International Herald Tribune: Panel flags state of U.S.-Russia relations
By Brian Knowlton
WASHINGTON: A high-level bipartisan commission recommended Monday that the Obama administration reach out to Russia in a number of ways, putting NATO membership for Georgia and Ukraine on hold and taking “a new look” at the planned missile shield in Eastern Europe, possibly even collaborating with Moscow on it.
The recommendations came as the administration has said it wants to “reset” the critically important but strained relationship. The report also came weeks before President Barack Obama is to meet his Russian counterpart, Dmitri A. Medvedev, at the Group of 20 summit meeting in London on April 2.
For now, the bipartisan panel concluded in a 30-page report, Moscow is not hostile to the United States — “at least not yet.” Even should relations break down, it said, a Russia weakened by the drop in oil prices lacks the will and resources for a new Cold War-style confrontation.
Still, commission members said they were “deeply concerned by the gap between the current U.S.-Russian relationship and the level of cooperation that the United States needs with Russia in order to advance vital American interests.” It said both governments were to blame for a cooling of relations.
The fall in oil prices should make Russia more open to Western entreaties for cooperation, the report said. It urged efforts to improve collaboration on Iran, Afghanistan and the global economy, using as enticements a push to drop trade barriers and support Russian membership in the World Trade Organization.
Today in Americas
Fourth officer in Oakland shooting diesFlood of U.S. aid doesn’t always match schools’ needsObama faces his first big distraction”The risk in making the effort is far smaller than the costs of a slide into hostility,” the commission said.
The panel was headed by Gary Hart, a former Democratic senator from Colorado, and Chuck Hagel, a former Republican senator from Nebraska. Its members include two former national security advisers, Brent Scowcroft and Robert C. McFarlane; Sam Nunn, a former Georgia senator experienced in Russia issues; and Lee H. Hamilton, a former chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
The recommendation on Georgia and Ukraine would represent a shift. At a NATO meeting last year, the Bush administration procured a vague promise that the two would someday become members. And especially after Russia’s conflict with Georgia, the Bush White House wanted to signal Moscow that it held no veto over NATO membership.
Germany, worried about Russian reaction, opposed that approach.
The commission report said that the new administration should “accept that neither Ukraine nor Georgia is ready for NATO membership” but that it should also work with NATO allies to find other ways “to demonstrate a commitment to their sovereignty.” The United States, it said, does not now have “a compelling security interest” in NATO membership for either country.
The report suggested a “new look” at the missile defense system that the United States wants to install in Poland and the Czech Republic. Russia vigorously opposes the idea, saying that the interceptors might be used against it, not against Iranian missiles.
The Obama administration appears already to be rethinking the matter. In a letter from Mr. Obama to Mr. Medvedev that found its way into the press, Obama suggested that if Russia helped persuade Iran to curtail its nuclear ambitions, the United States would see less reason for a Europe-based missile defense.
“Building a joint system that could include Russian facilities and equipment is most desirable,” the report said.
The commission also examined Russia’s use of “Europe’s energy dependence for political leverage.” It suggested working both with the Europeans, to support the development of non-Russian gas sources, and jointly with the Europeans and Russia, to establish an agreed “system of rights and responsibilities” aimed at preventing energy suspensions.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/03/16/america/diplo.php
