Svetlana Babeva: The Long Shadow of Vladimir Putin
[Svetlana Babeva is the U.S. bureau chief of the Russian News and Information Agency (RIA Novosti).]
Although President Dmitry Medvedev is still portrayed in Western circles as Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s placeholder, fettered in his steps at the will of his “patron,” the accomplishments in the U.S.-Russian relationship this year look all too impressive.
Foremost, Medvedev allayed Western concerns regarding Moscow’s ties with Tehran. Russia joined the Western consortium and voted in the UN Security Council to impose new sanctions on the Islamic Republic. Three months later, Medvedev put restrictions on the export of S-300 missile systems to Iran—a deal that had long been a source of great anxiety in the West. Notwithstanding fairly strong skepticism inside Russia, Medvedev also signed the New START treaty with President Obama, which puts additional limits on missiles and delivery vehicles and sets a path for future engagement—especially in the realm of tactical nuclear weapons, a much-sought-after goal in the White House.
Under Medvedev’s presidency, Russia has given real support to NATO’s operations in Afghanistan by allowing military transit through its territory. The updated agreement, reached during the Russia-NATO summit in November, will, according to NATO officials, expand existing transit routes and enable NATO to move nonlethal supplies from Europe to Afghanistan over land. In addition, Medvedev made a statement (presumably not cheered on in Russia, whose many bureaucrats still view NATO as a rival or even a threat) that Russia would cooperate with NATO on building antimissile networks.
Finally, Medvedev has tempered Western fears of Russia as an aggressor on the world stage. Its partners no longer seem apprehensive that at the drop of a hat Moscow may proffer up an abrupt statement or an inflexible decision that throws the relationship into turmoil. Western leaders have become less preoccupied with Russia and mutual suspicion has abated.
How long will this thawing last?..
Read entire article at National Interest
Although President Dmitry Medvedev is still portrayed in Western circles as Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s placeholder, fettered in his steps at the will of his “patron,” the accomplishments in the U.S.-Russian relationship this year look all too impressive.
Foremost, Medvedev allayed Western concerns regarding Moscow’s ties with Tehran. Russia joined the Western consortium and voted in the UN Security Council to impose new sanctions on the Islamic Republic. Three months later, Medvedev put restrictions on the export of S-300 missile systems to Iran—a deal that had long been a source of great anxiety in the West. Notwithstanding fairly strong skepticism inside Russia, Medvedev also signed the New START treaty with President Obama, which puts additional limits on missiles and delivery vehicles and sets a path for future engagement—especially in the realm of tactical nuclear weapons, a much-sought-after goal in the White House.
Under Medvedev’s presidency, Russia has given real support to NATO’s operations in Afghanistan by allowing military transit through its territory. The updated agreement, reached during the Russia-NATO summit in November, will, according to NATO officials, expand existing transit routes and enable NATO to move nonlethal supplies from Europe to Afghanistan over land. In addition, Medvedev made a statement (presumably not cheered on in Russia, whose many bureaucrats still view NATO as a rival or even a threat) that Russia would cooperate with NATO on building antimissile networks.
Finally, Medvedev has tempered Western fears of Russia as an aggressor on the world stage. Its partners no longer seem apprehensive that at the drop of a hat Moscow may proffer up an abrupt statement or an inflexible decision that throws the relationship into turmoil. Western leaders have become less preoccupied with Russia and mutual suspicion has abated.
How long will this thawing last?..