Russia and the European Union clashed over democracy on Friday as German Chancellor Angela Merkel took Russia to task for stopping opposition figures reaching a rally near an EU-Russia summit.
At the frosty meeting, which cooled ambitions for deeper ties between Russia and the bloc, EU leaders also snubbed Kremlin requests that it rein in its eastern European members that are locked in rows with Moscow.
Officials at a Moscow airport had stopped a group including chess champion and anti-Kremlin activist Garry Kasparov from flying to Samara, the nearest big city to the summit venue, where they planned to lead a "March of the dissenters" against Putin's rule.
"All of those who want to stage a rally in Samara should be able to do so," Merkel said in her opening remarks at a post-summit news conference. "I can understand if you arrest people that are throwing stones or threaten the right of the state to enforce order ... But it is altogether a different thing if you hold people up on the way to a demonstration."
Putin said the actions of Russian police "were not always justified". But, becoming visibly riled, he hit back, saying Kasparov and his colleagues were "marginals" and that EU countries also had flaws in their democracies.
"What is pure democracy?" Putin asked a news conference at the venue, a holiday resort on the banks of the Volga river 1,000 km (600 miles) south-east of Moscow. "It is a question of ... whether you want to see the glass half full or half empty." A police official at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport blamed a computer glitch that meant Kasparov and his companions could not be issued with a ticket.
As expected, the summit failed to unblock the launch of talks on an EU-Russia partnership agreement. They are stalled because of a Polish veto, part of a trade row with Russia. Moscow had hoped the EU leadership would persuade Poland - as well as Estonia and Lithuania which have their own rows with Russia - to moderate their stances.
TENSE BODY LANGUAGE: Poland blocked the talks after Russia imposed a ban on imports of Polish meat. Moscow has accused Estonia of desecrating the memory of World War II victims after it moved a Soviet-era war memorial. Lithuania is unhappy that Russia has switched off an oil pipeline. But European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso made clear the bloc was squarely behind its members.
"We had occasion to say to our Russian partners that a difficulty for a member state is a difficulty for the whole European community," he said. "It is very important if you want to have close cooperation to understand that the EU is based on principles of solidarity."
Putin hit back and accused some EU states - a clear reference to Poland - of "economic selfishness that does not always correspond to the EU's interests". The EU is not the only Western power struggling to manage relations with an increasingly assertive Russia. Moscow has clashed with Washington over US plans to place elements of a missile defence shield in eastern Europe.
As they spoke to reporters after their talks, the leaders were stiff and avoided eye contact. Putin stared ahead when Merkel and Barroso spoke on subjects sensitive for Russia.
The summit highlighted that EU leaders' vision for an ever-closer partnership with Russia based on shared values has been drowned out by differences. The partnership treaty is stalled and Putin refuses to ratify an energy charter the EU argues is key to ensuring reliable long-term oil and gas supplies from Russia.
Officials at the summit were keen to stress that the disagreements over Poland, Estonia and Lithuania were temporary, and did not affect the core of EU-Russian relations: massive trade links which are growing rapidly.
RUSSIAN OPPOSITION LEADERS BARRED: About 200 anti-Kremlin protesters demonstrated on Friday in a city not far from a Russia-EU summit, after police prevented their leaders including chess champion Garry Kasparov from flying there.
About 20 opposition protesters led by Kasparov had hoped to join a rally in Samara, a Volga River city 1,000 km (600 miles) south-east of Moscow and 70 km (40 miles) from the summit venue.
"When I tried to register for the flight, airport workers told me they could not get my ticket through their computer system," Kasparov told Reuters at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport. "It's obvious there was an order from above." Airport officials prevented a Reuters Television camerawoman from filming Kasparov's troubles inside the airport, saying shooting inside the airport was forbidden.
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