PRAGUE, Czech Republic - President Bush risked further stoking a testy dispute with Russia over a new U.S. missile defense system on Tuesday, saying that Moscow has "derailed" once-promising democratic reforms.
In a speech celebrating democracy's progress around the globe - and calling out places where its reach is either incomplete or lacking - Bush said that free societies emerge "at different speeds in different places" and have to reflect local customs. But he said certain values are universal to all democracies, and rapped several countries for not embracing them.
"In Russia, reforms that once promised to empower citizens have been derailed, with troubling implications for democratic development," Bush said, speaking at a democracy conference here organized by former dissidents.
The president asserted that this discussion of democratic backsliding in Russia under the leadership of President Vladimir Putin was just one part of a strong relationship. "America can maintain a friendship and push a nation toward democracy at the same time," Bush said.....
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