MOSCOW (Reuters) - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Tuesday called the Kremlin's tight grip on power and the media "very worrying" and urged Russian President Vladimir Putin not to cling on to power beyond his present term.
Rice made some of the sharpest U.S. criticism to date of the Kremlin's record on democracy at the start of a visit to Moscow, the first by the former Soviet specialist since being confirmed as President Bush's foreign minister.
Her two-day trip got off to a shaky start when a bomb threat forced her motorcade to divert as it took her to her hotel from the airport.
"There was a bomb threat called into the hotel. She has gone to the ambassador's residence," the official, who asked not to be named, told reporters.
Security services checked the hotel, but no bomb was found, a U.S. official said.
With meetings scheduled with senior Russian officials including Putin on Wednesday, Rice told reporters on board her plane as she flew in to Moscow: "Trends have not been positive on the democratic side."
"The centralization of state power in the presidency at the expense of countervailing institutions like the Duma (parliament lower house) or an independent judiciary is clearly very worrying," she added.
Even more pointedly, she also said it "would not be a positive development" if Putin changed the constitution to be able to run for a third successive term.
The Kremlin leader has said on several occasions he will not seek to stay on when his second and, under the constitution his final, term ends in 2008. Rice said Washington took him at his word on this.
Russia is considered a test case of Bush's vow to make democracy central to all Washington's bilateral relations.
Rights activists complain Washington has been too tolerant of Russia's backsliding on democracy, for fear of losing Putin's cooperation on Bush's top priority, the war on terrorism.
They accuse Putin of restricting democracy by abolishing the election of regional governors, pursuing a vendetta against the YUKOS oil company and tightening Kremlin control of the media.
RUSSIA "A MIXED PICTURE"
But Rice, who will meet Putin on Wednesday after talks with his defense and foreign ministers, also appeared mindful of the warm personal relations Bush has with the Kremlin leader.
And she tempered her criticism by saying individuals enjoyed considerable freedom in Russia and that opposition figures were preparing the ground to challenge Putin's party in the 2008 presidential elections.
"It's a mixed picture," she said, adding that her comments were "meant in a spirit of friendship and discussion, not in a spirit of criticism."
Part of Rice's mission is to prepare for Bush's visit next month to Moscow to attend the 60th anniversary of the Soviet victory over Nazi forces in World War II on May 9.
Bush and Putin have warm personal ties and the Kremlin leader has not disguised his satisfaction that Bush will be turning out for the prestigious Moscow event. Rice said in Washington at the weekend that she would stress the benefits for the Russian economy and its relations with the West if it improved its democratic record.
U.S. officials also expect her visit will shore up a deal intended to stop anti-American militants from stealing Russian nuclear material.
Rice, in her comments on Tuesday, linked democracy to Russia's participation in the G8 group of democratic industrialized powers, saying the forum should be used to press Moscow to be as open as its other members.
"Some of the responsibilities that attend that kind of inclusion mean they have to deal with the problems," she said.