Americans Keep Rebooting Relations

During Sergei Lavrov’s visit to Washington, no breakthrough agreements were made, though both sides agreed that in the near future it will be easier for Russians to go to the U.S. as well as for Americans to visit Russia. Tourist and business visas will be given for three-year periods with multiple entry. Government officials will be given year-long multiple entry visas. Right now experts are working on details, and Hillary Clinton has said that by Christmas it will be possible to travel to the U.S with the new visas. In the future, visas might not be necessary at all, although it is too early to talk about deadlines.

However, Sergei Miheev, CEO of the Political Conjecture Center, thinks that a full visa termination should not be expected. “Countries that have visa-free arrangements with the U.S can be counted on the fingers of one hand,” he remarked. “So why would Russia appear on that list? For Russian immigrants to travel to the U.S.? Besides that, it is not clear why Russia would need this visa-free arrangement, considering its current ‘brain-drain’ situation,” Miheev added.

As announced in Izvestija, the agreement on the policy’s adoption was signed. According to Pavel Astakhov, Children’s Rights Commissioner to the President of the Russian Federation, it will take effect after Russian ratification. This is likely to happen by the end of this year, said Astakhov. In the U.S., ratification is not required. Parents in the U.S. willing to adopt a Russian child will be required to have a mental health examination. “Independent adoption” is prohibited; a family’s receiving a child is only possible through a special agency. Representatives from the Russian Embassy should have the opportunity to get in touch with the child, and his or her Russian citizenship will be kept until adulthood.

According to Sergei Lavrov, the U.S. president supports Russia’s intention to join the WTO. Actually, what remains to be worked out are the details of the agreement. Experts tend to see Obama’s support as a PR-move. “Georgia is against Russia’s joining the WTO and the U.S. always can “pick on” it to force Russia to negotiate with Tbilisi,” says Miheev.

During negotiations in Washington, talk also focused on the Arctic and Antarctic. In addition, an agreement was made to promote cooperation between Chykotka and Alaska through the Bering Strait. Currently, only aboriginals can travel between the two without a visa. It is expected that this opportunity will be granted for all people. Developing relations will occur through these visa-free trips as well as through cultural events with the participation of both states.

One can conclude, following Lavrov’s visit to Washington, that practical questions of U.S-Russia cooperation have been solved quite successfully. When it comes to politics, though, the situation is more complicated. The question of national missile defense in Europe was discussed during the Lavrov-Obama meeting, and the U.S. president confirmed that it is necessary to reach an agreement in this area as soon as possible, although it is not clear on what conditions this agreement can be made or what guarantees Russia could get that the Euro Missile Defense systems will not be a threat. Hillary Clinton has promised, however, that Russia and Europe’s interests will be considered, though it has been more of a general talk.

As for Northern Africa and the Middle East, Russia’s position remains unchanged: doing everything possible to achieve peace negotiations regarding Gadhafi as well as Syria. Yemen can be used as an example; the situation there is no better than that in Damascus, though no one is calling for a military intervention.

In general, both sides agreed to discuss problems without playing sides. Another story is that Barack Obama is going through a difficult time with debates going on about what to do with U.S. debt that has reached 90 percent of its GDP. Republicans, Hillary Clinton has said, have crossed the line in attempting to blame everything on the current president. A tough struggle is on, one in which any method goes and any step Obama makes can be interpreted as the wrong one. Obama’s opponents can count against him growing relations with Russia.

Experts tend to evaluate this visit quite moderately. “It had to be shown that the rebooting process is going on in our relations,” comments Sergei Miheev.