Obama's new deal for Russia
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PRESIDENT OBAMA made a good start yesterday in Moscow on his effort to "reset" US-Russian relations, announcing a "joint understanding" on reductions of strategic nuclear weapons and delivery systems after talks with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. Although the details need to be thrashed out, the outlined extension of the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty that expires on Dec. 5 suggests both sides are ready for fruitful give-and-take. Both want to prevent a new nuclear arms race, and both have better things to spend their money on.
In the prelude to this week's summit, the Russians hinted they may try to link cooperation on a new START agreement to US concessions on the missile defense system President Bush had planned to deploy in Poland and the Czech Republic. The Kremlin wants Obama to cancel the system entirely or else enter into a joint missile defense arrangement with Russia.
This demand for linkage is somewhat of an empty threat; Russia, which has fewer warheads and less money to maintain its arsenal, has a greater need to seek reductions. But Obama would do well to propose his own version of linkage. Russian military planners have convinced themselves that the Bush plan for a radar station in the Czech Republic and 10 interceptor missiles in Poland could be a step toward building a globe-spanning US missile shield that would allow the Americans to contemplate a first-strike nuclear attack on Russia. This is pure paranoia.
Obama should be willing to cancel or suspend the missile defense deployments in Central Europe not because of Russian anxieties but because the system can offer no protection against the Iranian missiles it is meant to intercept. A letter released last week by 20 eminent scientists, including 10 Nobel recipients, advised Obama: "This system has not been proven and does not merit deployment. It would offer little or no defensive capability, even in principle."
Obama should heed this advice. At no cost to US interests, he could offer the Russians something they believe they desperately need in exchange for something America wants: Russia's cooperation in persuading Iran to forgo its apparent pursuit of nuclear weapons.
Something similar applies to Russia's fears about NATO admission for Georgia and Ukraine. Major Western European allies are opposed to NATO membership for those two former Soviet republics any time soon. The Kremlin's cooperation on energy security, Afghanistan, and even greater respect for human rights in Russia might be had for a halt in the eastward expansion of NATO. The most valuable reset buttons are on Obama's side of the table.
