Philosophical conversation

Vladimir Putin began the most unusual visit to the United States

Vladimir Putin and George Bush are beginning to take stock. Both will complete two presidential terms next year. Yesterday, the Russian President arrived in Kennenbunkport, a town in Maine where George Bush Sr. and his wife Barbara live. This visit is unusual in many ways, because it is not taking place at any official presidential residence, but at the family estate of the Bush clan, and Putin is meeting not just with the US president, but with two representatives of an influential political dynasty. As Bush Sr. said, he himself will act as the head of the house, and his son, the US President, will act as the host of the summit. The visit is short: yesterday there was a general dinner, and today, when evening comes in Moscow, negotiations between the two presidents will take place. Then a press conference and the road to Guatemala, to the IOC session, where the elections for the 2014 Olympic capital will take place.

As explained on the eve of the summit in the Kremlin, the current meeting is an opportunity not only to “talk in detail about the unconditional positive that has been accumulated over seven years of joint work,” but also to discuss “issues of ensuring continuity” in bilateral relations. Meanwhile, it is unlikely that the presidents will spend much time talking about “positivity.” The cooling of relations between Moscow and Washington has only intensified in recent years. It often seems that Putin and Bush are “friends” despite the actions of the army of their subordinates. Although, of course, this is only an external impression - both of them are real commanders-in-chief in this situation. And now it’s too early for presidents to collect stones - it’s time to see how many of them have accumulated in everyone’s bosom, and, perhaps, to throw some away as unnecessary.

Topics of negotiations on the surface: American plans to deploy missile defense in Europe and Russia's response proposals , the fate of the CFE Treaty , the Middle East, Iran and North Korea, Kosovo . But Moscow is also expecting a “philosophical conversation about the vision of future relations.”

It is obvious that the Kremlin and the White House are unhappy with each other. It's hard to say who is bigger - perhaps the Kremlin, because it always expected something more from its partner. Although both of them criticize each other for the persistence of “old regime” stereotypes. Moscow believes that NATO is expanding eastward, guided by Cold War motivations. And in Washington they are sure that Moscow is resisting this expansion, guided by the same outdated ideas. Moscow does not understand how the American bureaucratic machine works: they have just agreed on something with the president, and the next day Dick Cheney or Condoleezza Rice not only refute their boss, but seem to ignore his statements. In this sense, Moscow is indeed more honest - no one here promises to stop, say, cooperation with Iran in the nuclear sphere. At the same time, there are also cases when it was the political will of Putin and Bush that allowed them to make reasonable compromises . So the American president, after many years of painful negotiations, still supported Russia’s accession to the WTO, and Putin, in turn, agreed to write off the external debt to Afghanistan and Iraq .

No matter how much the balance of mutual concessions is struck, the Russian leadership still retains the conviction that the Bush administration could have done much, much more to form a real strategic partnership and strengthen trust. The Americans seemed to be absent-minded and forgot to take even the smallest steps forward. But they made roundabout maneuvers with a firm step. “Why, if Bush goes to Eastern Europe, does he choose Georgia and the Baltic states out of all possible countries? After all, it is clear that here this is clearly perceived negatively, in fact, as a hostile action,” a senior Kremlin official marvels. From the same series is the anecdotal situation with the Jackson-Vanik amendment, on the repeal of which the Bush administration for seven years did not find time to work with Congress. And it looks like it will remain that way until the next US president - as a symbol of “continuity.”

Should we expect political sensations from the current negotiations? Probably not. It would be good if the presidents finally agreed among themselves what radars are needed to monitor Iranian missiles, which do not exist, and stopped disturbing the public about it. For the rest, it’s better to have a “philosophical conversation.”

Andrey DENISOV