MOSCOW -Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday that the United States does not seek to rob Russia of its traditional influence in former Soviet republics.
Concerns about American intentions have accelerated in Russia following the establishment of pro-Western governments in Georgia and Ukraine and the expansion of the U.S. military presence in Central Asia as part of the Bush administration's fight against terrorism.
The United States has military facilities in the Central Asian nations of Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. Some Russians fear American encirclement of their country.
Georgia had an anti-authoritarian upheaval in 2003, Ukraine last year and Kyrgyzstan this past March, and Rice suggested that Belarus should be next on the list. That country's president, Alexander Lukashenko, has ruled for a decade and long has been criticized by U.S. officials for quashing dissent.
Belarus is really the last dictatorship in the center of Europe
and it's time for a change in Belarus she said.
Speaking to reporters, Rice said she told Putin that U.S. actions in former Soviet states are not in any way anti-Russian or designed to diminish Russian influence. She added that Washington seeks the normal development of U.S. relations with fully independent states.
