suspects at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Rice responded, "We never lost the high ground."