Much has been written in the press about the Obama-Medvedev summit this week in Moscow. By now people are analyzing the results, whether or not much was accomplished and whether the Russian people really care about Obama’s visit to Russia.
It is noteworthy that this is the first summit in 7 years and that there was progress on the reduction of nuclear weapons and expanded economic ties. Monday, both Presidents announced the formation of a U.S.-Russia Bilateral Presidential Commission with working groups that are reminiscent of the former Gore-Chernomyrdin Commission. For those of us in Washington State, we have two locals leading two of the working groups: US Department of Commerce Gary Locke on Business Development and Economic Relations and Gil Kerlikowske, Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, on the Drug Trafficking Working Group.
FRAEC’s Director of the Russian American Pacific Partnership, Derek Norberg, is in Moscow and attended the Business Summit on Tuesday, July 7th. He gives a more “up close and personal” perspective of what has happened, especially during the business summit itself. He reports that “there does seem a desire to ensure that a positive tone is maintained, even at the expense of addressing the serious issues that are well known to both sides. It is probably an appropriate approach, with US-Russian relations having fallen to such a low level; the re-set deserves a soft start before the real work begins. ” To read his full report, please click here.
