MOSCOW: US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has put Russia on guard that the United States will not ignore any retreat by Moscow from democratic reforms. During a visit that sent a chill through relations Rice declared that Putin had too much power and she spoke out over the absence of independent television channels.

“Rice showed her teeth during talks in Moscow,” read a caption in a Russian daily newspaper on Thursday, beneath a photograph of a beaming Rice meeting President Vladimir Putin.

With plain speaking that left Russia’s establishment aghast, she warned on Wednesday that Washington was watching closely the fraud trial of oil magnate Mikhail Khodorkovsky.

A verdict in the case, seen as a test of Moscow’s commitment to the rule of law, is expected on April 27.

The former Soviet specialist balanced her tough remarks by saying the US wanted only a stable, prosperous and democratic Russia and paid tribute to progress by Moscow so far.

But commentators said Rice, on her first trip to Moscow since being confirmed as President George W. Bush’s foreign minister, suggested Washington was not ready to give Putin the benefit of the doubt indefinitely on a commitment to democracy.

“I would say she (Rice) is speaking with greater clarity about what the United States sees as red lines on the democracy issue,” said Andrew Kuchins, director of the Carnegie Moscow Centre.

“Up to now no American official has ever made such bold statements about the future of the Russian presidency,” said the daily Kommersant, referring to her comment that Putin should not try to stay on in power for a third term.

Putin has said several times he will not seek an additional Kremlin term beyond his current second mandate which, under the constitution, should be his last.

This has not stemmed speculation that some of his advisers are pressing him to stay on in 2008 either by changing the constitution or by adapting the political system so as to remain effectively in charge.

BUSH VISIT: Rice was ostensibly preparing the ground for a visit to Moscow on May 9 by Bush to attend celebrations marking the 60th anniversary of World War Two victory by Soviet forces.

But commentators say, with the Bush administration under increasing pressure from the US Senate and rights groups to take a tougher line with Russia, Rice jumped in with both feet to spell out US reservations over Russia’s course. The Kremlin kept silent at the sudden criticism, possibly since it fell at an awkward time for Putin.

The Kremlin leader is scheduled to make his annual State of the Nation speech next Monday, a moment when he sometimes seeks to define Russia’s relations with the United States.

In May, apart from meeting Bush, he is hosting a sensitive summit of the post-Soviet Commonwealth of Independent States whose cohesion is threatened by pro-Western popular revolutions.

He meets European Union leaders soon after to map out a new relationship with the economic bloc.

Apart from Russia’s democratic course, Rice’s visit highlighted other issues that are likely to test relations.

These include the question of possible US inspections of Russian nuclear sites, an issue on which both Rice and Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov gave different evaluations of their talks.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov equally failed to win a sympathetic ear from Rice when he called for the United States to recognize Russia’s national interests on ex-Soviet territory.—Reuters