New Russian President: U.S. In No Position To Dish Out Advice

New York Times:

Russia's new president, Dmitri A. Medvedev, less swaggering than his predecessor but as touchy about criticism from abroad, said in an interview that an America in "essentially a depression" was in no position to lecture other countries on how to conduct their affairs.

With soaring oil revenues bolstering the Russian economy and Kremlin confidence, Mr. Medvedev brushed aside American criticism of his country's record on democracy and human rights. He also said that a revived Russia had a right to assume a larger role in a world economic system that he suggested should no longer be dominated by the United States.

Mr. Medvedev made his comments on Tuesday in a meeting with a small group of foreign journalists a day after the American treasury secretary, Henry M. Paulson Jr., appealed in Moscow for Russian investment in the United States. The symbolism of the visit resonated here, in that only a decade had passed since the Russian economy was in shambles and the country was desperate for Western aid.

Mr. Medvedev seemed to be seeking in the interview to raise his profile before attending the Group of 8 meeting of industrialized nations next week in Japan. Mr. Medvedev leads Russia in tandem with his predecessor and mentor, Vladimir V. Putin, who is now prime minister and is still widely considered Russia's pre-eminent leader.

In the interview, Mr. Medvedev was asked about a call by Senator John McCain of Arizona, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, to bar Russia from the Group of 8 because of its record on democracy. Mr. Medvedev, who easily won Russia's presidential election in March after the Kremlin hobbled the opposition, responded that the question of democracy was irrelevant to the Group of 8 and, besides, the United States had more pressing matters to attend to.

Read the whole story: New York Times

Comments

[Phil123]

At the beginning of the article, I was getting the feeling that Dmitri Medvedev was starting to sound like a Democrat. Then it hit me that he doesn't actually hate the US; he's just expressing a pragmatic opinion. No Democrat, he.

[Durango]

Like Doonsbury said on the issue of lecturing on Human Rights.

Damn, that used to be a slam dunk!

[MagisterLudi]

Every country has problems.
Russian Federation has its share as does U.S.

Hopefully Russia will be given a chance by others to take care of its numerous problems and assume its rightful place as a world power.

[george69]

“…It is our duty not to break relations with problem countries, which are causing problems and unpleasant emotions in the world community. It would be counterproductive to sever these ties and start… bombing them…”
The new President of Russian Federation, Dmitry Medvedev, 42 ( born 09/14/1965), noted.

Does it sound similar to your ears?
Who do you prefer to debate or negotiate with that man for solving world’s issues ?
McSame, 72,with his 100-years war ?
The only way for solving problems in foreign policy he knows, is bombing!
OR
Barack Obama, 46 (born 08/04/1961), an intelligent, Harvard Scholar- The Only Rational Voice in American Politics !

[HumeSkeptic]

theres no way in hell that russian could be right. he's dumb and didnt even speak in english. besides america is #1. usa! usa!

Signed

Ammobob

[Nochnoi]

He does have an excellent point there.........

[SwingingFromCenter]

I hate to say it, but....

He's got a point.

[steamboat]

I agree, but the Russians are in no position, either.........Does double-digit unemployment, Chechyna, Georgia, muslim up risings, graft and corruption, and censorship ring a bell?

[JoeBlough]

So now we are argueing which country is worst?

[BBackSoon]

Lest see, our economy is a wreck, we are pouring money into Iraq and Afghanistan faster than they can print it, we refuse to really do anything to help with pollution, or rising price of oil and food. We have a moron in the White House that is incapable of putting a real sentence together without using a teleprompter and a group of Neocon Whack jobs led by one evil SOB that is working tirelessly behind the scenes to bring about the New American Century.

Yea if I was in power someplace else in the world, I would not only politely decline any advice, I would watch my back because somewhere along the way in the past 50 or even 100 year we became the big bad wolf on everyone’s door step. Not the US people but Our Government and the Corporations that pull the strings.

[Mike169]

Asking the US not to offer its opinion is like asking Pat Robertson to shut up. The US always operates on the premise that everyone wants our opinion and even if they don't they're going to get it anyway. That's why the world loves us.

[steamboat]

or Jesse Jackson to shut-up. Don't be partisan (LOL)

[CC1]

LOL. You have a point.

[CaptainVideo]

The Neocons who though this was going to be the American century were totally off base. Currently the United States is in decline. It is much like the Roman Empire in its later years, wasting its economic resources on maintaing troops in many remote places.

Unless the current trend is dramatically reversed, before the middle of this century China is going to be the world's dominant power. Only dramatic changes in the policies the United States is following can reverse this.

An Obama victory would be ONE step toward reversing this, but only one of many steps that are needed.

[dbdzen]

I hate to break it to the ostriches that think Russia owes America money. Russia paid that money back, with interest 2 years after Putin became president. America owes Russia just over 300 billion dollars in Treasuries (and growing).

We should always listen to the truth, regardless of who is saying it. One of our biggest weaknesses as a nation is that we have always failed at that. Russia has more nukes than any nation other than America, more natural gas than anyone, more precious metals than most countries, consumers with nearly zero property debt, a veto in the UN, a higher proportion of the population with advanced degrees than most advanced nations, a booming economy, labor shortages, a smart president and a humongous budget surplus saved for future generations.

[blaqntelligence]

You know your country's in trouble when a nation like Russia starts looking good.....

[CC1]

Yah.

[ChiGuy]

He may just be Putie's lackey, but when you're right, you're right.

[white mende man]

See what you've done Mr. Bush? You've royally screwed up OUR country and now they think we are nothing but a has-been. well done George!

[akhmatova]

Practically every day in Russia, in the papers on radio and on television the state of the US -- the economy, the government, the people, the policies -- is being discussed with disbelief and confusion and concern. The USA that was always held as a model, and is now perceived to be falling apart at the seams. Although, some years ago, it was the pictures from the devastation of Katrina that really turned the tide within the Russian populace. Russians see that event like their 1989.
When suddenly, the USSR fell apart...Careers, plans, lives were forced to change course. Russians know well what it is like to have their entire world fall apart...and how hard it is to begin to build it back up again. The most difficult part is realising nothing will ever be quite the same. Fortunately, we avoided civil war was, and though the hardships were intense over the last 15 years, people are beginning to really live again. What would happen if US really woke up to the truth that Medvedev speaks of? There is a new world order forming and USA is no longer to be No. 1. Super-power dominance is old paradigm thinking. Russia, Asia and most of the world is moving forward in thinking, US for some reason seems trapped in some 18th/19th century netherland with Wifi.

[gladys46]

What happened to our More Perfect Union!!??

The emotion is Shame .. period!!