Posted on 02/21/2005 12:38:29 AM PST by JohnHuang2
MOSCOW — President Bush's summit with Vladimir Putin in Bratislava Thursday Feb. 24 will be the most difficult meeting two men ever had. A year after Mr. Putin handily won a second presidential term, his domestic and foreign challenges are snowballing, and his aura of an almost-superhuman invincibility is quickly dissipating. This is not to say Mr. Putin should be looked down upon or counted out: He is still in control. Meetings with key Russian officials in Moscow reveal that the Putin administration faces a crisis of confidence. Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov's Cabinet survived a Duma no-confidence vote Feb. 9. But the real target of the abuse heaped on the prime minister by the nationalist and leftist opposition parties, which are artifacts of power elites, was never in doubt: Mr. Putin himself.
(Excerpt) Read more at washtimes.com ...
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