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U.S. envoy hails ties, chides Russia on Chechnya

MOSCOW, Dec 28 (Reuters) - U.S. Ambassador Alexander Vershbow said on Friday the United States and Russia were poised to become allies after cooperating in the "war on terrorism," but criticised Russia's record on human rights and Chechnya.

Relations between the two capitals were currently "very good" and "partner-like," the U.S. envoy told Ekho Moskvy radio in comments translated into Russian.

The two countries were beginning to forge an "allied relationship," he said, adding that the September 11 attacks on U.S. cities had accelerated the burgeoning friendship between President George W. Bush and Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

Putin was the first statesman to contact Bush after the devastating attacks, and has been a stalwart supporter of the U.S. campaign to hunt and punish the perpetrators.

Vershbow said the United States and Russia could build on their close cooperation over the campaign in Afghanistan, whose Taliban rulers refused to hand over the chief suspects in the September attacks, to advance democracy in Central Asia.

The United States has hundreds of troops in the region as part of the military campaign in Afghanistan.

"If the American presence could lead to stability and democracy in the region, then it shouldn't be seen as a threat (to Russia)," he said.

Talk of the United States meddling in Russia's traditional sphere of influence smacked of outmoded thinking, when Moscow and Washington were Cold War rivals, he added.

Despite Putin's criticism of Bush's decision to abandon the 1972 ABM arms control treaty, Vershbow said Washington and Moscow could work together on defence issues, including slashing nuclear arsenals and controversial U.S. missile defence plans.

Despite the new friendly tone in U.S.-Russian relations, Vershbow pulled no punches on media freedoms, human rights and Chechnya. A decade after the end of communism democratic values, human rights and supremacy of the law were "still taking root."

He defended Washington's right to voice concern about Russia's more than two-year military campaign in rebel Chechnya, and said "Russia must find a political solution to this conflict." However, he ruled out a mediation role by Washington.

The U.S. envoy also criticised a court decision to declare bankrupt TV-6 television station, the only major national channel independent of the Kremlin.

And he signalled U.S. concern over the case of Grigory Pasko, a former naval captain turned eco-warrior given a four year jail term this week at the end of a retrial for espionage.

Pasko was jailed for revealing the Russian navy's dumping of toxic waste in the Sea of Japan, but he denies acting illegally.

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