Kremlin warns anti-US sentiments growing in Russia

[ChrisD(RJ)]

Kremlin warns anti-US sentiments growing in Russia
 
MOSCOW (AFP) Mar 31, 2003
The Kremlin said Monday that President Vladimir Putin had received more
than 6,000 messages in support of his firm stance against the Iraqi war and
warned that anti-US sentiments were growing in both Russia and abroad. 
Putin's official Internet site published snippets of what the Kremlin said
were letters written to the president from Russian regions and some 25
other countries over the past weeks.

The Kremlin said most thanked Putin for putting up a resistance to the
US-led war.

"The correspondence confirms a sharp stance against the policies taken by
(US President George W.) Bush and (British Prime Minister Tony) Blair," the
Kremlin statement said.

It added that the letters confirmed the growth of "anti-American
sentiments" around the world. 

The comments were reportedly sent to the Kremlin through the Internet and
regular mail. 

The Kremlin said many of the messages also urged Russia to step up spending
on the military in light of the Iraqi war. 

The unusual Kremlin statement was issued amid a toughening in Moscow
rhetoric on a war that Russia had opposed through the UN Security Council.

Bush and Putin are next due to meet each other in May in Russia's second
city of Saint Petersburg during a 300-year anniversary celebration of
Russia's former imperial capital.