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05/09/2005:

"Bush offers support to Putin's critics"

George Bush risked a further deterioration in relations with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, yesterday when he met critics of the Kremlin's human rights record and told them he supported their work to build a "civil society" and democracy.
The US president held a 35-minute meeting with some of Mr Putin's more vocal critics in his hotel minutes before he attended a Victory Day parade in Red Square at the invitation of Mr Putin.

The meeting, described by one of those who attended as an "important sign to Mr Putin that America is interested in the development of independent society in Russia", let Mr Bush hear from organisations working in the fields of human rights, media freedom and environmental issues in Russia.
Manana Aslamazyan, from the media support group Internews Russia, said Mr Bush told them the US was ready to support their work. "He said that we need to work for more democracy in Russia," she said.
Full:guardian.co.uk