Russian doubts U.S. support for democracy

“I think it’s pretty clear, and I think we have been pretty outspoken on this, whether it’s the beatings of journalists or the imprisonment of political figures,” Mr. Steinberg said, noting that this did not impede the reset in relations with Russia.

Mr. Steinberg noted: “Obviously, one always expects opposition figures to want more. That is their job.”

Mr. Nemtsov, however, said he had no expectations that the U.S. president would bring democracy to Russia.

“I have no illusion about help from America. I don’t think an American president or the American Congress will establish democracy in my country,” he said, adding that this was the job of Russians and Russians alone.

“But I think the position of the U.S. establishment is important for the atmosphere around the Kremlin,” he said.

Mr. Nemtsov was particularly critical of a decision by Mr. McFaul to launch a civil-society dialogue with Vladislav Surkov, a Putin loyalist who founded Russian nationalist youth organizations that Mr. Nemtsov likened to Nazi youth groups in Germany under Adolf Hitler.

Mr. Nemtsov said it was perverse that Mr. Surkov, whose youth groups intimidated independent journalists in Russia, would be representing Russia in a forum aimed at expanding civil society.

Instead, Mr. Nemtsov recommended the United States government bar Mr. Surkov from traveling to the United States.

For now, Mr. Nemtsov is worried about the future of his country, but he seems less concerned for his own safety. When asked whether he has to have bodyguards in Moscow, he said he did not. When asked who protects him, he gave a one-word answer: “God.”

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