BRATISLAVA (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday he was satisfied with the results of a summit in the Slovak capital with President Bush despite a clash over Moscow's democratic credentials. "I am satisfied with the meeting and with the results of the meeting," Putin told a news conference following talks with his Slovak counterpart, Ivan Gasparovic.
On Thursday, Bush warned Putin in a face-to-face meeting against backsliding on democracy in Russia in what both sides called a frank debate at the Bratislava summit.
But Bush also assured the Russian president he was still a trusted partner of the United States and Putin said his country would not go back on the democratic path it embarked upon when the Soviet Union collapsed 14 years ago.
Putin said his frank discussion with Bush was useful although he made clear Russia did not accept being lectured by the West on how to run its affairs.
"The meeting was very positive both in terms of its atmosphere and the choice of topics," Putin added.
Western and Russian civil rights campaigners accuse Putin of restricting democracy by abolishing the election of provincial governors, pursuing a vendetta against the Yukos oil company and tightening the Kremlin's grip on the media.
They also fear he is trying to stifle democratic changes across the ex-Soviet bloc, with Russian reluctance to accept free elections in Ukraine often cited as the latest example.
In addition, its crackdown on separatists in Chechnya has drawn Western criticism, and the European Court of Human Rights ruled on Thursday that Russia committed serious abuses, including the torture and killing of civilians in its southern province.
prayers for the russian people and those in the former soviet union.