Russia reaches out to Obama

This is from aljazeera.
It remains to be seen whether anything will come of this. Obama quite rightly is rather doubtful about whether the missile defence system will even work. I am not sure he is that worried about Russian reaction. However, at least there is a certain window of opportunity for a less combative policy on the issue. It seems to me that Russia had already offered the joint defence program to Bush and it was rejected. It will be interesting to see if Obama is any more positive.


Russia reaches out to Obama
Moscow hopes the Obama administration will be less enthusiastic about the US missile defence shield [EPA]
The election of Barack Obama as US president could see Russia and the US reach a deal on Washington's controversial plan to deploy a missile defence system in eastern Europe, the Russian president has said.
Speaking in Washington on Saturday, Dmitry Medvedev said he hoped Obama would seek to repair relations between the two countries that have become seriously strained over the system and the war in Georgia.
"US-Russian relations lack the needed mutual trust. We pin such hopes on the arrival of the new US administration," Medvedev said during his visit for the G20 economic summit.
Diplomatic relations between the two countries plunged to a post-Cold War low after Russia took military action in August to crush neighbouring Georgia's attempt to regain contol over South Ossetia.The region - which broke away from Tbilisi's control in the 1990s - has been recognised as an independent state by Moscow, but much of the West has criticised Russia for its support of the separatists.
'Gesture of goodwill'
In what has been interpreted as a gesture of goodwill, Medvedev signalled his country would be willing to compromise over American plans to deploy a radar system in the Czech Republic and an anti-missile barrage in Poland.
Medvedev also indicated Russia would hold off on a possible military response to the US project. He said Moscow would not be the first to escalate the situation.
"We will not do anything until America takes the first step," he said.
Russia views the project as a threat to its own security.
"It's better to have a global missile defence rather than kind of fractured national elements"
Dmitry Medvedev, Russian presidentJust one day after Obama's election victory, Medvedev announced plans to deploy missiles in Kaliningrad, a Russian enclave which borders Nato military alliance members Poland and Lithuania.
However, the Kremlin hopes the Obama administration will not pursue the missile defence shield project with the same vigour as George Bush, the outgoing US president.
"[The] first signal we received shows that our partners think about this programme rather than plan to simply rubber-stamp it," Medvedev said.
Joint defence plan?
For the first time, Moscow signalled it might accept something less than a total rejection of the missile defence system project by the US. The Russian president suggested it might be possible to agree a joint anti-missile system.
"It's better to have a global missile defence rather than kind of fractured national elements," Medvedev said.
"We have a chance to solve the problem through either agreeing on a global system or, as a minimum, to find a solution on the exisiting programmes which would suit the Russian Federation."
In a marked shift in rhetoric, Medvedev insisted there was "no anti-Americanism in Russia". Instead, there were "problems which have been piling up and chances to solve them".
The Russian president also dismissed suggestions that he made anti-US comments on the day after Obama's election win in a bid to put pressure on the president-elect.
"You think it was blackmail,"he said. "With all respect to the USA, I did not even think then what day it was."
Medvedev said he would meet Obama soon after he takes office in January.

This is from Wiredispatch. The expansion of NATO to Russia's borders and the placing of a missile defence system in Europe is naturally viewed as a threat against Russia. The U.S. excuses are widely seen as making little sense no matter the excuses are delivered in serious tones!
Russia is not about to simply accept with grace the new situation. Putin's angry responses are bound to make him even more popular in Russia. While Western criticism of democratic rights in Russia are true enough as far as they go it is also true that Putin really has the support of a large majority of Russians.
I notice that a new NATO report on Afghanistan talks of the West capitalised in just that way. Russia is not included. Not only Russia will be involved in a new arms race but China as well.

Putin lashes out at West's "new arms race"
Michael StottReuters North American News Service
Feb 08, 2008 09:00 EST
MOSCOW, Feb 8 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin said on Friday a new global arms race was starting and Russia was "forced to retaliate" with new, high-tech weapons.
In a tough speech outlining his vision for Russia to 2020, Putin accused the West of ignoring Moscow's concerns on security by expanding the NATO military alliance to its borders and deploying a missile defence system in Central Europe.
"It is already clear that a new arms race is unfolding in the world. It's not our fault, we didn't start it," Putin told government, business and military leaders at the Kremlin, three months before his presidency is due to end.
"In effect, we are forced to retaliate...Russia has and always will have a response to these new challenges," he added.
Apparently referring to plans for new nuclear-capable missiles, Putin said "over the next few years Russia will start production of new types of weapons which...are in no way inferior to what other states have and in some cases are superior".
Putin also said there was a "fierce fight" for natural resources around the globe and many conflicts and foreign policy actions "smell of oil and gas". Moscow needed to be on its guard against attempts to get access to its resources, he added.
"Under the disguise of turgid declarations about freedom and open society, sometimes the sovereignty of certain states and whole regions is being destroyed," Putin said, in an apparent reference to U.S. policy in the Middle East and in particular the war in Iraq.
Speaking ahead of presidential elections next month which are widely expected to be won by his chosen successor Dmitry Medvedev, Putin attacked foreign countries for "immoral and illegal" attempts to interfere in Russia's domestic affairs.
The West's main election watchdog, the ODIHR, said on Thursday it was scrapping plans to monitor Russia's presidential election because of restrictions by Moscow on the number of observers and the amount of time they could work.
Western countries have criticised democracy in Russia, saying the Kremlin's dominance over the airwaves and its liberal use of government resources to help official candidates make it impossible for the opposition to compete fairly. Putin said democracy was a "cornerstone" of Russian society.
Although Putin's speech was billed in Russian media as a blueprint for Medvedev to follow, the president did not mention his successor by name in his 50 minutes of remarks or refer to the next government. There were few specific policy details.
Putin has said he intends to stay active in politics and will become prime minister under Medvedev.
But many analysts find improbable the scenario of an all-powerful, popular leader such as Putin voluntarily handing over the reins to a loyal subordinate and taking a lesser position himself.
Medvedev, sitting among cabinet members in the front row of seats in the Kremlin's St. George Hall, listened attentively as Putin hailed Russia's economic growth and stability during his eight years in power and called for fresh efforts to wean the economy off its dependence on exports of raw materials.
He hailed the new-found strength of the Russian economy, pointing to a boom in investment, state coffers which are now full and gross domestic product growth of over 8 percent a year.
But Putin also conceded that the economy was "still very ineffective" and criticised the lack of progress in turning Moscow's large scientific research programme into concrete technological advances.
Around 80 percent of Russia's exports are raw materials and imports are rising rapidly, threatening to tip the country's trade balance into the red within three years.
"Russia should become a world leader in technology," Putin said. "...the pace of development in innovation must be dramatically higher than it is today".
He proposed tax breaks for companies investing in employees' training and healthcare and said the government should help promote scientific research and innovation.
Russia faces a major demographic crisis, with its population falling because of low birthrates and limited life expectancy. Putin said this had to change.
"Today, every other man in Russia does not have the chance to live to be 60 years old. That is shameful...we must do everything to cut the mortality level in Russia", he said. (Writing by Michael Stott; editing by Philippa Fletcher)
Source: Reuters North American News Service