Bush Marks V.E. Day In Moscow

It was awkward theater for President Bush, given a seat of honor Monday in a reviewing stand next to Lenin's tomb to watch goose-stepping soldiers and flags adorned with the Soviet hammer-and-sickle that recalled days of communist might.

Russia's 60th anniversary celebration of its World War II victory with other Allied forces over Nazi Germany offered only a one-sided, rosy picture of the USSR's war legacy, and has been accompanied by increased nostalgia for the Soviet Union's wartime tyrant, Josef Stalin.

That poses some difficulty for a U.S. president who has made democracy's spread the singular foreign-policy cause of his second term. Nonetheless, as Russian President Vladimir Putin's grand World War II victory party went forward, President Bush allowed him his day in the global spotlight. The two put aside their public sniping of recent days over postwar Soviet domination and present-day democratic backsliding in Russia.

The two leaders maintain a very visible show of friendship, despite private differences, particularly over Russia's reversal on democratic reform, reports CBS News Correspondent Thalia Assuras. On arriving in Moscow, Mr. Bush made clear the U.S. and Russia need each other.

"It's necessary to have a strong working personal relationship, so they can speak candidly about these thorny issues we've been discussing," said White House counselor Dan Bartlett on CBS News' The Early Show. "President Bush looks forward to these opportunities to have these type of conversations."

Continuing the chummy exchanges that marked their discussions and dinner the evening before, the two smiled broadly when Mr. Bush arrived for the parade. As President Bush lowered his umbrella, despite the rain, for a snapshot, Putin laughingly did the same. Putin reserved the seat next to him for President Bush - whom he called his guest of "special importance" above all others. Later, Mr. Bush remained glued to the Russian leader's side as they strolled, red carnations in hand, to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Bartlett said Mr. Bush was comfortable amid the trappings of communist power. It demonstrates "how far we've come in the world," Bartlett said. Ten years ago, then-President Clinton came to Moscow on the 50th anniversary of V-E Day but boycotted the military parade to protest Moscow's brutal military campaign in Chechnya.

The public niceties might not last long.

On Tuesday, President Bush plans to deliver an ode to democracy in an ex-Soviet republic on Putin's doorstep. Right after the Moscow ceremonies, President Bush travels to Georgia, which is trying to turn away from the Kremlin and toward the West.

It's not often that Mr. Bush goes anywhere without being the top attraction. But in Moscow, President Bush was merely seen alongside dozens of other world leaders who were treated to columns of soldiers in WWII-era uniforms, fighter jets screaming over Red Square, and troops belting out patriotic wartime songs.

The lavish events, in which old allies and foes marked the end of World War II in Europe, were very different from the solemn V-E Day commemoration Mr. Bush observed the day before. Accompanied by few dignitaries and little pomp, he spoke briefly Sunday at a cemetery of American war dead in the Netherlands.

President Bush said he decided to attend to honor the war's staggering cost in Soviet lives; nearly 27 million soldiers and citizens in the Soviet Union died before victory was secured.

"The people of Russia suffered incredible hardship, and yet the Russian spirit never died out," said Mr. Bush.

Though the triumph over Hitler is treasured here as an unvarnished achievement, others see it differently. President Bush has been trying to get Putin to acknowledge some of the darker wartime actions by the Soviet Union, such as its postwar occupation of the neighboring Baltic nations. Before coming to Moscow, President Bush traveled to Latvia to deliver that message pointedly and in person.

"What President Bush has said in Latvia and elsewhere is that it's in the interest of the Russian people to have strong democratic countries on her borders because strong democratic countries are peaceful countries," Bartlett told Early Show co-anchor Harry Smith. "These are important, universal principles that President Bush has shared privately as well as publicly."

Putin echoed the friendship between the two presidents in an exclusive interview with Mike Wallace on CBS News 60 Minutes.

"When he [Mr. Bush] looked into your eyes and saw your soul. What about you?" Wallace asked. "Did you see his?"

"He impressed me as a reliable person," says Putin, who adds that he still feels that way. "You know that we have different views on some things, but my first impression was correct. He is a truly reliable person who does what he says he will do."

Putin, however, has disagreed with Mr. Bush about his decision to go into Iraq. "I thought that was a mistake and told him so," says Putin. "But he is the president of the United States, and he's the one who makes the decision."

In Mr. Bush's defense, Putin said everyone believed Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. Nonetheless, Putin still thinks the Iraq war may have been Mr. Bush's biggest blunder.

"Democracy cannot be exported to some other place. This must be a product of internal domestic development in a society," says Putin. "But if the U.S. were to leave and abandon Iraq without establishing the grounds for a united country, that would definitely be a second mistake."