The Russian government on Friday issued a formal protest over an article in a local newspaper by a U.S. diplomat saying that the Yeltsin government does not stand for either democracy or reform.
In a piece titled "The New Russian Regime," First Secretary Thomas Graham, the head of the embassy's political section, described Russia as an oligarchy in which economic and political power rest in the hands of a few groups or "clans."Among them, he wrote, is the Kremlin circle dominated by President Boris Yeltsin's bodyguard and confidante, Gen. Alexander Korzhakov.
The article, which covered nearly a full page, was published Thursday in Russian in the newspaper Nezavisimaya Gazeta.
Although Graham's analysis was critical of the Yeltsin government, nothing he wrote has not been said before in Russia by Russians. For a foreign diplomat, however, the comments might be considered provocative.
Graham was reluctant to discuss the article. He said it had been cleared by the U.S. State Department, but that "those are my own views and not those of the government."