Biden talks visa removal with Putin, rights with Russian activists

Mar 10, 2011, 11:46 GMT

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden (2-R) and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin (L) have talks in Moscow, Russia 10 March 2011. Joe Biden is on a three-day visit in Russia. EPA/MAXIM SHIPENKOV

Moscow - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Thursday called for visa-free travel between his country and the United States during a meeting with US Vice President Joe Biden, the Interfax news agency reported.

'That would be a historic step,' Putin was quoted as saying, while Biden spoke of 'a good idea.'

Experts, however, believe that such an initiative would not be possible for many years to come.

Moscow is currently also negotiating with the European Union on visa-free travel, but the bloc has demanded that Russia's borders with Asia first be better protected, among other things.

Biden on Thursday also met with Russian human rights activists, who complained of new constraints on the opposition in a year that will see both regional and parliamentary elections.

Parties critical of the Kremlin have encountered significant problems in registering with authorities and continue to get little play in state-run media, said Lyudmila Alexeyeva, a founding member of the Helsinki Group, an influential human rights organization.

The leader of the civil rights group Memorial, meanwhile, charged that human rights are being curtailed in both Russia and the US 'in the name of the fight against terrorism.'

'In Russia, this leads to governmental terror, in the US to secret prisons and torture,' Oleg Orlov said.

The meeting also featured other prominent Russian rights activists, such as Lev Ponomaryov, and the country's human rights commissioner, Vladimir Lukin.

Before ending his two-day visit to Moscow on Thursday, Biden was scheduled to deliver a speech at a business forum.

A day earlier, he had met with Kremlin leaders - including President Dmitry Medvedev - to pledge Washington's support for Russian membership in the World Trade Organization. The talks had also been expected to centre on the ongoing unrest in Libya and contentious US plans for an anti-missile system in Europe.

Biden additionally witnessed the signing of an agreement between Russian airline Aeroflot and US plane manufacturer Boeing for the 2.2-billion-dollar purchase of eight long-range Boeing planes.

Biden's trip served as preparation for an upcoming Russia visit by US President Barack Obama, for which a date has not yet been set.

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