Europe

Documents & Texts from the Washington File

09 February 2009
Time to Revisit Relations with Russia, Biden Says

By David McKeeby
Staff Writer

Washington – The Obama administration will rebuild U.S.-Russian relations, says Vice President Biden, pledging improved cooperation on a wide range of global challenges shared by Washington and Moscow.

"It is time to press the reset button and to revisit the many areas where we can and should be working together with Russia," Biden said in a February 7 speech at the Munich Conference on Security Policy. Biden's address at the annual event, attended by several world leaders and top diplomats, was viewed by many observers as an outline of America’s new foreign policy direction.

Recent years have seen a "dangerous drift" in relations between Russia and the West, Biden said. Reversing this trend, as illustrated by Russia’s deteriorating relations with NATO and Russia’s August 2008 invasion of Georgia, is essential to everyone’s shared interest in promoting stability and economic development, he said.

"None of us can deny or escape the new threats of the 21st century. Nor can we escape the responsibility to meet them," Biden said, emphasizing America’s renewed commitment to strengthen cooperation in the face of emerging global security challenges, from the spread of nuclear weapons and terrorism to climate change and global pandemics, to ethnic conflicts and failed states that can serve as incubators for future threats.

"We’ll engage. We’ll listen. We’ll consult," Biden said.

America’s new willingness to talk extends to Iran, Biden said. Russia and the United States have worked closely with China, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom in the P5+1 group to convince Iran to suspend its nuclear program and join international negotiations.

Iran’s first successful satellite launch ahead of the group’s February 4 meeting underlines America’s concerns about Iran’s suspected nuclear weapons ambitions, say officials, as well the need for continued research into a Europe-based missile defense system — a major priority from the previous administration. (See "Nations Pledge Unity in Containing Iran’s Nuclear Challenge.")

In 2008, the United States concluded agreements with Poland to host 10 interceptors and the Czech Republic to host a tracking radar for the proposed system. Russia long has regarded the proposed missile defense system as a security threat despite repeated U.S. assurances and offers to Russia to monitor or even participate in developing the system, whose capabilities and cost remain a subject of debate among many top U.S. policymakers.

"We will continue to develop missile defense to counter the growing Iranian capability, provided the technology is proven and it is cost-effective," Biden said, pledging to consult with NATO and Russia on any future developments.

The United States and Russia also have a special obligation to lead international efforts to reduce the number of nuclear weapons in the world, Biden said, calling for continued efforts to secure nuclear materials and new U.S.-Russian talks on the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), which expires at the end of 2009, as well as future negotiations to further shrink their arsenals.

"We need to set up a new mechanism for reduction control and verification of strategic arms," Russian Deputy Prime Minister Sergey Ivanov said following a meeting with Biden at the conference. Russian negotiators are ready to open talks on START, Ivanov said, which could be first step toward a wider dialogue. "I believe we need to discuss not only matters of security but also broadening bilateral relations."

Securing Afghanistan is another shared priority, Biden said, as well as a new opportunity for Russia to re-engage with NATO. "The United States rejects the notion that NATO’s gain is Russia's loss, or that Russia's strength is NATO’s weakness," Biden said.

The Kremlin has recently agreed to allow shipments of nonmilitary goods through its territory for the 41-nation, 40,000-strong, NATO-led International Security and Assistance Force operating in the shattered South Asian nation. But news of stepped up attacks on supply routes from Pakistan as well as Kyrgyzstan’s recently announced plans to close a key NATO air base supplying the Afghan mission complicates U.S. plans to send additional support to help secure and rebuild Afghanistan. Biden said the United States would find an alternative to the air base.

"We have other options," Biden said in an interview later in the day.

Biden met separately with Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili and Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko on the sidelines of Munich, underlining continued U.S. support for both nations and their aspirations for NATO membership. The meetings followed an announcement that Russia would establish military bases in Georgia’s Moscow-backed separatist regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. (See "U.S. Opposes Russian Military Bases in Abkhazia, South Ossetia.")

"We will not agree with Russia on everything," Biden said. "The United States will not recognize Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states. We will not recognize any nation having a sphere of influence. It will remain our view that sovereign states have the right to make their own decisions and choose their own alliances. But the United States and Russia can disagree and still work together where our interests coincide."

A transcript of Biden’s speech is available on America.gov.

What actions should do you think President Obama should consider to engage with Russia? Comment on America.gov’s blog.

back to top ^