Russia must have to go democratic

Editorial A St. Petersburg Story NYTimes.com Homepage: July 8, 2006

Russia's meeting on July 15 with leaders of the world's richest democracies requires an important historical footnote. President Vladimir Putin will welcome the Group of Eight to St. Petersburg, where leaders are expected to talk about energy, Iran and terrorism. It is an event that would have appealed to Peter the Great, who built his beautiful but extravagant city over 300 years ago to win Russia a place at the European tables of his day.

Now it is Mr. Putin's turn to put Russia's post-Soviet power and progress on display. But the international acceptance that Mr. Putin craves will quickly disappear if the Kremlin continues its march toward what critics call a "staged democracy" instead of a real one... Mr. Putin's Russia is still far better than it was during the bleak decades of Communism. And Russia clearly has the economic clout to sit with France, Germany, Japan, the United States, Britain, Canada and Italy. But the leaders of this club need to make it clear to Russia that membership demands not only the power of wealth but also a democratic government to go with it.