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Putin says U.S. wants to dominate world

Putin says U.S. wants to dominate world | U.S. | Reuters

Putin says U.S. wants to dominate world

Sat Feb 10, 2007 3:06PM EST

By Louis Charbonneau

MUNICH, Germany (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin, in one of

his harshest attacks on the United States in seven years in power,
accused Washington on Saturday of attempting to force its will on the
world.

The White House said it was "surprised and disappointed" by Putin's
accusations but added Washington expected to continue to work with
Moscow in areas such as counter-terrorism and reducing the spread and
threat of weapons of mass destruction.

In a speech in Germany, which one U.S. senator said smacked of Cold War

rhetoric, Putin accused the United States of making the world a more
dangerous place by pursuing policies aimed at making it "one single
master".

Attacking the concept of a "unipolar" world in which the United States
was the sole superpower, he said: "What is a unipolar world? No matter
how we beautify this term it means one single center of power, one
single center of force and one single master." "It has nothing in
common
with democracy because that is the opinion of the majority taking into
account the minority opinion," he told the gathering of top security
and
defense officials.

"People are always teaching us democracy but the people who teach us
democracy don't want to learn it themselves," he said.

Gordon Johndroe, press secretary for the White House National Security
Council, rejected Putin's comments.

"We are surprised and disappointed with President Putin's comments. His

accusations are wrong," said Johndroe.

"We expect to continue cooperation with Russia in areas important to
the
international community such as counter-terrorism and reducing the
spread and threat of weapons of mass destruction," he added.

The Kremlin has for several weeks been dropping hints that Putin, who
steps down next year after two terms in power, was preparing a major
foreign policy speech that would point the way for his successor.

Its delivery at the prestigious annual Munich meeting on security was
clearly aimed at attracting maximum attention.

"The message I got from his speech was that Putin wants Russia to have
the same position in the world as the former Soviet Union," a senior
European official told Reuters.

INCREASING TENSIONS

Putin spoke against a background of increasing Russian agitation over
U.S. policy on Iraq, and on the Iran and North Korea nuclear issues, as

well as growing self-confidence as an emerging energy superpower.

U.S. plans to deploy parts of an anti-missile defense system in Poland
and the Czech Republic have become a fresh irritant in U.S.-Russian
relations. Washington says the system is needed for defense against
rockets launched by Iran and North Korea -- an argument rejected by
Moscow.

Putin said the United States had repeatedly overstepped its national
borders in questions of international security, a policy that he said
had made the world less, not more, safe.

"Unilateral actions have not resolved conflicts but have made them
worse," Putin said, adding that force should only be used when backed
by
the United Nations Security Council.

"This is very dangerous. Nobody feels secure any more because nobody
can
hide behind international law," he said.

Putin also said the increased use of force was "causing an arms race
with the desire of countries to get nuclear weapons". He did not name
the countries.

Putin mentioned no specific conflicts. But he has been very critical of

the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, where U.S. soldiers are still
struggling to crush an insurgency. New U.S. Defense Secretary Robert
Gates, the top U.S. official at the conference, said Putin's comments
were "interesting, very forthright".

U.S. Senator Joseph Lieberman said the speech was provocative and
marked
by "rhetoric that sounded more like the Cold War".

NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said he was disappointed
by
Putin's statement that alliance enlargement was "a serious factor
provoking reduced mutual trust".

"I see a disconnection between NATO's partnership with Russia as it has

developed and Putin's speech," he said.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, however, denied the Russian president
was trying to provoke Washington. "This is not about confrontation.
It's
an invitation to think," he told reporters.

(Additional reporting by Madeline Chambers, Mark John, Kristin Roberts
in Munich and Caren Bohan in Washington)