Russian press cynical about US spy move

The days of Bill and Boris seem far away indeed

Russian newspapers met the US decision to eject 50 alleged spies from the Russian Embassy in Washington with a mixture of indignation and cynicism.

Amid a feeling that espionage is par for the course, there are accusations that the Bush administration is merely throwing its weight about and a suggestion Russia should just turn its back on the US and concentrate on better ties with the EU.

Stockholm visit "a hefty political reply to the Americans"

Vedomosti

President Putin's visit to the EU summit in Stockholm for economic talks is an excellent opportunity to foster new relations, Vedomosti writes.

The EU, which itself is out to "overtake" the US, is a much more natural partner for Moscow, the paper argues.

It also quotes a new opinion poll showing that 46 per cent of Russians prefer the EU as a partner as opposed to only 10 per cent who favour the US.

Bullying tactics

Izvestiya plays down the expulsions, saying they will only lead to a "rotation of spies".

But it does see in the affair a sign that President Bush wants to hammer out a new relationship with Russia - less Cold War, than teaching Moscow to "know its place".

The Clinton administration liked Moscow and turned a blind eye [to spying]

Komsomolskaya Pravda

The paper remarks that George W Bush must have inherited some of his ex-CIA director father's views on Russia and America's new leaders are proving to be much more cynical about Moscow.

"They're saying it's time to stop cooing to Russia as some kind of infant democracy and certainly time to stop giving it aid, which will only be stolen anyway," Izvestiya writes.

Komsomolskaya Pravda suggests that the new US leader's model is Ronald Reagan and says the White House is once again inhabited by "the hawks who see themselves as conquerors of the Evil Empire".

Bush's favour to Russia

Another paper takes the view that President Bush's tough new line will be good for Russia in the long run.

Status matters, but not above everything else

Nezavisimaya Gazeta

According to Nezavisimaya Gazeta, Washington is "weaning Russia" from the illusions of superstar status, evinced by such things as its G8 membership.

"It is high time to learn to get by without these illusions and inferiority complexes and start to deal calmly with those in the international arena whom we can benefit from and who make easy partners," the paper writes.

BBC Monitoring, based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.