Talks have been held in Moscow between Russia and the US. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Pentagon chief Robert Gates came to the Russian capital for two days to discuss important international topics with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov. To satisfy their legitimate curiosity, they also met with the newly elected president of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev
The agenda, which was not disclosed, mentioned discussion of the missile defense shield, the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe, combating international terrorism, and the situation surrounding Iran and North Korea as part of the problem of the nonproliferation of nuclear weapons.
According to a source in the American delegation, "Rice and Gates came to Moscow with the firm intention of achieving a result on the missile defense shield with their Russian counterparts".
As Condoleezza Rice cordially said to Medvedev, who received guests in the Kremlin in his new capacity, "there is no better way to solve problems, than cooperation in Russian-American relations". In response, Dmitry Medvedev said that it is necessary to "create a basis for the continuity of relations between Russia and the United States in the near future". Later, at a meeting with Putin, the guests experienced an even more cordial atmosphere at the reception. "Frankly speaking, I was struck by the positive tone of our meetings both with the elected president, Dmitry Medvedev, and with President Vladimir Putin," said the head of the Pentagon.
However, according to Russian press reports from the Kremlin, Putin did not try too much to charm his guests. When Gates said to the incumbent president that he and Rice had come "breaking the sequence [of the visits] in the hope that there would be progress" Vladimir Putin replied: "The main thing is not protocol, but the content of the talks, but that you have come again shows that you enjoyed last time."
So, Rice and Gates got exactly what they wanted from the meeting with Medvedev and Putin: the continuity of the course remains.
The second item on the agenda – the '2+2' talks proper – did not inspire much optimism in the negotiators. On the day of the talks the Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry felt it necessary to put on their website a report entitled 'Foreign Policy and Diplomatic Activities in Russia in 2007'. In advance of the outcome of the US-Russian talks, the Foreign Affairs Ministry said: "The US does not intend to abandon its idea of deploying a missile defense shield in Europe; the prospect of reaching a common understanding with respect to the missile defense shield in Europe is not yet in sight."
The talks went on for several hours. A breakthrough in the missile defense issue could not be reached. And indeed, the US will do not give up its military development plans in Eastern Europe! Even on the eve of the presidential election.
Speaking to journalists, Sergey Lavrov reiterated: the disagreements about the START Treaty and the missile defense shield remain. But the US seems to have heard Russia's concerns, which, at worst, is acceptable to Moscow. Condoleezza Rice was pleased that Lavrov praised the efforts of the Americans, and Gates was satisfied that progress had been made in discussing transparency measures.
But the issue is whether American assurances are enough for Russia? The question is also how strictly the new government will stick to the promises made by the previous one? In other words, if sites for elements of the missile defense shield in Poland and the Czech Republic are equipped, even if they are frozen or blocked to keep Russian monitoring at arm's length, what will prevent the US from unfreezing or unblocking the prepared facilities whenever it wants? To avoid doubt it would be better simply not to build them.
Evgeniya Novikova
http://eng.expert.ru
