Friday, 20 March 2009It is claimed that Russia and the United States have a chance to end their divisive dispute over missile defenses in Europe. According to spokesman Andrei Nesterenko; "in theory, Russia and the U.S have every opportunity to agree on the missile defense issue". Moreover Nesterenko said, Russia welcomed the Czech Republic's decision to put off a vote in parliament on the approval of a deal to deploy radar on its territory as part of the U.S. missile defense system.
As is well known Russia strongly opposes plans by the former U.S. administration of George W. Bush to base a missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic, even though the U.S. officials have said the proposed system is intended to protect against threats from Iran.
Since U.S. President Barack Obama took office in January, both Russia and the United States have expressed willingness to reset bilateral relations. After the meeting earlier this month, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov agreed on a work on common interest issues. They also considered renewing the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), which expires in December 2009. Talks on a new arms control treaty are expected to begin soon after Obama meets Russian President Dmitry Medvedev for the first time, in London on April 1.Dmitry Rogozin, the Russian ambassador to NATO, emphasized he is hopeful of a summit meeting between Obama and President Dmitry Medvedev.
USAK Russia and Black Sea Studies expert Habibe Ozdal evaluated recent developments and stressed that Clinton-Lavrov meeting ended with the decision of resetting relations. Both parts welcomed the idea of fresh starting. While Obama's foreign policy lines were a matter of concern, relations with Russia are getting softer. However, speaking for foreign policy, couple of months can be misleading. On the other hand Democrats' perspective of missile defence system as costly and technologically unproven, give hope for such cooperation.
by Simge Soyer, JTW
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Friday, 20 March 2009
Journal of Turkish Weekly
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