LINGERING RIFTS

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (R) and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton meet in Moscow, October 13, 2009. Clinton will press Russia on Tuesday to back sanctions against Iran if international talks over Tehran's nuclear programme fail. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    Medvedev welcomed Clinton to his official residence outside Moscow on Tuesday and applauded the high-level cooperation with the new U.S. administration.

    "Recent events and the summit that was held in Pittsburgh, and the UN General Assembly, have shown our joint mood to find answers to the most pressing issues, the most difficult problems, and we will discuss them openly and with interest -- a Middle East settlement, Iran, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and other issues that are now highly relevant to international relations," Medvedev announced.

    Clinton praised the formation of a presidential commission approved by Medvedev and Obama at a July summit in Moscow. The 16 working groups on issues such as Iran, the DPRK and nuclear non-proliferation would strengthen bilateral ties, she believed.

    Observers noted that the United States had recently stopped criticizing Russia for human rights abuses as well as desisted from judging Russia's internal affairs.

    Russia for its part had been highly cooperative on the U.S.-led military operation in Afghanistan, allowing the transit of U.S. military cargo to Afghanistan across its territory in July.

    Analysts said the reason behind the Russian move was that terrorism posed a threat to Central Asia, and drugs were being transported to Russia from Afghanistan. Russia is now mulling over the NATO suggestion that Russia offer more assistance to the operation in Afghanistan.

    The United States has not won Russian support in imposing more sanctions against Iran, but Russia has obviously become more flexible in this regard.

    "Sanctions are not the best way to deal successfully with Iran, but if we run out of all other options, we could launch sanctions based on international law," Medvedev said during his trip to the United States in late September.

    During Tuesday's talks, Lavrov and Clinton agreed that the time was not ripe yet to impose sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program.

    Russia maintains close economic ties with Iran, ties which are marked by costly cooperation projects. Once the sanctions are implemented, Russia would suffer great economic losses, analysts believed. Moreover, Iran played a critical role in Russia's policies in the Middle East, so Russia would not be in a hurry to yield its Iran trump card.

    Another major obstacle for Russia and the United States to "reset" relations is NATO's planned inclusion of Georgia and Ukraine.

    Although strongly opposed by Russia, the Obama administration has apparently not given up its plan to assimilate the two West-friendly former Soviet republics into NATO.

    Besides, the United States was also a firm opponent of the recognition of the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, Georgia's two breakaway regions.

    Deep mistrust can also be detected elsewhere. Prior to Clinton's meeting with Russian leaders, Commander of the Strategic Missile Forces (SMF) Andrei Shvaichenko told reporters that Russia would put the new multiple-warhead RS-24 intercontinental ballistic missiles into service in December. The RS-24s are widely believed to counter the U.S. plan to deploy an anti-missile system in space.

    Russian military sources also claimed earlier that deploying regular warheads on strategic nuclear arms carrier vehicles would severely breach international security.

    Although Russia-U.S. ties have been gradually thawing thanks to continued bilateral efforts, analysts believed the long-enduring mistrust could not be dispelled within such a short period of time.

    Since both countries always prioritize national interests in cooperation, the remaining conflicts between Russia and the United States may still impede further advancement of bilateral ties.

Medvedev, Clinton hail improved Russia-U.S. ties

     MOSCOW, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- President Dmitry Medvedev hailed the continuously strengthening cooperation between Russia and the United States, when meeting with visiting U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton outside Moscow on Tuesday.

    "Our cooperation with the new U.S. administration is reaching a high level," said Medvedev according to the Kremlin website. Full story