From Mr Dmitry Peskov.
Sir, Your editorial "Approach Russia with great caution" (January 30) accuses Vladimir Putin, Russia's prime minister, of ‘anti-US bile' and of ‘crowing over the US's role in causing the crisis' in his speech to the World Economic Forum in Davos.
One has to wonder whether you actually listened to the speech before commenting on it, or whether you just preferred to rely on old stereotypes which, as the prime minister said during the panel with the media council, unfortunately are still alive.
In fact, what Mr Putin said in his speech was: ‘In recent months almost all speeches about the crisis have begun with comprehensive criticism of what happened in the United States. I do not intend to get into that.' Mr Putin then noted the collapse of Wall Street investment banks over the course of one year merely to draw attention to the incredible scale and speed of the disaster. He then went on: ‘The time for enlightenment has come. We must analyse the deep causes of what happened calmly, with no trace of gloating, objectively.'
Mr Putin's speech was an attempt to offer solutions to the crisis, not to score points about who was to blame for it.
By the way, during one of his speeches in Davos former US president Bill Clinton stressed the responsibility of the leading economy of the world for the crisis we are all living through now.
Dmitry Peskov,
Press Secretary to the Prime Minister of the Russian Federation