US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told Russian human rights activists today she wanted to help them build institutions to protect people from the 'arbitrary power of the state'.
The meeting could irk the Kremlin, which is sensitive to Western accusations it is rolling back democratic freedoms and suspects foreign governments of trying to influence the outcome of next year's presidential election.
Gathered around a table in an elegant, oval dining room at the US ambassador's residence in Moscow, Rice told the eight human rights leaders she wanted to hear how their efforts to protect freedoms in Russia were progressing.
The United States and other Western governments are concerned about democracy, human rights and civil society in Russia under President Vladimir Putin, who moved to centralize power following the more chaotic years of his predecessor, Boris Yeltsin. Putin, however, enjoys strong public support in Russia.
National television, the main source of news for most Russians, has come under tighter Kremlin control and Putin's opponents now rarely have access to the airwaves.
"I am quite confident that your goal is to build institutions that are indigenous to Russia -- that are Russian institutions -- but that are also respectful of what we all know to be universal values," said Rice.
She said these were: "The rights of individuals to liberty and freedom, the right to worship as you please, and the right to assembly, the right to not have to deal with the arbitrary power of the state," Rice said.
"These are liberties that all human beings desire. And so, every country, every people, every culture has its own expression of those institutions," she said.