“The Current State of Russia-U.S. Relations and the Ways for their Normalization” Round Table

On February 2, 2016, the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC) held a round table on “The Current State of Russia-U.S. Relations and the Ways for their Normalization.” Round table speakers included members of Global Zero (A World Without Nuclear Weapons) Campaign.

On February 2, 2016, the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC) held a round table on “The Current State of Russia-U.S. Relations and the Ways for their Normalization.”

Round table speakers included members of Global Zero (A World Without Nuclear Weapons): Thomas R. Pickering, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs (1997–2000), US Ambassador to Russia (1993–1996); Richard Burt, Chief US negotiator for the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START I, 1991); Gen. (ret.) James Cartwright, Harold Brown Chair in Defense Policy Studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (2007–2011), Chair of the Global Zero U.S. Nuclear Policy Commission.

The meeting was inaugurated by Igor Ivanov, RIAC President.

At the meeting, Russia was represented by RIAC members and experts, by leading experts in Russian–American relations, in non-proliferation and arms control, by members of the business community and nonprofit organizations, including Aleksandr Bessmertnykh, President of the International Foreign Policy Association, Head of the US department at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of the USSR, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the USSR to the US (1990–1991), Minister for Foreign Affairs of the USSR (1991), RIAC member; Andrei Gaidamaka, Head of Investor Relations Division, Lukoil PJSC; Professor Leonid Grigoriev, Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs, National Research University Higher School of Economics; Vladimir Kozin, Chief Advisor, Head of Advisory Group to the Director of the Russian Institute of Strategic Studies; Sergey Kulik, Director for International Development, Institute of Contemporary Development; Georgy Mamedov, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation, RIAC Vice President; Mikhail Margelov, Vice President, Transneft JSC, RIAC Vice President; Olga Mostinskaya, Editor-in-Chief, Indeks bezopasnosti [Security Index] journal; Sergey Rogov, Academic Director of the Institute for US and Canada Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences, RAS Academician, RIAC member; General Vyacheslav Trubnikov, Member of the Board of Directors, Primakov Institute of World Economy and International Relations, Russian Academy of Sciences; Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation, RIAC Vice President; Igor Yurgens, President, the All-Russian Insurers Association; Member of the Board, the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, RIAC member; et al.

Where do Russian and American interests coincide? What directions are most promising for cooperation? What could be the foundation of the future tale of the Russia-United States relations under the current administration and under the next one? How could Russia and the US interact on decreasing nuclear risks, among them, on preventing unauthorized and unintended use of nuclear weapons? These questions have been discussed at the round table.

• Russia Direct: The nuclear threat still looms over the US-Russia relationship
• Russia Direct: Will urgent security matters push US, Russia to resume cooperation?

“The Current State of Russia-U.S. Relations and the Ways for their Normalization” Round Table