Rice for president? No, in any language

MOSCOW — U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice tried out her rusty Russian in a Moscow radio interview yesterday, but was tripped up by a question on whether she might run for president.

"Da," (Yes) Rice answered in Russian, before realizing her misunderstanding and hastily adding "Nyet" (No) — seven times.

Rice's interview on Ekho Moskvy (Echo of Moscow) radio turned into a linguistic ordeal when the Soviet expert and former provost of Stanford University fielded a schoolgirl listener's question on how she achieved her career success.

"It's too complicated to answer!" Rice, in Russia to meet President Vladimir Putin, said in English. "It is an opportunity for me to come back to Russia, a place I love very much. I love the culture and the language."

It was when Rice switched into Russian that she hit trouble.

Her mood was clearly upbeat as she assured one listener, in Russian, that "the United States and the American people respect the great culture of Russia, respect the great people of Russia, and we know that Russia has a very good future ahead of it."

She told another listener, in English, "The United States is not an enemy of Russia."

Concerns about American intentions have accelerated in Russia following the establishment of pro-Western governments in Georgia and Ukraine, and the expansion of the U.S. military presence in Central Asia as part of the Bush administration's fight against terrorism.

The United States has military facilities in the Central Asian nations of Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.

Georgia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan have all had anti-authoritarian upheaval since 2003, and Rice suggested that Belarus could be next on the list. Belarus "is really the last dictatorship in the center of Europe, and it's time for a change in Belarus," she said.