U.S. - Russia

Rice says Russia more authoritarian

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has reiterated her sharp criticism of a resurgent and emboldened Russia and accused the Kremlin of becoming increasingly authoritarian at home and aggressive on the world stage.

In an opinion piece published Thursday in the Gazeta Wyborcza daily, Rice condemned Russia's war against Georgia, and said it "has achieved — and will achieve — no enduring strategic objective."

Ties between the Washington and Moscow have chilled markedly since Russia invaded Georgia, a U.S. ally, in August in a dispute over the separatist border regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

Rice said the conflict in Georgia is merely the latest disconcerting sign in a string of moves made by Moscow.

"Russia's attack fits into a worsening pattern of behavior over several years — among other things, its use of oil and gas as tools of coercion, its threat to target peaceful nations like Poland with nuclear weapons, and its curtailment of law and liberty at home," she said. "The emerging picture is an increasingly authoritarian and aggressive Russia."

After the war in Georgia, Washington and Warsaw agreed to place 10 missile interceptors in silos in northern Poland as part of a global missile defense system. Russia, which fiercely opposes the system, quickly responded by warning it could target a future base with its nuclear missiles.

Rice also urged the West to stand up to the Kremlin and "not allow Russia's aggression to achieve any benefit."

"We cannot afford to validate the prejudices that some Russian leaders seem to have: that if you pressure free nations — if you bully, threaten, and lash out — we will cave in and eventually concede."

She said the U.S. and Europe cannot allow the Kremlin to "wield a veto over the future of our Euro-Atlantic community." She stressed that the doors remain open to Georgia and Ukraine, although she did not mention NATO specifically.

Russia has fiercely opposed the NATO membership aspirations of Georgia and Ukraine, both former Soviet states, saying the alliance's further expansion into Russia's traditional sphere of influence would threaten Moscow's security.

"Our strategic goal now is to make it clear to Russia's leaders that their choices are putting Russia on a one-way path to self-imposed isolation and international irrelevance," Rice said.

(Published by AP - September 25, 2008)