MOSCOW - US President George W. Bush has put an indelible American footprint in the space that was once the Soviet Union and has positioned Washington as a power broker in the region, Russian newspapers commented Wednesday.
Bush's visit Monday and Tuesday to Georgia, the first by a serving US president to the Caucasus region, "definitively places the accent of American policy in the post-Soviet space," the respected business daily Kommersant said, under the headline: "George the Victorious."
"Visiting Georgia, the cradle of velvet revolutions in the former Soviet Union, the American president made clear that he had supported the wave of democratic changes and would continue to do so whether it displeased Russia or not," the newspaper said.
"Revolution Export Service" was the headline chosen by the daily Vremya Novostei to summarize Bush's visit, while Kommersant said Washington sought to assume the role of "arbiter" in a part of the world where for the past two centuries Moscow has ruled largely unchallenged.
"Prior to now, Moscow has been the principal mediator in conflicts and has appeared jealous of attempts by international organizations to participate in this," Kommersant said.
The opposition daily Nezavissimaya Gazeta struck a different chord, criticizing Bush for a hypocritical "triple diplomacy" during his swing through the former Soviet Union that included stops in Latvia, Russia and Georgia.
"He was almost a Russophobe in Riga, a Russophile in Moscow and a good protector of Georgia against Moscow's scheming in Tbilisi," it said.
05/11/2005 08:24 GMT