Thursday, January 3, 2013

Will they ever get ‘warm’?

Trust will play a major role in making US & Russia natural allies

In what can be termed as yet another step towards finalising a deal between Russia and the US, the talks between the two nations over the replacement of Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) have ended and the next meeting is to take place on June 1. While this could draw in a more fruitful and rich array of co-operative security issues, it can’t be denied that Russia is still skeptical in its dealings with the US. As per the meeting that took place between Dimitriv Medvedev, President, Russia and his US counterpart Barack Obama in April, it was decided to finish the START issue by the end of this year and the first meeting seems to have had a positive outcome. The announcements made by the two after the meeting were pragmatic and forward looking, and even mentioned the areas of disagreement. As Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had said, the agreement should bring forward “equal security and parity in the sphere of strategic stability.” More recently, the two have announced July as the deadline for a substitute to START.

Obama knows that he can gain a lot through friendly relations with Russia, particularly when dealing with problems in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran and North Korea. Lewis A. Dunn, Senior Vice President, Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC), comments, “The replacement of START confronts deep Russian mistrust of US strategic intentions.” More so, US officials, too, are less than confident of any dealing with Russia. Russia’s hostilities towards Georgia, US plans for a missile defence shield in Poland, US not ratifying CTBT, Russia’s inclusion into WTO and the growing influence of the NATO remain pressing issues.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
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