Bush, Putin and What Russian Bloggers Think ("I’m happy their eight-year terms are up")

[Amerigo Vespucci]

April 4, 2008, 10:45 pm
Bush, Putin and What Russian Bloggers Think

By Clifford J. Levy



MOSCOW – President Bush and President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia — “two old war horses,” as Mr. Bush put it on Friday at the NATO summit – are meeting for talks this weekend in Russia. How can the two reach compromises, given the many tensions that have arisen in their relationship?

We put that question to the Russian blogosphere, seeking the opinions of Russians about the options for the two leaders, who are both ending their second terms. The comments were collected on the Russian-language blog that is operated by the Moscow bureau of The New York Times. The blog, on the LiveJournal platform, received more than 125 responses to our query.

Here is a sampling:

lepestriny: “Personally, I believe that the Russian Federation and the United States, together with the European Union, need to work to increase the authority of the U.N. There is no more important task. There are too many global problems, and international misunderstandings are best resolved in a neutral court, without baring one’s teeth and swinging a club.”

demographer: “I’m happy that their eight-year terms are up.”

http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/04/04/bush-putin-and-what-russian-bloggers-think/?hp