Russia-U.S. ties are developing at record speed

Russia-U.S. ties are developing at record speed under new
President Barack Obama, a senior Russian diplomat said Wednesday, warning
however against exaggerated expectations during his visit to Moscow.

The diplomat said the atmosphere of dialogue had changed radically under
Obama's administration after relations plunged to a post-Cold War low in the
last months of the George W. Bush presidency.

"Russia's relations with U.S. have in the last years never seen such an
active stage in their development in all areas," the diplomat, who asked not to
be named, told reporters ahead of Obama's visit in July.

In a rare inside view of the Foreign Ministry's current thinking on U.S.
policy, the diplomat said dialogue with the new administration "has radically
changed for the better.

"It is a pragmatic, business-like dialogue without any ideological layers
which very much darkened our cooperation with the last administration,
especially in the final period," the diplomat said. "A window of opportunity
has appeared. It would be a sin not to exploit it."

The diplomat said it was now time to drop the metaphor of pressing 'the reset
button' used to describe the revival in US-Russia ties as discussions were now
moving to another level.

Relations with the Bush administration deteriorated over Russia's war with
U.S.-ally Georgia and U.S. plans to deploy anti-missile defense facilities in
Central Europe, problems that have yet to be overcome. The Russian diplomat
admitted the issues currently being examined by experts ahead of the talks were
"complex and strategic.

"The more you look at the details the more difficulties come up. There should
not be excessive expectations. We will get what we get," he said.

The diplomat denied there could be any trade-off on sensitive issues, with
Washington for example giving ground on missile defense in return for Moscow
pressuring Iran in the nuclear standoff.

"Each problem has to be treated on its own," the diplomat said.

Russian officials have said an initial agreement with the U.S. on nuclear
arms cuts could be reached by the time Obama visits Moscow for the first time
as president July 6-8. But the diplomat acknowledged there were "fundamental
and radical differences" between the two sides over Georgia, after Russia
recognized its breakaway regions as independent in the wake of last year's war.

Even here, however, "anti-Russian rhetoric has diminished" and the
differences "will not have an impact on general relations," he said.

Perhaps the biggest sticking point remains the plan of the previous
administration to place missile defense facilities in the Czech Republic and
Poland, a project Moscow furiously claimed was aimed against Russia. The new
administration has yet to distance itself from the idea, with Obama pledging to
press ahead with the missile shield for as long as Iran was deemed a nuclear
threat.

The diplomat said Moscow was still awaiting a "concretization" of signals
from the U.S. on the missile shield, which Russia still deemed "an unnecessary
complication in bilateral relations.

"The new administration is listening to our arguments and we hope that in the
meeting between the presidents their position will become more concrete," he
said.