The Very Latest on the US-Russian Summit
EmailMOSCOW — President Obama and Russian President Medvedev are about to announce the myriad agreements the countries have reached, but the bottom line news out of today's summit seems to be the following:
* The US and Russia are commiting to limit their strategic nuclear warheads to a range of 1500-1675 apiece, and their strategic delivery vehicles (such as planes, missiles, or submarines) to a range of 500-1100. (The current maximum levels are 2200 warheads and 1600 launch vehicles each);
* For the first time since the US-led war in Afghanistan began in 2001, Russia is permitting the US to use its airspace to transfer troops and military equipment to Afghanistan;
* The two parties will continue to talk about missile defense — with the added plan for a joint review and threat assesment of the development of missile programs around the world such as Iran and North Korea.
– jpt
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Nice, just treat each other with respect. We have had trouble showing other nations respect lately.
Posted by: Huh | July 6, 2009, 11:33 am 11:33 am
Cowboy diplomacy is finally dead…
Posted by: matt | July 6, 2009, 11:47 am 11:47 am
Yawn…
Posted by: tjp612 | July 6, 2009, 11:57 am 11:57 am
Time warp …
Did Iran and North Korea just disappear?
Posted by: bill-tb | July 6, 2009, 12:13 pm 12:13 pm
Time warp …
Did Ukraine and Georgia just disappear?
Posted by: tjp612 | July 6, 2009, 12:18 pm 12:18 pm
“President Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev agree to seek new nuke-arms reduction treaty”
“AGREE TO SEEK”
Posted by: Traffic Cop Timmy | July 6, 2009, 12:26 pm 12:26 pm
Huh:Nice, just treat each other with respect. We have had trouble showing other nations respect lately.
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How did the US/Bush mistreat Russia, do you think?
Posted by: MayBee | July 6, 2009, 1:16 pm 1:16 pm
“How did the US/Bush mistreat Russia, do you think?”
When Bush decided signed treaties no longer applied to us and we withdrew from the ABM treaty?
Then there is the matter of parking the missile defense system on their doorstep.
Posted by: Ryan C | July 6, 2009, 1:26 pm 1:26 pm
“Other details that will be hashed out at a later date include … U.S. plans for a missile defense system in Eastern Europe.”
Emphasis on the word “plans.” Obama has continued several other of Bush’s policies. Seems like nothing has been decided yet.
Posted by: Traffic Cop Timmy | July 6, 2009, 1:35 pm 1:35 pm
The President’s notion that reducing and ultimately eliminating our nuclear arsenals will lead all other nations to eliminate theirs is pure folly.
No nation that has possessed nuclear weapons has ever been invaded, conquered or annihilated. That is the reason Iran and NK want their nuclear capacity (as well as Israel).
It is, simply put,insurance for the nation’s survival.
We would all like a world without the need for and cost of insurance, but it just isn’t so.
Posted by: J House | July 6, 2009, 1:51 pm 1:51 pm
We would all like a world without the need for and cost of insurance, but it just isn’t so. Posted by: J House | Jul 6, 2009 1:51:07 PM
____________________________________
Not to worry, SkyNet will be taking over soon, anyway.
Posted by: Traffic Cop Timmy | July 6, 2009, 1:54 pm 1:54 pm
RyanC,
The ABM treaty was signed with the SOVIET UNION, a country that no longer exists.
The U.S. or Russia could legally exit it whenever they saw fit.
Look, if I were in Russia’s shoes, I’d oppose U.S./European missile defense too…what does it give me?
The question from our perspective is, what does it give US? When a nuclear-armed Iran doesn’t play nice in 5 yrs, we may be relying on it to manage the crisis.
Posted by: J House | July 6, 2009, 1:57 pm 1:57 pm
“The ABM treaty was signed with the SOVIET UNION, a country that no longer exists.”
The Soviet Union ceased to exist in 1991.
Posted by: Ryan C | July 6, 2009, 2:04 pm 2:04 pm
===The Soviet Union ceased to exist in 1991.
