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Cooperation Often Overlooked in U.S.-Russian Relations

By David I. McKeeby

From his first meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Slovakia in 2001 to what will likely be his final official visit with the Russian leader in Russia's Black Sea coastal resort of Sochi, President Bush has stressed the importance of building a close connection while navigating the complex relationship between Washington and Moscow.

"It is in the interest of the country to have a relationship, leader to leader, and hopefully beyond that," says Bush. "U.S.-Russian relations are important. It's important for stability. It's important for our relations in Europe. And therefore my advice is to establish a personal relationship."

With Putin's successor, Dmitry Medvedev, taking office in May and U.S. elections later in the year, much of the talk in Sochi April 6 will be aimed at developing a "strategic framework" document detailing the full spectrum of U.S.-Russian relations at the time of transition and setting the stage for new leaders on both sides.

"I'm going to try to leave it so whoever my successor is will be able to have a relationship with whoever is running foreign policy in Russia," said Bush.

According to the White House, Bush has met with Putin more than 20 times, making meetings with the Russian leader second only in frequency on the president's calendar to those with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Despite these frequent top-level contacts, disagreements over Kosovo, missile defense, NATO expansion and other issues have overshadowed significant areas of cooperation, says U.S. Ambassador to Russia William Burns.

"In our broader relationship, mutual frustration often obscures mutual interest," Burns wrote in a December 2007 article for the Russian daily Izvesitya. "The United States and Russia matter to one another in important ways - and how well or how poorly we manage our relationship matters greatly to the rest of the world."

Diplomatic collaboration between Russia and the United States has been crucial in confronting the world's most difficult diplomatic challenges, says Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

From Middle East peace and counterterrorism to proliferation concerns in Iran and North Korea and trafficking in people and illegal drugs, "you do have to have, and you should work to have, a working relationship with the Russians that can help you to solve a lot of international problems," says Rice.

As leaders of the world's principal nuclear powers, Putin and Bush have come together to promote nuclear energy, enact dramatic reductions in their respective nuclear arsenals and launch the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism, a 67-nation partnership to strengthen controls and enhance international cooperation in the name of nuclear safety. "Nothing in our relationship with Russia matters more than how we handle this whole set of security issues," said Burns.

In addition to missile defense, talks also are expected to cover a replacement for the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, which will expire in 2009.

In the area of economics, U.S. investment in Russia increased by 50 percent in 2007, said Burns, and has created more than 100,000 new Russian jobs, centered largely in its aviation and energy sectors. About 40 percent of Russian foreign investment can be found in the United States, he added. The United States supports World Trade Organization membership for Russia as well as continued integration into global financial institutions, he added.

The United States and Russia also have worked together to expand people-to-people ties through professional, science and student exchanges, Burns said. More than 60,000 Russians have traveled to the Untied States in the past 15 years through these programs. "Their experiences do as much as anything in our relationship to keep Americans connected to the next generation of Russians," Burns said.

"We're dealing with a lot of history and a lot of suspicion throughout governments," Bush told reporters in Bucharest, Romania, April 2. "The president [Putin] and I will try to work through these for our common good. And I'm hopeful we can have some breakthroughs."

See also "Bush Accepts Putin's Invitation for Talks in Russia ( http://www.america.gov/st/peacesec-english/2008/March/20080327151632idybeekcm0.4680445.html )."

(USINFO is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

Source: U.S. Department of State