The Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC) expresses its deep satisfaction with the outcome of the meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Barack Obama, held on June 18 in Los Cabos (Mexico).
The Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC) expresses its deep satisfaction with the outcome of the meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Barack Obama, held on June 18 in Los Cabos (Mexico).
The joint statement issued following the meeting indicates that the course of further development of Russian-U.S. relations, referred to as the "Reset" in recent years, will be continued.
Importantly, the statement begins with the issues of trade and economic relations between the two countries. This development reflects the changing priorities in bilateral relations, when the issue of creating a solid economic basis for our relations and involvement of not only large but also medium and small businesses in these relations come to the front line.
Despite their differences on the NMD issue, the parties reaffirmed their commitment to the new START Treaty, as well as their willingness to go forward in the reduction of nuclear arsenals and to strengthen the non-proliferation regime. If someone believes that there will be an opportunity to play on the contradictions in the approaches of Russia and the USA to non-proliferation, this will not happen.
The coincidence of Russian and U.S. positions on sensitive issues such as combating terrorism, drug trafficking, and settlement of regional conflicts was noted. Of course there is no full accord in the opinions of Russia and the United States on those matters, but the statement gives grounds to hope that the trade-offs that lead to joint action are quite possible. It is essential that the parties have confirmed adherence to the existing mechanisms of bilateral cooperation and expressed their willingness to pay extra attention to the expansion of contacts between the societies and peoples of both countries in order to bring new quality to bilateral relations.
