Condoleezza Rice, the US Secretary of State, has criticised Russia’s record on democracy ahead of talks in Moscow with Vladimir Putin.

In a Moscow radio interview, she said the US would be watching the outcome of oil magnate Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s trial "to see what it says about the rule of law in Russia".
A court will rule in the businessman’s fraud trial on Wednesday next week. He could be jailed for up to 10 years.

Ms Rice highlighted the powers that Mr Putin had accumulated since becoming prime minister in 2000, albeit in diplomatic language.

"For the US-Russia relationship to really deepen and for Russia to gain its full potential, there needs to be democratic development," she said, answering a listener’s email question.

"There should not be so much concentration of power just in the presidency; there needs to be an independent media ... so that the Russian people can debate and decide together the democratic future of Russia."

Despite this criticism, relations between Ms Rice and the Russian President appeared cordial at the start of their meeting today. Mr Putin said that relations between America and Russia had reached a "high level". "We hope that this course will continue," he added.

Ms Rice, on her first visit to Moscow as Washington’s top diplomat, said she looked forward to a fruitful discussion "on various issues that are of interest to us: our common interest in regional stability, our common interest in the global war on terrorism, on economic development in the world".

Flanked by interpreters and aides, they then entered the Kremlin’s lavish Green Room, filled with statues of former Russian tsars.

In the radio interview, the Secretary of State added that the US did not want Russia to be isolated over democracy concerns and would support its efforts to join the World Trade Organisation.

Rights activists complain Washington has been too tolerant of Russia’s backsliding on democracy, for fear of losing Mr Putin’s cooperation on Mr Bush’s war on terrorism.

Russia is considered a test case of the President’s vow to make democracy crucial to all Washington’s bilateral relations.

The thorny issue of nuclear inspections was raised last night when Ms Rice met with Sergei Ivanov, the defence minister. He gave assurances about greater access, she said, but the Interfax news agency reported that Moscow was not considering the possibility of visits by American inspectors.

On radio, Ms Rice said American attempts to monitor Russian nuclear sites were not an intrusion on the country’s sovereignty. It was an opportunity for cooperation between the two countries, in her view.

Washington wants an agreement on better access to nuclear facilities by US inspectors before George Bush, the US President, travels to Moscow to meet Mr Putin next month.

Ms Rice also mentioned Russian cooperation with the United States and other countries in trying to stop Iran obtaining nuclear weapons In the interview. "Russia is not a strategic enemy," she said, suggesting that the two countries have worked well together since the final years of communist rule.

Ms Rice’s rusty Russian caused a slight problem during the radio interview. Asked whether she might run for president, she answered Da – Russian for yes, before realising her mistake and saying Nyet (no) seven times.

After her Moscow visit, the next stop on the itinerary is Lithuania.

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