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Thursday, July 13, 2006
Putin mocks Cheney's criticism as failed shot
Jibe underscores tensions ahead of G-8 summit
MOSCOW -- President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday called Vice President Dick Cheney's criticism of Russia "an unsuccessful hunting shot," a caustic comment that underlines tensions ahead of the Group of Eight summit this weekend.
Under fire from critics who say his country does not deserve to be in the G-8 because of democratic backsliding during his more than six years in power, a confident Putin said the elite club of wealthy nations needs Russia because of its energy riches and nuclear might.
Meanwhile, Putin is maneuvering to take the nuclear waste the rest of the world shuns, hoping for a financial bonanza -- and Bush, in a reversal of U.S. policy, is offering to help.
The two countries will announce as part of the upcoming G-8 summit that they will begin negotiations on a civilian nuclear agreement that would clear the way for Putin to achieve one of his top energy goals: expanding his country's power reactors and using Russia's vast territory as a storehouse for the world's used reactor fuel.
A majority of the spent reactor fuel now at power plants came from the United States and can't be shipped anywhere without U.S. approval.
In three interviews with Western TV networks posted on the Kremlin Web site Wednesday, days before the summit in St. Petersburg, Putin set out what sounded like ground rules for dealing with an increasingly assertive Russia, saying his nation is open for constructive criticism but will not be pushed around.
Because of its economic weakness following the Soviet collapse of 1991, other nations had strong levers of influence on Russia, Putin said a television interview.
"Today these levers have been lost, but some of our partners have retained the desire to influence our foreign and domestic policies," he said.
Putin reserved his most acerbic words for Cheney, who angered the Kremlin with a May speech in which he accused Russia of cracking down on religious and political rights and of using its energy reserves as "tools of intimidation or blackmail."
"I think the statements of this sort by your vice president are the same as an unsuccessful hunting shot. It's pretty much the same," Putin said in an interview with NBC, referring mischievously to the errant shot by Cheney that wounded a companion on a hunting trip.
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