WASHINGTON — Russia’s slide from democratic reforms and its relationships with international peers threaten to undercut the spirit of the Olympic Games it hosts next month, failed presidential nominee Mitt Romney said Sunday.
Romney, who led 2002’s Winter Games in Salt Lake City, said he also worried about security preparations but predicted Russia has done everything it can to prevent violence and to protect athletes at the Sochi games.
‘‘I don’t think any major global event that brings people from all over the world together like that can possibly escape the threat of violence,’’ said Romney, whom Republicans picked to challenge President Obama in 2012.
Twin suicide bombings in the Russian city of Volgograd killed 34 people last week, 400 miles from where the Sochi Games will be held. No group has claimed responsibility, but the blasts highlight just how vulnerable the games could be. Separatists seeking to carve out an Islamic state in the North Caucasus have mounted attacks across Russia for nearly two decades.
Romney’s criticism is not new. During his presidential campaign, Romney called Russia ‘‘our No. 1 geopolitical foe.’’
Picking up that criticism, Romney said Russian President Vladimir Putin has not done enough to pressure Iran to curb its nuclear program or push Syrian President Bashar Assad from power.
Asked during a ‘‘Fox News Sunday’’ interview whether Russia’s behavior undercut the Olympic games’ spirit, Romney answered yes. He invoked the 1936 Berlin games that took place under Adolf Hitler.
‘‘Hitler’s presence there, that certainly undercut the Olympic message,’’ Romney said. ‘‘And surely that can happen in our time.’’