Posted by: Ryan C | Jul 6, 2009 2:04:14 PM===
And the treaty was signed in 1972. I’m not sure what your point is.
Posted by: Axey | July 6, 2009, 2:19 pm 2:19 pm
Oh sure, reducing nuclear arms is a bad idea. Hardly worth even trying – or even attempting to set an example. Hell, why even suggest the idea?
Posted by: danita | July 6, 2009, 2:28 pm 2:28 pm
“And the treaty was signed in 1972. I’m not sure what your point is.”
The point was the ABM was left intact even after the dissolution of the Soviet Union until Bush decided it was time to “protect” America 2 months after 9/11.
Someone asked why Russia would be miffed at us.
The withdraw from the treaty and the ramping up of our missile defense system to be on their border was my answer.
Posted by: Ryan C | July 6, 2009, 2:40 pm 2:40 pm
Someone asked why Russia would be miffed at us.
No I didn’t ask why they’d be miffed at us. I asked how we mistreated them.
You can treat a country completely correctly and they might still be miffed at us. Countries have different interests.
For example, I’m sure they were miffed at us when we didn’t support the little Georgia incursion. We certainly did not mistreat them then, however.
Posted by: MayBee | July 6, 2009, 2:59 pm 2:59 pm
Russian President Medvedev has also agreed to mandate that all Russians inflate their tires after President Obama told him that if they inflate their tires, they can “save just as much.”
When asked what that meant, Medvedev said he had “no clue” but that President Obama was so suave and sophisticated, it must be “a good thing, whatever it means.”
While the meeting seemed to go well, Medvedev did admit that he got “a little nervous” when President Obama said that he didn’t want to “run Russia” just like he didn’t want to run a car company or healthcare.
Posted by: Traffic Cop Timmy | July 6, 2009, 3:05 pm 3:05 pm
Countries have different interests. Posted by: MayBee | Jul 6, 2009 2:59:41 PM
Wasn’t Bush kind of jilted by Putin after it seemed he made some headway with him? Seems like I recall Bush saying he was disappointed in the things Putin was doing towards the end of Bush’s term. They seemed pretty close in the beginning.
Posted by: Traffic Cop Timmy | July 6, 2009, 3:08 pm 3:08 pm
The U.S. missile defense system is currently entirely oriented towards Asia-Pacific.
What Russia objects to is the placement of a radar system and a few ground-based interceptors in Poland and Czech.
They know it doesn’t threaten them…they just want to oppose it because it is a natural Russian response to the U.S./Western Europe sphere of influence.
Posted by: J House | July 6, 2009, 3:17 pm 3:17 pm
“What Russia objects to is the placement of a radar system and a few ground-based interceptors in Poland and Czech.
They know it doesn’t threaten them…they just want to oppose it because it is a natural Russian response to the U.S./Western Europe sphere of influence.”
Much like we react to Cuba was to stage “defensive armaments”.
Posted by: Ryan C | July 6, 2009, 3:20 pm 3:20 pm
TCTimmy:Wasn’t Bush kind of jilted by Putin after it seemed he made some headway with him? Seems like I recall Bush saying he was disappointed in the things Putin was doing towards the end of Bush’s term. They seemed pretty close in the beginning.
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That’s how I remember it. I recall the stories that Putin was the first on the phone after the 9/11 attacks.
I loved the photos of Putin and Bush tooling around in the old Volga. Remember how great those photos were?
But yeah, Putin’s consolidation of power put a strain on relations.
Posted by: MayBee | July 6, 2009, 3:21 pm 3:21 pm
As I recall history, the Soviet Union was beginning to place nuclear IRBM’s in Cuba, which would have taken about 15 minutes to render Washington to ashes.
Bay of Pigs was hardly provocation…Kennedy bailed on the air component and stiffed CIA.
Let us not forget that the Soviet Union violated multiple arms treaties with the U.S., and we never knew about it. After the empire fell, we found it they had stockpiled hundreds of tons of BC weapons.
