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MOSCOW (Russia Today) – Recasting almost 20 years of uneven and bad relations between Moscow and Washington is a daunting task. I am a skeptic to the core but I must admit, for the first time since I devoted myself to Russia watching, I believe that the US White House is something close to sincere when it says it wants to “reset” relations with the Kremlin. It seems to me Medvedev and Obama have taken one small step towards that end.
I covered the Medvedev-Obama presser and my findings are the following:
I didn’t expect a breakthrough on anti-missile defense – there was simply too much at stake and prestige. However, Obama made it clear that Russia has a point. I think that we are over the hump – there will be a compromise in the end. As expected, Medvedev made it clear it cannot and will not compromise as things stand now.
We got the expected decision to lower nuclear warheads and delivery vehicles. This is smart – if the US and Russia can’t lower their stockpiles then it is only talk about global disarmament.
We can assume possible progress on dealing with Iran and NKor. No details given – in many ways this may have been the most interesting part of the summit (so far). I got the sense there was horse-trading happening behind the scenes.
A new presidential commission is to be established to allow both countries to continually talk about a wide range of issues.
A corridor over Russia to Afghanistan – again expected, but meaningful. (See also recent Kyrgyzstan decision)
Afghan Convoys Risk Taliban Attacks(NPR)
Also, Obama appeared to really mean it when he talked about respect and respecting Russia’s right to define it own security interests. This is something new coming out of Washington. Or am I being fooled by the “commander-in-speech?”
(Bloomberg) – The two leaders praised each other, with Medvedev calling the talks “open and sincere” and Obama characterizing his Russian counterpart as “professional and straightforward.”
Obama said he and Medvedev discussed issues where the U.S. and Russian positions diverge, including the situation in Georgia. No one has an interest in renewing the conflict that saw Russia recognize the Georgian breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia after a five-day war, he said.
‘Rivalry of the Past’
“President Medvedev and I are committed to leaving behind the suspicion and rivalry of the past so we can advance the interests we hold in common,” Obama said.
The Clinton-Lavrov commission will see to it that relations don’t deteriorate again, the U.S. president said. The new forum is reminiscent of the so-called Gore-Chernomyrdin commission, which managed relations between the governments of Bill Clinton and Boris Yeltsin.
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."
