U.S. & Russia Beyond the Honeymoon

Over the past 18 months, Presidents Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev have reinvigorated a U.S.-Russian relationship that had become moribund if not downright dangerous in the last year of George W. Bush’s presidency. The signing of the New START treaty in April, increasing cooperation in Afghanistan, and a United Nations Security Council agreement over new sanctions on Iran all testify to the growing rapprochement between Moscow and Washington. Even Russian television commentators of the U.S.-Slovenia World Cup match on Friday agreed that the U.S. team had been robbed of victory by a terrible call by the referee.

The “reset” of U.S.-Russian relations is rolling forward, and the excitement was palpable last weekend at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. After years of feeling discriminated against because of strained ties between Washington and Moscow, U.S. companies now believe that the Kremlin is sending the message that it is acceptable for large Russian companies to cut major deals with them. Russian Technologies recently announced the purchase of 50 Boeing 737s for Aeroflot for about $4 billion. Other even larger deals involving U.S. companies will likely be announced soon because the major theme for Medvedev’s visit to the United States this week is to deepen economic cooperation to promote Russia’s modernization.