Chechnya Putin

In June, the Press Ministry extended for an additional 5 years Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's (RFE/RL) broadcasting license, which was due to expire July 3. In October 2002, President Putin revoked a 1991 presidential decree that authorized RFE/RL to open a permanent bureau in Moscow and instructed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to accredit RFE/RL. According to press reports at the time, President Putin attributed the decision to revoke the 1991 decree to a desire to put all foreign bureaus on the same legal footing and to the belief that the 1994 law on mass media has made then-President Yeltsin's 1991 decree obsolete. Some media advocacy groups associated President Putin's revocation with RFE/RL broadcasts to Chechnya. ... [Read More]

Russia

Authorities attributed bombing incidents in Dagestan and several cities in southern areas of the country to Chechen rebels.Government forces and Chechen fighters have used landmines extensively in Chechnya and Dagestan since August 1999 (see Section 1.g.); there were many civilian landmine casualties in Chechnya during the year. b. Disappearance There were reports of government involvement in politically motivated disappearances in Chechnya; however, there were fewer reports of kidnapings than in previous years. The NGO Memorial claimed that federal military forces detained thousands of persons from Chechnya. Some of these persons disappeared, but most were released, often after their relatives paid a bribe. Memorial estimated that the number of individuals unaccounted for was somewhere between several hundred and a thousand. Former Presidential Representative for Human Rights in C ... [Read More]

U.S.-Russia Relations in Putin's Second Term

Mr. Chairman, Members of the Committee, I am delighted to be with you this morning to discuss the current state of U.S.-Russian relations and the prospects for their evolution. Hardly a day goes by without our addressing aspects of this important relationship in one way or another, and yet the occasions for reflecting seriously on its entirety are surprisingly few. I especially value the chance to share my thoughts with you this morning on where we are in the relationship and where we are headed -- and to hear your comments and questions. The time is certainly right, now that the Russian presidential election is behind us and the shape of the new Russian administration has become clear. Let me begin with a brief assessment of where we are at present. As I reported to your Subcommittee on Europe earlier this month, we have ma ... [Read More]

Press Conference with Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov

Treaty of Moscow, which provides for the reduction of arsenals of nuclear weapons. I certainly agree with the Minister’s assessment that my meeting with President Putin was very open and candid and to the point. We talked about some of the difficulties we’ve had in the recent past with respect to Iraq. But we also spoke about the successes we have had with respect to the Treaty of Moscow, and to the strength of our bi-lateral relationship with delegations going back and forth, and the closest contact between our ministries and we too are looking forward to the meeting of our Presidents in St. Petersburg in just a couple of weeks time. With respect to Iraq, Minister Ivanov and I will be working closely in the days ahead on the resolution that is pending before the United Nations to see if we can come into agreement with our other security council partners in passing a resolution that we will use to help the people of Iraq build a better life for themselves and for their children. Thank ... [Read More]

U.S. Department of State - Washington Hyper File

(Sniper trial/jurisdiction, U.N. resolution/vote deadline, UN/inspections briefing, Russia/gas used in rescue attempt, Iraq/makeup of coalition, President's phone call with President Mubarak, Chechnya/President Putin's remarks, Russia/U.S. providing aid, North Korea, elections/Florida/Minnesota, crime statistics, economy/President's agenda, world at war/killing in Jordan, President's agenda/Republican House and Senate) (7650) ... [Read More]

Interview on TV6

SECRETARY POWELL: I think Russia has played a very positive role since the events of the 11th of September. We are very pleased at the immediate support that President Putin gave to us. He was the first world leader to call Mr. Bush and that meant a lot to the American people. The Russian people and the Russian government have been working very closely with us and with the international coalition to bring all the pressure to bear that we can against the terrorists of the September 11th incident, those who were responsible for the September 11th incident, and in the campaign against terrorism in general. Russia has suffered from terrorist acts and understands that this is a campaign that the whole of Russia should be aligned in. ... [Read More]

2004 Country Report on Human Rights Practices in Russia

Government controlled media exhibited considerable bias in favor of President Putin in their coverage of the March 14 presidential campaign. President Putin did not actively campaign, but, as the OSCE election observation mission noted, he received coverage on the state controlled television channels far beyond what was reasonably proportionate to his role as head of state. For example, the OSCE election observation mission reported that First Channel provided more than 4 hours of all positive political and election coverage to the President. The next most covered candidate received approximately 21 minutes of prime time coverage (see Section 3). ... [Read More]

President Bush Meets with Russian President Putin at Camp David

PRESIDENT BUSH: Thank you all for coming. I'm proud to welcome my friend, Vladimir Putin, to Camp David. President Putin has visited the White House, he's visited our ranch in Crawford, and now he visits Camp David. I'm honored to have him here, and I appreciate the great dialogue we've had last night and today. ...

PRESIDENT PUTIN: We indeed paid much attention to this issue. I would like to reiterate that Russia has no desire and no plans to contribute in any way to the creation of weapons of mass destruction, either in Iran or in any other spot, region in the world. I would like to reiterate that we comply firmly with the provisions of the Non-Proliferation Treaty, because this course is in our national interest. ... [Read More]

Department of State Washington File: Transcript: Condoleeza Rice Briefs on Bush-Putin Meeting in Shanghai

DR. RICE: President Putin is a stalwart partner in this relationship. They did talk some about the desire for a broad-based representative postwar government in Afghanistan that could represent the many different ethnic interests there. The Russians made very clear that they believed that it had to be broad-based, in fact, that one of the mistakes of the past had been to not recognize the truly multiethnic character of Afghanistan. So I suspect that when President Putin makes these stops along the way that he'll be carrying that message. ... [Read More]