Leaders Honor WWII Vets In Russia

Leaders of the victors and the vanquished united to pay tribute to the fallen Monday in celebrations marking the 60th anniversary of the Allied victory over Nazi Germany, with Russian President Vladimir Putin leading Red Square celebrations replete with goose-stepping soldiers, a hammer-and-sickle flag, and other symbols of the Soviet era.

Flanked by President Bush, French President Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, Putin emphasized the Soviet Union's massive sacrifice, saying his country would never forget the debt owed to the tens of millions of Soviet citizens who died to defeat Nazism.

Putin's decision to play up the Soviet role may trouble Western governments already concerned about the Russian leader's commitment to democracy and Baltic nations that are demanding an apology for the Soviet annexation of their territories.

Yet for many Russians, especially the veterans honored at the parade, the imagery was part and parcel of the land they fought for and to erase the Soviet symbols would be an insult. World War II remains the symbol here of a unity they had never seen before, and would never see again.

Despite the potential for acrimony, the gathering of international leaders was also providing an opportunity for diplomacy — from Moscow's reform efforts to its relations with the EU and Japan.

"I bow low before all veterans of the Great Patriotic War," said the Russian leader, using his country's term for World War II. He described May 9, 1945 — marked in Russia as Victory Day — as "a day of victory of good over evil, freedom over tyranny."

Fighter jets roared over the square, streaming smoke in the white, blue and red colors of Russia's flag, while soldiers sang patriotic wartime songs. Under overcast skies, white-haired veterans bedecked in gleaming medals, some waving red carnations, drove down the cobbled square in green trucks as the audience cheered.

The ceremony posed some difficulty for Mr. Bush who has made democracy's spread the singular foreign-policy cause of his second term. Nonetheless, 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.

The lavish events 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 human cost in the Soviet Union. That toll has been estimated at anywhere from 20-27 million soldiers and civilians 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."

Mr. Bush next heads to Georgia, a trip which the White House says is a chance to praise rising pro-democracy sentiment in the former Soviet sphere — a movement that Georgians proudly claim to have started with their peaceful 2003 Rose Revolution that brought the pro-Western Saakashvili to power.