By Jeff Mason
MOSCOW (Reuters) - President Barack Obama called on Tuesday for the United States and Russia to put Cold War enmity behind them and forge a true global partnership to contain nuclear weapons.
In a carefully calibrated speech, Obama praised the achievements of Russian history and culture and avoided any direct criticism of the Kremlin.
But he said freedom, democracy and the rule of law were ideals to be followed and condemned corruption and authoritarianism -- ills which critics say afflict Russian business and political life.
"People everywhere should have the right to do business or get an education without paying a bribe," Obama said. "That is not an American or a Russian idea -- that's how people and countries will succeed in the 21st century."
Obama's remarks chimed with those of a delegation of visiting U.S. chief executives, who have complained that weak rule of law and rampant corruption in Russian are holding back trade and investment.
President Dmitry Medvedev has said that he is making the eradication of corruption a priority.
Visiting U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke told Reuters that the business chiefs had "emphasised the need for greater predictability, stability, transparency and the rule of law."
The U.S. leader was scheduled later in the day to attend a business summit in Moscow and to meet representatives of Russia's embattled political opposition and of non-governmental organisations.
Obama sought to reassure his student audience, who listened politely in silence, of his vision for better relations between Washington and Moscow but acknowledged continued differences between the two countries on issues such as missile defence and NATO expansion.
"Let me be clear: America wants a strong, peaceful and prosperous Russia," Obama said in a speech to the graduating students from Moscow's New Economic School.
SPHERES OF INFLUENCE
The speech was not, as would have been expected for a U.S. presidential address, shown live on Russian television channels. The media have generally given a rather low profile to Obama.
"...we also recognise the future benefit that will come from a strong and vibrant Russia."
Obama is on the second day of a visit to Russia intended to "reset" relations between the world's two biggest holders of nuclear weapons following a period of tension and argument.
"This must be more than a fresh start between the Kremlin and the White House," Obama said of the "reset" in his speech.
"It must be a sustained effort among the American and Russian people to identify mutual interests, and to expand dialogue and cooperation."
Obama made clear his opposition to the old Soviet concept of "spheres of influence," an allusion to Moscow's claim on special influence over former Soviet states like Ukraine and Georgia.
Instead he urged the students to strive for a peaceful, collaborative world in words which some Russia-watchers said recalled those of former U.S. president Bill Clinton during his visits to Moscow.
"The future does not belong to those who gather armies on a field of battle or bury missiles in the ground," Obama said. "The future belongs to young people with the education and imagination to create."
He was speaking after a first meeting with Russia's most powerful politician, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who kept a close personal rapport with Obama's predecessor, George W. Bush despite poor diplomatic relations.
U.S. officials described the meeting as "very successful" and said the two men had formed the basis for good relations.
Obama and Putin exchanged pleasantries at the start of talks at Putin's forest residence outside Moscow overshadowed by Obama's criticism of the Russian leader last week in a pre-trip interview as a man with one foot stuck in the Cold War.
Obama was quick to praise Putin for "extraordinary work" but Putin avoided eye contact with Obama and looked down at the floor as he made opening remarks, saying there had been periods of greyish relations and confrontation between the two nations.
After the meeting, which lasted more than two hours, Putin came out of his residence to wish Obama farewell.
Obama's meeting with Putin, a former KGB spy who served as president from 2000-2008 before handing over the top Kremlin job to his hand-picked successor Dmitry Medvedev, followed talks on Monday with Medvedev.
They produced deals on a target for cuts in nuclear arms, a deal to let U.S. troops fly across Russia to fight in Afghanistan and the establishment of a joint governmental commission to improve relations between the two former rivals.
(Writing by Michael Stott and Matt Spetalnick; editing by Ralph Boulton)
