Quotable notes

"... by going to St. Petersburg, President [George W.] Bush, Prime Minister Tony Blair, President Jacques Chirac, and the leaders of Italy, Germany, Canada and Japan will in effect place their stamp of approval on the removal of political rights, the harassment of independent groups, the renationalization of energy and the censorship of media that [Russian President Vladimir] Putin has imposed on his country since he took over from [Boris] Yeltsin six years ago. They will also give their blessing to Putin's use of gas pipelines to threaten Ukraine, and to his ambiguous role in Iranian nuclear and Middle East peace negotiations. And after Bush goes home, the denizens of the Kremlin - along with Venezuelans, Iranians, Arab leaders and others around the world - will sit back, laugh and agree that the leaders of the so-called West merely pay lip service to the ideals of freedom and democracy; they don't really believe in them. If you have enough oil, they'll let you into their clubs anyway. The long-term result: The American president's ability to speak credibly about democracy and political freedom will be irreparably damaged. ..."

- Columnist Anne Applebaum, in her column headlined "Skip St. Petersburg, Mr. Bush," published in The Washington Post on March 8. Ms. Applebaum was writing about the Group of Eight summit in St. Petersburg, the hometown of Vladimir Putin, where the organization will meet in July under the leadership of the Russian president.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, April 16, 2006, No. 16, Vol. LXXIV

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