SANTIAGO, Nov 20 (AFP) - US President George W. Bush on Saturday told Russian President Vladimir Putin he was worried about "overcentralization of power" in the Kremlin, a senior US official told reporters.
"The president raised this, noted the concerns that we've had about checks and balances, about the centralization of power inside Russia, and asked Putin to give his own explanation of what was going on and why these steps were being taken inside Russia," the official said on condition of anonymity.
The official, briefing reporters after the leaders met on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit here, said Putin "went back deep into Russian history, the Stalinist period" in his response.
He said that he was trying "to develop a democratic style of government that was consistent with Russian history and the unique problems that Russia faced as a multiethnic society on a large land mass," the US official said.
Putin has drawn fire from Western governments and rights groups for what they say are increasingly authoritarian measures, including scrapping direct elections for regional governors and deputies to the lower house of parliament.
Under Putin's system, which is nearly identical to the one practiced in the Soviet era, Russians will directly choose only their president and local officials.
"There was a lot of back-and-forth, the president asking questions, underscoring his concerns and wanting to know exactly how this would move forward to, or help develop a democratic Russia," the US official said.
Bush reiterated "his concern about checks and balances within the Russian system and the over-centralization of power," the US official said.
"We've laid the basis for further discussions of this as we move forward. And, as I said, I think it was a very open and frank discussion of the nature of the issues facing the Russian state," the official said.
Critics charge that Moscow's help in the global war on terrorism has led Bush to essentially look the other way while Putin has centralized power and pursued a bloody campaign in the breakaway province of Chechnya.
11/20/2004 20:18 GMT - AFP