Pifer's remarks on Chechnya draw ire of Russian president (09/28/03)

Pifer's remarks on Chechnya draw ire of Russian president

WASHINGTON - Russian President Vladimir Putin, who considers himself a friend of President George W. Bush, made it abundantly clear last week that his circle of American friends does not include Steven Pifer, the State Department official who once served as ambassador to Ukraine.

According to a report by Al Kamen in the September 24 issue of The Washington Post, Mr. Pifer, now deputy assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, recently criticized the "deplorable violations of human rights" by Russian armed forces in Chechnya and added that this has a negative impact on U.S.-Russian relations.

In a statement to the Helsinki Commission, Mr. Pifer noted that Russia's "conduct of counter-terrorist operations in Chechnya fuels sympathy for the extremists' cause and undermines Russia's international credibility."

Asked about Mr. Pifer's comments during a meeting with a small group of American journalists at his dacha September 20, less than a week before his scheduled Washington visit and meeting with President Bush, Mr. Putin said he would not care to comment on mid-level State Department officials. "I'll let Colin [Powell] deal with him," he said, according to the Post's Moscow correspondent Peter Baker, who was at the dacha meeting.

"But we have a proverb in Russia," Mr. Putin added, "in every family there will be somebody who is ugly or retarded."

According to The Washington Post, President Putin then started complaining about "double standards," and "went off on a rant" about U.S. human rights abuses in Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantanamo Bay. He also criticized U.S. officials' meeting with Chechen representatives, which, he said, was the same to meeting with representatives of al Qaeda.

The Washington Post noted that Mr. Pifer declined to comment on Mr. Putin's remarks.

Mr. Pifer was the third U.S. ambassador in Ukraine, serving there from 1998 to 2000.

- Yaro Bihun

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