RUSSIA: President George Bush met yesterday with Russian activists complaining about the erosion of democracy in advance of this weekend's G8 summit of industrialised nations in St Petersburg.
The US president said he had spent time "listening to their concerns" to underscore American worries that the Kremlin may be backsliding on democracy.
His meeting came amid fresh claims of harassment and arrests of rights groups mobilising to protest at the three-day summit.
Mr Bush said afterwards: "We believe in universal values embedded in democracy. We believe in the rule of law, we believe in human rights."
Although democracy is not an agenda item in this summit, the first to be hosted by Russian president Vladimir Putin, several western leaders are to raise civil rights issues during the gathering.
Rights groups say activists, including two German cyclists planning an anti-globalisation protest, have been detained by police. Prosecutors say they have arrested the leader of a protest group named Mad Cow, because he is the subject of an international arrest warrant.
Irina Yasina of Open Russia said Mr Bush spoke about democracy and also the need to protect the world's forests. "In general, the talk was about the problems of Russian politics."
Brass bands and balloons were conspicuous by their absence in what was planned by all sides as a deliberately low-key arrival for Mr Bush and his wife Laura - indicating the cooling of relations between Mr Bush and Mr Putin.
Tensions between Moscow and Washington peaked in May when US vice-president Dick Cheney accused Mr Putin of using oil as a political weapon.
This week, Mr Putin stirred the pot by commenting that the jibe by Mr Cheney was the comment of a man who had managed to shoot a friend during a hunting trip, implying that it was not to be taken seriously.
Mr Bush was eager to balance his meeting with rights groups with a visit to a monument honouring those who died defending the city, then called Leningrad, during the second World War. He then had a one-to-one meeting with Mr Putin.
Western officials say there is considerable nervousness about broaching the subject of civil liberties with Mr Putin.
After months of sniping between Moscow and Washington, US officials say they are anxious for dialogue, with the current fighting in Lebanon adding to issues with Iran and North Korea for which they want Russian consensus.
Diplomats say that with the Russian leader riding high in the polls, the opposition enfeebled, and the government's coffers full with oil revenues, other G8 members have little leverage over Mr Putin.
"Democracy will be low down on the agenda," one western official said. "There's not much pressure we can really bring to bear."
But others are helping to keep the pressure up: a group of 100 members of the European Parliament have signed an open letter to Mr Putin, urging him to reopen the case of oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, jailed for eight years in 2005. The MPs say the trial was unfair and that the tycoon is a political prisoner
Russian officials are meanwhile urging the US to support a UN declaration against terrorism, saying such backing would give the plan the universal support it needs.
Russia hopes to use the coming days to ease European worries over the future of gas supplies.
US officials also say they are close to an agreement on admitting Russia into the World Trade Organisation, with several major hurdles cleared.