One Year After the “Reset”

The signing of the new START treaty is the most tangible result of the U.S.-Russian relations reset to date. More important than the treaty itself, however, are the opportunities that it opens up for closer cooperation in other areas, such as energy and climate change.

Strobe Talbott, president of the Brookings Institution, and Javier Solana, former high representative for common foreign and security policy of the European Union, discussed Russia’s evolving relationship with the West at a meeting with Russian experts and journalists at the Carnegie Moscow Center. The event was chaired by Center director Dmitri Trenin.

Relations between Russia, the EU and the U.S.

The United States, EU and Russia face a number of complex problems, not least among them the Iranian nuclear program and Russian-Georgian relations. Talbott and Solana agreed, however, that the general trend overall in relations between Russia, unified Europe, and the United States is positive.

• Russia-EU: Solana suggested that the idea of a partnership for modernization between Russia and the EU has in itself demonstrated a positive dynamic between the two entities. The overall climate in Russian-EU relations is improving, and there is reason to believe that 2010 will see this trend continue.
   
• Russia-United States: Talbott pointed out that the good relationship between Obama and Medvedev contributes to improve the Russia-U.S. relations. He stressed that the Moscow-Washington cooperation is important to solve security issues like the Iranian one. The EU also considers it important that the United States be involved in the conversations with Russia on security, the economy, and human rights, Solana stated.
   
• NATO-Russia: Solana reminded that NATO will adopt its new Strategic Concept this year. The rewriting of his document, which is the authoritative statement of the Alliance’s objectives, could be a good opportunity to revitalize the NATO-Russia Founding Act on Mutual Relations. The Alliance places great importance on its relations with Russia, but there are tensions around how the sides perceive shared security issues: NATO sees security issues from the point of view of integration and globalization, while Russia thinks mostly in geopolitical terms.

Ratification of a new START treaty

Ratification of the new U.S.-Russia treaty on strategic offensive weapons will not be an easy process, in particular in the U.S. Senate, where Republicans are strong. Still, Solana and Talbott agreed that both countries are likely to ratify the treaty more or less simultaneously.

Prospects for Russia’s accession to the WTO

Solana said that despite Russia’s recent reluctance, accession to the WTO is still on the Kremlin’s agenda, driven by several factors:

• The global financial crisis is not yet over and the recovery will require considerable effort. Solana argued that the WTO has a fundamental role to play in this process.
   
• Russia’s accession to the WTO would benefit relations between Russia and the EU, which places a lot of importance on ties with neighboring countries such as Russia and Ukraine (which is already a member of the WTO).

Solana said that the EU needs clarification about Russian positions on the Customs Union and the WTO accession before deepening its economic relations with Russia.