Russia decries U.S. criticism

MOSCOW — Russia's Foreign Ministry lashed out Friday at U.S. criticism of last weekend's parliamentary elections, suggesting it was the product of prejudice and could hurt relations between the two nations.

In a barbed statement, the ministry suggested American expressions of concern about the vote were driven by selfish U.S. interests and disappointment with Russia's increasing assertion of independence from Western influence.

President Vladimir Putin's United Russia party won more than 64 percent of the votes Sunday, which gave it 70 percent of the seats in parliament's lower house after a campaign that foreign observers and Kremlin opponents said was slanted heavily in favor of United Russia.

Even before the election, relations between the Kremlin and Washington were already strained by disputes over a host of international security issues and U.S. concerns about democracy under Putin.

The Foreign Ministry was responding largely to remarks by Deputy Assistant Secretary of State David Kramer, who told British Broadcasting Corp. on Monday that the U.S. had "serious concerns about the campaign" for parliament. He cited "intimidation of the political opposition" and the use of levers of state power, such as the media, in favor of United Russia.

The Kremlin had cast the election as a referendum on Putin's policies, and the Foreign Ministry said that "Russians spoke out in favor of stability, of a strong and sovereign Russia pursuing an independent line in international affairs."

"Apparently this does not please some people across the ocean who believed that the world after the 'Cold War' would develop in the way that would be prescribed from Washington," the statement said. It said Kramer's remarks bore "echoes of this dream that did not come true."

The remarks were in line with Putin's suggestions that other governments are out to weaken Russia and thwart its recovery from post-Soviet troubles. Putin, who has often urged the West not to lecture Russia on democracy, repeatedly warned against foreign meddling in the election.

"It seems inappropriate for the foreign policy agency of one of the world's countries, even such a large one as the United States, to teach other people how to live," the Foreign Ministry said.

The statement pointed to the controversial U.S. presidential election of 2000 as evidence of flawed American democracy.