Photograph: Alexei Nikolsky/AFP/Getty Images
Russia's leadership and supine television channels were deafeningly silent this morning over revelations that US diplomats view Russia as a corrupt, autocratic kleptocracy.
Damning cables sent to Washington by successive ambassadors in Moscow were disclosed by WikiLeaks today and published in the Guardian.
The blunt reports – which conclude that Russia is a criminal state dominated by venal and bribe-hungry officials – appeared to throw a spanner in the works of "resetting" US-Russia relations, a key foreign policy objective for both countries.
Yet, while details of the cables spread quickly through websites and the blogosphere, television – from which an estimated 70% of Russians get their news – ignored the reports. State-controlled Rossiya made no mention of the allegations in its mid-morning news broadcast. Instead, it reported on the Moscow river freezing over, on two Russian tourists being attacked by sharks in Egypt, and on government-employed truck drivers in the United States who got drunk while transporting nuclear weapons.
Rossiya did give over a large segment to Larry King's interview with the prime minister, Vladimir Putin, shown last night on CNN.
Asked by King for his response to the assessment of the US defence secretary, Robert Gates – revealed earlier by WikiLeaks — that "Russian democracy has disappeared and that the government is being run by the security services," Putin replied acidly: "I am personally acquainted with Mr Gates, I have met him on several occasions. I think he is a very nice man and not a bad specialist. But Mr Gates, of course, was one of the leaders of the US Central Intelligence Agency and today he is defence secretary. If he also happens to be America's leading expert on democracy, I congratulate you."
Also in the televised section, King asked the premier about the 10 Russian "sleeper agents" caught in the US in June and later deported to Moscow.
Putin claimed the agents had not harmed American interests, and used the question to take another sideswipe at the CIA. "The methods employed by our special services differ in a good way from those used by US special services," he said. "Thank God, neither the agents in question or any other Russian intelligence officers are known to have been involved in creating secret prisons, kidnappings, or torture."
The prime minister also warned that Moscow must agree partnership with Washington over a joint missile defence shield. If not, he said, "Russia will just have to protect itself using various means, including the deployment of new missile systems to counter the new threats to our borders, and the development of new nuclear-missile technology." Putin added: "We don't want this. It's not a threat. We are simply talking about what to expect if we can't agree to work together."
The Kommersant newspaper said this morning that Putin's comments showed "Russo-American relations are returning to the rhetoric of the cold war."
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