"Russia has made its choice in favour of democracy. Any return to totalitarianism would be impossible." So said the Russian president, Mr Vladimir Putin, after his press conference with President George Bush following their summit meeting in Bratislava last week.
The two men have a good personal relationship, which was put to the test on this occasion. As Mr Bush said, it is in the United States' interest to have a constructive engagement with Russia. He has encouraged it on issues of terrorism, security, nuclear weapons and energy over the past four years. But there is widespread concern in the US and Europe that Mr Putin is backsliding on democracy, human rights, the rule of law and media freedoms.
While Mr Bush has clearly registered this concern, there is little reason to suppose Mr Putin will heed it in practice without continuing pressure on him and incentives encouraging him to do so. Many of these were floated during Mr Bush's visit to Europe as well as at the Bratislava summit. Taoiseach Bertie Ahern summarised the issues of concern in his contribution to the US-EU meeting in Brussels. He said that although economic co-operation with Russia is moving ahead rapidly, that country is adopting a confrontational approach towards its immediate neighbours and former members of the Soviet Union. Mr Ahern spoke on behalf of the other EU leaders when he said he is worried that instead of converging values, there is a widening gap between Russia and the rest of Europe.
Mr Bush made his criticisms in a constructive spirit. The values of freedom and democracy involved are universal principles, he said, which Russia should share as a European country. In his speech to a large and appreciative crowd in the Slovak capital, he welcomed the democratic revolution in Ukraine and said he expects it to embrace Belarus and Moldova in coming years. This is an extremely sensitive subject for Mr Putin. His ambitions to restore Russia's regional hegemony through closer co-operation with these states have been frustrated. Russian strategists perceive a danger of encirclement by NATO and the EU. They resent criticisms from bodies such as the European Court of Human Rights accusing Russia of abusing rights in Chechnya.
The recent restrictions on media and the effective renationalisation of the Yukos oil company are closely associated with this sense of insecurity. So is the sense that Ukraine's democratic example would spread not only to Belarus and Moldova but to Russia itself, where there are definite signs of frustration with Mr Putin's backsliding and a realisation that he has not enjoyed much success with his foreign policy initiatives.
Despite being flush with oil money, there is an acute sense of insecurity as Russia competes for influence in its neighbourhood and periphery, both in Europe and in central Asia. Mr Bush pursues a delicate path between realism and critique in his dealings with Mr Putin, echoing a tension shared by his European allies.