The crisis over Ukraine has all but frozen official communication between the United States and Russia. It is time to reengage Russia diplomatically.

As current events demonstrate, the security challenges of the Middle East cannot be permanently solved solely through the use of American military power. On Iran and other regional challenges, the only lasting solutions will be diplomatic ones.

At a crucial point in U.S.-Russia relations, many of the former Russian and U.S. ambassadors gathered together and urged both the Russian and U.S. governments to exercise reflection and restraint. In a joint statement released as the culmination of a several-day meeting, the ambassadors called upon the creation of an improved framework for consultations and negotiations between the two nations.

This year marks an important anniversary. In 1807, the Russian Empire and the young American Republic agreed to establish diplomatic relations. Soon after, Russia's first envoy, Alexander Dashkov, arrived in Washington, and John Quincy Adams traveled to St. Petersburg. Since this modest beginning, our relations, at their best and worst, have borne out de Tocqueville's prophecy that America and Russia are "marked out by the will of Heaven to sway the destinies of half the globe." Today, with the Cold War and immediate post-Soviet transition behind us, we face a new world in which an effective U.S.-Russian relationship is central to addressing many global challenges.