Translated material
Dual format with protocol violation
George Bush's envoys told Dmitry Medvedev about the inheritance
Yesterday, the most loyal associates of US President George W. Bush - his Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates - met the newly elected President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev. This happened in Moscow, where American guests arrived for consultations on strategic stability , held in the “two plus two” format (the heads of foreign affairs departments and defense ministers from both sides).Actually, this time the negotiations were supposed to take place on American soil. As a high-ranking Russian diplomat, who wished to remain anonymous, told Vremya Novostey, last October at negotiations in Moscow the parties agreed to meet in Washington in six months. But in connection with the election of Dmitry Medvedev as Russian President on March 2, the Americans asked “to break diplomatic protocol and hold consultations in Moscow again.”
Then President George W. Bush expressed this request over the phone, meeting understanding from Vladimir Putin, who yesterday greeted the guests with the words: “The main thing here is not the protocol, but the content of the conversations. We can only welcome the fact that you have come to Moscow once again.”
Before leaving for Moscow, Robert Gates said that the Americans were not bringing any new initiatives. True, there were reports that regarding the problem of deploying elements of the new American missile defense system (ABM) in Europe, the guests would confirm the proposals brought back in October, but never confirmed in writing by the American side (about these proposals, see the commentary on this page).
In Moscow yesterday, Dmitry Medvedev was the first to receive guests, followed by Vladimir Putin. He reported on a message he had recently received from US President George W. Bush, assuring that he had “carefully analyzed” this “serious document” and considered it the “legacy” of bilateral relations that he and Bush were leaving to their successors. For the document “outlines the prospects for strengthening these relations”: “If we can agree on its main provisions, our dialogue will be productive.”
At the same time, “there are still enough problems for discussion,” although, according to Vladimir Putin, “on some problems it is possible to draw dots as final agreements.”
The overseas guests, having congratulated Dmitry Medvedev on his victory, also spoke in favor of continuing “good working relations.” Condoleezza Rice, arriving in the Kremlin, said: “We must build relations on the existing solid foundation.” The plastered head of the Pentagon, Robert Gates, played along with his colleague (on February 13, he slipped near his house and broke his shoulder): “My right arm is broken, now it’s easier to negotiate with me.” To which, however, Dmitry Medvedev said meaningfully: “We’ll see...” The US Secretary of Defense clarified that “there is agreement on many topics” and “it can be strengthened”: “And where there is no agreement, it must be sought.”
Today, in the mansion of the Russian Foreign Ministry on Spiridonovka, the heads of the diplomatic and defense departments of Russia and the United States - Sergei Lavrov with Anatoly Serdyukov and Condoleezza Rice with Robert Gates - will have to realize their mutual desire to find a compromise.