How to check Vladimir Putin.

This article focuses on the deteriorating relationship between Russian president Vladimir Putin and leaders of Western nations. This weekend Vladimir Putin seems sure to be re-elected Russia's president by a landslide, not least because he has trampled down what feeble opposition there is. His second term has, in effect, already begun. But in the West, his erstwhile friends are turning more distant. A year ago, the world's leaders were courting Mr Putin to support or oppose the war on Iraq. Last September America's George Bush, no less, fulsomely praised Russia's democracy and its respect for the rule of law. In November it was the turn of Italy's Silvio Berlusconi, presiding over a European Union-Russia summit, who spoke up for Mr Putin when journalists posed questions about the same issues. But by January the American secretary of state, Colin Powell, was berating the Russians for abusing these virtues. Last month the European Commission issued a stinging report on the breakdown of the bilateral relationship, with harsh words for the Russian side. Last December's parliamentary election delivered near-total control of the Duma and its committees to the pro-Putin United Russia party. Investigations and arrests of business magnates who have meddled in politics have shown that the rule of law tends to apply only when it suits the state.