Sens. John McCain and Joe Lieberman introduced a resolution yesterday calling on President Bush to work to suspend Russia's membership in the G-8 group of leading industrial democracies until Russian President Vladimir Putin proves his commitment to democracy. "President Putin's assault on democracy in Russia violates the spirit of the industrialized democracies and the letter of Russia's obligations to the Group of Eight," said Mr. Lieberman, Connecticut Democrat. "We must openly confront anti-democratic backsliding in Russia for the sake of all those who look to the United States as a beacon of freedom."The move came only days before the president is to meet with Mr. Putin in Slovakia on Thursday and just as Mr. Putin alarmed the international world yesterday by saying he now believes Iran does not aspire to develop nuclear weapons.
Mr. McCain and Mr. Lieberman, a prolific and potent legislative pair, introduced a similar resolution in 2003, and California Reps. Tom Lantos, a Democrat, and Christopher Cox, a Republican, introduced a companion resolution in the House. Yesterday Mr. McCain, Arizona Republican, said that "since then, Russia has actually moved backward. Mr. Putin has moved to eliminate the popular election of Russia's 89 regional governors, has cracked down on independent media, continued his repression of business executives who oppose his government and is reasserting the Kremlin's old-style central control. The coup is no longer creeping — it is galloping."