A GOOD START, NOW DOUBLE DOWN ON IT:

Ambassador Michael McFaul -- a top former foreign policy aide of President Barack Obama who arrived in Russia in January -- became the talk of state television this weekend for reportedly accusing the Kremlin of once trying to bribe Kyrgyzstan to close down a US base that has irritated Russia.

State television reported that McFaul had told a group of students at the Higher School of Economics (HSE) in a May 25 speech that Russia offered the former Soviet republic a massive loan to shut the base, whose presence in Central Asia has irritated Moscow.

He also reportedly criticised RT, Russia's state-run foreign-language television station, and accused Moscow of tying its backing of US foreign policy positions to less criticism of its human rights record.

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