Plain Speaking From Biden in Moscow Speech

By ELLEN BARRY

MOSCOW — Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., who two years ago introduced the idea of a thaw between the United States and Russia, used a speech at Moscow State University to criticize Russia’s legal and political systems, a move likely to irritate the country’s leaders.

Russia's state-controlled television paid scant attention to the speech by Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr.

Russians, he said, “want to be able to choose their national and local leaders in competitive elections. They want to be able to assemble freely, and they want the media to be independent of the state. And they want to live in a country that fights corruption.

More

Plain Speaking From Biden in Moscow Speech