Russia Says It Does Not Want New Iron Curtain

Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev (R) chairs the session of the State Security Council in Moscow's Kremlin September 17, 2008. (RIA Novosti/Kremlin/Dmitry Astakhov/Reuters)

Russia Says It Does Not Want New Iron Curtain
-- Yahoo News/Reuters

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Friday accused NATO of provoking the conflict with Georgia but he said strains with the West did not mean Russia planned to isolate itself behind a new Iron Curtain.

Medvedev was speaking a day after U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice launched a blistering attack on Russia, saying it had taken a "dark turn" and urging the West to stand up to what she called its bullying tactics.

"All the time there are discussions that 'Finally they (the Russians) will show their true colors .. that the hawks have won'," Medvedev told a gathering of civil society groups in the Kremlin.

"We are in effect being pushed down a path that is founded not on fully-fledged, civilized partnership with other countries, but on autonomous development, behind thick walls, behind an Iron Curtain," Medvedev said.

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My Comment: Criticism of Russian foreign policy is starting to hit home.