GENOA TALKS CRITICIZED.

Writing in the July 27 issue of Moscow Times, the well-known military journalist Pavel Felgenhauer sharply criticized the G-7 nations for what he saw as their myopic behavior at the recent summit in Genoa: “Only two months ago,” he wrote, “the Kremlin was in near panic that the West may purge Russia from what it likes to call the Group of Eight for human rights violations in Chechnya [and] abuse of the free press at home…. To counter this immediate threat, Kremlin insiders planned to forge a personal relationship with Bush… This policy worked to perfection: The West and the United States have fully embraced Putin, the threat of Russia being ousted from the G-8 today is nonexistent, while Moscow gave away virtually nothing in return. Civilians in Chechnya were tortured and war crimes were committed while the Kremlin’s chief executive was appeased at the summit in Genoa.”