(AP) Vice President Dick Cheney on Friday shrugged off negative Russian reaction to his criticism of President Vladimir Putin, saying he had merely described "the extent to which they seem to resist the development of strong democracies" in Eastern Europe.

The vice president said that despite the diplomatic dustup, he expects a meeting of industrialized nations to take place as scheduled in Russia this summer. "We'll all benefit from a free, open and honest exchange at that conference," he said.

At a news conference with Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev, Cheney held up his host as a model for Iran to follow in the gathering controversy over Tehran's possible pursuit of nuclear weapons.

"I frankly think that the example provided by Kazakhstan some years ago when they achieved independence, of giving up the inventory of nuclear weapons that were deployed in Kazakhstan, was an outstanding example that the Iranians might want to consider," he said.

Nazarbayev also referred to the issue, saying his country's "greatest contribution" to global security had been the decision to give up its nuclear arsenal and shut down its nuclear test site when the Soviet Union broke up.

Cheney's overnight stop in Kazakhstan was the second on a three-country international trip.

His motorcade traveled through a capital city less than a decade old and still under construction. Towering construction cranes crowded the skyline, attesting to the country's vast _ and highly valued _ energy wealth.

Modernity mixed with tradition, though. The dinner menu included horse meat cold cuts.

The vice president and Nazarbayev held unexpectedly long talks, first spending more than an hour and a quarter together with only interpreters present, then sitting down with aides.

Administration officials said Cheney had come to discuss Kazakhstan's long record of help in the war on terror, trade issues and energy in the former Soviet republic _ one with a troubled human rights record.

"The way forward is clear. Continue democratic and economic reforms, the rule of law, fighting corruption, accountability of institutions and sound security polities," the vice president said at the news conference.

Separately, a senior U.S. official said Nazarbayev had told Cheney he was moving toward a free society and would negotiate with opposition leaders in the framework of the Commission on Democracy he has established.

Cheney's remarks on democracy were more diplomatic than his words on Thursday, when he criticized Putin in a speech to Eastern European leaders who govern in Russia's shadow. At the time, he accused Putin of cracking down on democratic rights and using Russia's energy resources as tools of intimidation and blackmail.

A Russian newspaper, the Kommersant business daily, compared Cheney's speech to Winston Churchill's "Iron Curtain" speech in 1946 in Fulton, Mo., saying that it "marked the beginning of a second Cold War."

Earlier, Mikhail Gorbachev, the Soviet leader who presided over the breakup of the Soviet Union, was quoted as calling the speech "a provocation and interference in Russia's internal affairs."

Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin expressed annoyance that Russia had not been invited to the conference of former Soviet republics and allies. And a Russian lawmaker, ultranationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky, dismissed Cheney's comments as "absolutely false accusations."

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov offered a more muted reaction during the day. He refrained from criticizing Cheney but condemned the meeting attended by leaders of ex-Soviet republics and satellites on the Baltic and Black seas.

Cheney gave no evidence of concern, telling reporters he hadn't had an opportunity to study the response.

"The speech was very well-crafted. It made the point that we don't look upon Russia as an enemy by any means, that we want them as a strong friend and ally. But I also made it clear that we had some concerns with respect to the extent to which they seem to resist the development of strong democracies" in the countries represented at the meeting in Lithuania, he said.

"And I expressed the concern that I heard repeated by many of the people I interacted with at the conference that Russia is using its control over energy resources to gain political leverage of various kinds on those governments that were represented at the conference."

Asked at the news conference how he would evaluate Kazakhstan's record on democracy, Cheney noted his admiration for "all that's been accomplished in the last 15 years, both in the economic and the political realm."

One administration official who spoke with reporters before Cheney left Washington said the trend in Kazakhstan was favorable and that each election had been fairer than the previous one.

At the same time, the State Department's most recent report on human rights said Kazakhstan's record was a poor one. Additionally, Nazarbayev won his most recent term in elections criticized by European observers as unfair.

Cheney's arrival coincided with a claim that police had refused to grant a leading opposition figure, Galymzhan Zhakiyanov, permission to leave his home city.

The opposition alliance said in a statement that Zhakiyanov was among a group invited to meet with Cheney in Astana on Saturday.