TIMESONLINE: President Bush risked inflaming tensions with President Putin yesterday by declaring that Russia had derailed democratic reforms.
He said that Moscow’s failure to extend basic freedoms to its citizens was troubling.
His comments, delivered in the Czech Republic, part of the former Soviet Union’s sphere of influence, may widen the rift between Mr Putin and the West that is threatening to overshadow the G8 summit in Germany, which begins today. Bush defuses Cold War row, then attacks Putin’s record on democracy (more) By Tom Baldwin, Philip Webster, David Charter and Richard Beeston
Mark Alexander
