WASHINGTON (AFP) — US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Monday called on Russia to cultivate strong democratic institutions, saying an independent judiciary, parliament and press could be a source of "strength."
The top US diplomat said at a history conference on US-Soviet relations that the United States and Russia had an important partnership that could withstand serious disagreements.
"We want Russia to be strong, strong in 21st-century terms, not just with a strong independent center, but with strong independent institutions, an independent judiciary and legislature and independent civil society with a free media and vibrant non-governmental sector," Rice said.
"Democratic institutions and a free society are not a source of weakness, they are a source of strength in a dynamic and modern world."
Rice acknowledged recent discord between Moscow and Washington over Iran's nuclear ambitions and a planned US missile defense system in Europe.
"When we disagree, we will address Russia's views seriously and we will express our own ideas candidly," Rice said.
"It is possible for the US and Russia to disagree, even to disagree vehemently, but not to let our differences destroy the positive work that we can and must do together," Rice said.
Referring to her visit to Moscow this month with Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Rice said: "It was in that spirit that Secretary Gates and I went to Moscow and offered constructive ideas to address Russia's concerns about our missile defense systems," she said.
Relations between a newly assertive Kremlin and hawkish White House have turned increasingly acrimonious, with Moscow opposing a US missile defense system for central Europe and tough sanctions against Iran. Russia has also bristled at US criticism that the country's civil liberties and democratic institutions are under threat.
During her visit to Moscow, Rice reiterated US concerns about human rights abuses and the state of democracy in Russia.
But Rice, who as an academic studied the Soviet Union, said Russia was a much different country than the former Soviet state.
"I visited the Soviet Union. I studied in the Soviet Union, and I will tell you that Russia is not the Soviet Union," she said.
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