Rice, Putin Trade Sharp Words

Russian President Vladimir Putin, awaiting U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s visit next week, insinuated Wednesday during a speech commemorating Russian WWII veterans that American foreign policy was comparable to that of the Third Reich in the late 1930s.  Meanwhile, on Thursday Rice criticized Putin’s administration for consolidating and centralizing too much power at the Kremlin.

International Herald Tribune:

Putin did not specifically name the United States or NATO but used phrasing similar to that which he has used previously to criticize American foreign policy while making an analogy to Nazi Germany.

The comments marked the latest in a series of sharply worded Russian criticisms of the foreign policy of the Untied States - on Iraq, missile defense, NATO expansion and, broadly, the accusation that the United States has striven to single-handedly dominate world affairs.

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AP Photo/ITAR-TASS, Presidential Press Service, Mikhail Klimentyev

Stand and deliver:  Putin is peeved about the United States’ planned missile defense system in nearby European countries.