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'OBAMA IN RUSSIA'

[Hoje Macau, Macau]

 

 

Rceczpospolita, Poland

At Kremlin, Mr. Obama Keeps Faith with Allies

 

"Poland has not been offered up on the altar of new Russian-American relations. And apparently, neither have other post-Soviet states that Russia considers part of its sphere of influence."

 

By Jerzy Haszczyński

                                    

 

Translated By Halszka Czarnocka

 

June 7, 2009

 

Poland - Rzeczpospolita - Original Article (Polish)


Secretary of State Clinton makes a peace offering to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during a meeting in Geneva, Mar. 6. The gift - a button marked 'reset' in English, was meant to convey a new beginning. Unfortunately, the Russian word on the button, 'peregruzka,' means 'overload.'

 

BBC NEWS VIDEO: Presidents Obama and Medvedev have reached an outline agreement to cut back their nations' stockpiles of nuclear weapons, July 6, 00:02:29WindowsVideo

There’s nothing wrong with smiling. There's nothing wrong with declaring a new beginning in relations between the two powers - whether it's called a reset or a perezagruzka.

 

There’s nothing wrong with reducing the nuclear arsenal or with military cooperation on Afghanistan. To the contrary. But that doesn’t mean that the Moscow meeting between the great of this world - Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev - should be considered a breakthrough that will change the world.  

Posted by WORLDMEETS.US

 

In particular, it wasn't a breakthrough from the Polish point of view. We still don’t know whether plans to build components of an anti-missile shield in our country will remain plans and nothing more. But we do know, pressure from Russia notwithstanding, that the project is yet to be buried, meaning that Obama didn't offer Medvedev the greatest gift. If he were to do so, surely it would have happened during their first meeting in the Kremlin.

 

Everything seems to indicate that the new president of the United States is now convinced that the reasons for creating the shield given by his predecessor remain - more poignantly than ever. Iran and North Korea are a threat, and Russia either doesn’t want or cannot do anything about it.

 

Poland has not been offered up on the altar of new Russian-American relations. And apparently, neither have other post-Soviet states that Russia considers part of its sphere of influence, including Georgia, whose territorial integrity Obama mentioned.

 

All of this testifies to Obama’s diplomatic skills: he has obtained help on Afghanistan, but not at the expense of his allies (who themselves are engaged there). He also managed to reinforce his host’s image, signaling that it's Dmitry Medvedev who is his partner - and the most important man in Russia.

 

Will the Russians believe it? Will Medvedev meet expectations - as more liberal than party leader Vladimir Putin, i.e.: mentally detached from the Cold War and willing, for instance, to release former oil magnate Mikhail Khodorkovsky from prison? [photo,left].

 

These questions have no answers. But the seed has been sown. It was Barack Obama who did it.

   

SEE ALSO ON THIS:

Gazeta Wyborcza, Poland: Open Letter to Obama from Eastern Europe Leaders
Rzeczpospolita, Poland: Obama's Russia 'Gambit'
Kayhan, Islamic Republic of Iran: Obama's Trip: 'How they Laughed in Moscow'
Gazeta, Russia: Medvedev and Obama: 'Resetting' U.S.-Russia Ties Won't Come Easy
Gazeta, Russia: The Kremlin Balanced 'Between Two Chairs': Iran's and the West's
Gazeta, Russia: Anti-Americanism for Russian Public Consumption Only
Gazeta, Russia: Beyond Capitalism and Communism
Novosti, Russia: Why Medvedev Can Meet Ahmadinejad - But Obama Cannot
Izvestia, Russia: Russia Can Help Obama With Muslims
Izvestia, Russia: 'Overloaded' With U.S. English as the Language of Diplomacy
     

CLICK HERE FOR POLISH VERSION

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[Posted by WORLDMEETS.US July 8, 4:21pm]

 

 







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