US Vice President Biden meets Putin, activists in Russia

Mar 10, 2011, 16:13 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 - Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Thursday called for visa-free travel between Russia and the United States, during a meeting with US Vice President Joe Biden.

'This will be an important step in the development of the Russia- US relationship if we work first to introduce this visa-free regime of exchange between (the) US and Russia rather than (the) European Union and Russia,' Putin told a joint press conference.

'Good idea,' Biden responded.

Russia is negotiating a visa-free exchange with the EU, but the bloc has demanded that Russia`s borders with Asia first be better protected, among other things.

Experts believe a similar initiative with the US would not be possible for many years.

Both Biden and Putin expressed a desire to see a strengthening of relations between Washington and Moscow.

'The very good news is the president and I agree 100 per cent on the need to continue to establish a closer and closer relationship,' Biden said.

Biden, speaking later at Moscow State University, criticized Russia's investment climate, highlighting 'legal abuses' and 'infamous cases in which property rights were violated and not protected.'

'It may be unfair, but it is a perception,' he said. He cited the case of Kremlin-critic and oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky who was convicted of theft of oil and tax evasion, and the brutal crackdown on the opposition.

'Over the past few months alone, our administration has spoken out against allegations of misconduct in the (Khodorkovsky) trial ... and of the beating and the detention of Strategy 31 demonstrators.'

Earlier on the final day of his two-day visit Thursday, Biden 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.

On Wednesday, 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 also centred 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 a planned Russia visit by US President Barack Obama, for which a date has not yet been set.

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