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Democracy record can sour Russia G8 chair: Rice

Posted on: Thursday, 19 January 2006, 04:21 CST

MOSCOW (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has said Russia's poor record in democracy could put it in awkward position when President Vladimir Putin hosts the summit of G8 group of industrial nations this year.

"I think it's extremely important that Russia understand that certain responsibilities come with ... being the chair of an organization that is avowedly of industrialized democracies," Rice said in Washington on Wednesday.

Critics in the West see Putin's course toward stronger Kremlin control over Russia, which includes subduing the political opposition, scrapping gubernatorial polls and clipping the wings of Western-funded non-governmental organizations, as a retreat from democracy.

However, U.S. President George Bush's administration has ignored calls by Putin's critics in Washington to challenge Russia's occupancy of the G8 rotating chair from the start of this year.

Rice said in a question and answer session after her speech, that Washington was opposed to penalizing Russia for its democracy record, but predicted problems for Putin during the G8 summit in July in St Petersburg unless the situation changes.

"If you're going to be a part of the G8, you'd better be an industrialized democracy or people are going to have a lot of questions when they show up for the G8 sessions," she said.

Source: REUTERS

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