The Preasident is a naif and the Russians will eat him alive, as they did Kennedy.
Posted by: J House | July 6, 2009, 3:26 pm 3:26 pm
The former President’s hubris that he could ‘trust’ Putin is as pitiful as the current President’s narcissic belief that he can sway them with his way with words.
Let us remember that at the same time the President was getting high in college, Putin was playing out the Great Game in the KGB.
Posted by: J House | July 6, 2009, 3:33 pm 3:33 pm
That’s how I remember it. Posted by: MayBee | Jul 6, 2009 3:21:44 PM
Thanks. As others have said, I can see why they are concerned but I was getting the sense that Bush had refused to talk with Russia for 8 years the way the story is unfolding here and that Obama is mending fences put up for the past 8 years. Seems to me that this is just the normal back and forth of two super powers. A normal “treaty has ended, let’s renew and do better” kind of thing. Once again, Obama is acting like he’s come to save the world.
Posted by: Traffic Cop Timmy | July 6, 2009, 3:41 pm 3:41 pm
The former President’s hubris that he could ‘trust’ Putin Posted by: J House | Jul 6, 2009 3:33:09 PM
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re: hubris, I prefer naivete.
Posted by: Traffic Cop Timmy | July 6, 2009, 3:45 pm 3:45 pm
Who can forget Bush and Putin staring lovingly into each other’s eyes?
Posted by: danita | July 6, 2009, 3:46 pm 3:46 pm
danita, you know what? i’ve read your comments on here (which are prodigious) and they tend to be unhelpful. today’s is especially silly, that bush and putin are gazing into the others eyes. my first thought was: hugo chavez and barack obama. and the despotic leader of honduras. and the castros. and….
you see, in this era of hope and change, some of us would like to focus on the issues.
Posted by: Kelli | July 6, 2009, 4:15 pm 4:15 pm
Bush did the right thing by ignoring Russia for 8 years. Obama will get tricked into this friendship and then we all get screwed
Posted by: Miguel Diaz | July 6, 2009, 4:16 pm 4:16 pm
Bush did the right thing by ignoring Russia for 8 years. Posted by: Miguel Diaz | Jul 6, 2009 4:16:49 PM
Except I don’t think he did.
Posted by: Traffic Cop Timmy | July 6, 2009, 4:25 pm 4:25 pm
“danita, you know what? i’ve read your comments on here (which are prodigious) and they tend to be unhelpful. today’s is especially silly, that bush and putin are gazing into the others eyes. my first thought was: hugo chavez and barack obama. and the despotic leader of honduras. and the castros. and….”
Danita,
Your posting is apparently infuriating right wingers who want their dribble to be more prominent.
Good work ;-)
Posted by: Ryan C | July 6, 2009, 4:58 pm 4:58 pm
Ryan C . . .
Yeah, and I don’t recall President Obama saying anything about staring into Chavez’s soul.
Remember Bush, how he said he’d looked into Putin’s eyes and seen his soul – and declared it good.
I do remember them staring into each other’s eyes – who can forget?
Posted by: danita | July 6, 2009, 6:16 pm 6:16 pm
“danita, you know what? i’ve read your comments on here (which are prodigious) and they tend to be unhelpful”
I agree, I am completely unhelpful to those who come here day in and day out to call the President names, insult him personally (and his family) and generally just try to smear him.
Remember during the election? All the people on here calling him a terrorist, a Muslim, a white hater, a communist, totalitarian, a drug addict, born on the planet Zoron and not american, a thug, a dictator and on and on.
And it continues.
And I am NOT helpful to those people AT ALL.
Posted by: danita | July 6, 2009, 6:24 pm 6:24 pm
-a contingent of about 5,000 U.S. troops that landed in Arkhangelsk, Russia as part of the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War and fought the Red Army ..
maybe it takes a long time for the Russians to forget we invaded their country….
Posted by: TJ | July 7, 2009, 2:20 am 2:20 am