Merkel, Putin meet amid spat

MOSCOW - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday shot back at visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel for raising questions about the imprisonment of the Pussy Riot punk provocateurs, suggesting she was poorly informed about the group's true nature.

The exchange at a Russian-German business forum in Moscow came in the wake of growing German criticism of Russia's human-rights record and its moves to crack down on dissent.

Germany's parliament passed a resolution last week linking Russia's rollback of democratic freedoms to Putin's return to the presidency and urged the German government to take a tougher stance in dealing with Russia.

Asked about German criticism of Russia's human-rights and democracy record, Merkel said it reflected Germany's sense of engagement and its deep interest in Russia's development.

"It won't make our friendship better if we sweep everything under the carpet and don't discuss it," Merkel said, adding that not all criticism should immediately be viewed as destructive.

At the forum, Merkel raised cautious criticism of the prison sentences imposed on two members of the band Pussy Riot for a guerrilla performance in Moscow's main cathedral of a so-called punk prayer entreating the Virgin Mary to save Russia from Putin. "Having to go to a prison camp for two years for that - this would not have happened in Germany," she added.

But Putin asked whether Merkel knew that one of the women had taken part in a performance-art demonstration where several dolls representing migrant workers and homosexuals, one of them also identified as Jewish, were hung from nooses. The 2008 demonstration was actually in support of those groups, but Putin interpreted it differently.

At the same time, Putin emphasized a desire to forge even closer economic ties with Germany, Russia's No. 1 trading partner. After the meeting, Russian and German officials signed a series of agreements in energy, transport and other spheres.