Putin calls USA 'a hungry wolf that eats and listens to no one'

Relations between the USA and Russia sank to the lowest point in a decade when Vladimir Putin harshly rebuked Washington for its criticism last week and compared the US to a hungry wolf that "eats and listens to no one". Although he refrained from mentioning the US by name, it was clear that the "wolf" in question referred to Washington.



The reason for such words was the statements made by American vice-president Dick Cheney at a conference in Vilnius, Lithuania, last week. He said that Russia was sending "mixed signals" over democracy, as well as using its energy resources to "intimidate and blackmail" neighbours.

The war of words is a long way from the optimism with which George Bush said, after his first face-to-face meeting with Mr Putin in 2001, that he had looked into the Russian president's soul and liked what he saw, The Guardian says.

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During an emotional moment in the nationally televised speech, Putin used a fairy-tale motif on building a fortress-like house to illustrate Russia's need to bolster its defenses. He also suggested that the United States puts its political interests above the democratic ideals it claims to cherish...

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