Russian Mistrust Overshadows Obama's Moscow Visit

Der Spiegel (Germany) ^ | July 1, 2009 | Uwe Klussmann and Matthias Schepp

[Schnucki]

Barack Obama will lobby for nuclear disarmament and a fresh start in relations with Russia during his first visit to Moscow as president next week. But little concrete progress is expected -- the hosts fear America's overtures are a trap aimed at further reducing Russia's global influence.

John Beyrle, Washington's man in Moscow, would never have seen the light of day if it hadn't been for a group of decent Red Army soldiers. "My father always saw the Russians as a people that saved his life," the US ambassador recalls. "They could simply have shot him dead."

Beyrle's father had escaped from a German prisoner-of-war camp and headed east in the final months of World War II. Soviet soldiers found him hiding in a haystack and he was afraid they would kill him. He offered them Lucky Strike cigarettes and spent the final weeks of the war fighting on their side.

This background has given his son a high standing in political circles of the Russian capital, and his fluent command of Russian no doubt helps. He has been ambassador for exactly one year and now faces his biggest test -- next Monday, Barack Obama will travel to Moscow for his first visit to Russia as American president.

Russia, whose foreign policy is traditionally fixated on America, is buzzing with anticipation that the visit might improve ties between the former Cold War enemies. Beyrle, ever the diplomat, has been at pains to play down all the issues of conflict. Russia and America, he says "have more common interests than disagreements."

Overload

But Russia's national interests stand in the way of any major rapprochement. NATO's eastward expansion, the planned US missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic, Iran, nuclear disarmament --

[Schnucki]

the list of contentious issues is so long that a recent translation gaffe by a member of staff in Hillary Clinton's State Department seemed like a bad omen.

[bert]

As long as the population of Russia is declining and the male population is alcoholic, there is no hope for the motherland. Weapons is all they can manufacture that the world will buy and oil and mineralswill not sustain economic growth.

Russia is simply not a real factor in the world

[Clive]

Welcome to the post=graduate course in geopolitics, Mr Obama.

We will start by reviewing your undergraduate lessons in realpolitik and then apply them to actual geopolitical situations.

Or rather, nations adverse in interest to the US will provide you with some very interesting case examples.

[rickmichaels]

With the huge natural resource potential of Russia’s east, China must be licking its lips.

[yldstrk]

evil slime meets with cold evil to plot evil