Espionage Scandal: U.S. Proposes Deal

“Why is Russian reaction so mild?” wonders Fred Weir of The Christian Science Monitor newspaper regarding Russia’s disposition toward Hilary Clinton’s criticism of them. The reporter notes that during Clinton’s visit to the post-Soviet countries, the U.S. secretary of state pressed on virtually all the sore points of the Kremlin. Two years ago, Moscow would have definitely gotten enraged. However, the Kremlin responded calmly to the criticism. Andrei Klimov, from the Committee on International Relations of the State Duma of the Russian Federation explained it this way: the authorities in Russia are well aware that the American administration has to respond to criticism of the “right,” that it inherited a difficult legacy from George W. Bush. Therefore, the Kremlin sees words as words — and nothing more. Fyodor Lukyanov, Editor-in-Chief of the Russia in Global Affairs magazine, in an interview with CSM noted that in all the cities visited by Clinton, she talked about the reset of relations with Russia.

The fact is that Clinton has been cultivating better relations in the Caucasus and in Central Europe, wrote the Washington Post newspaper today. The publication notes that Clinton visited the countries which Barack Obama has recently been accused of ignoring. She gave a speech dedicated to the promotion of democracy, and even this process, it would seem, has not been carried out by the administration so far. This diplomacy aimed at convincing partners that the U.S. remembers them is considered useful by the paper. At the same time WP drew attention to the symptomatic mistake of the secretary of state. Journalists in Baku asked Clinton about the American attitude toward the issue of human rights in Azerbaijan. Wishing to support the Alivev regime, Clinton remarked on the notable progress in the human rights situation. However, journalists were obligated to tell her that the data from international human rights organizations indicates otherwise. WP notes that Clinton’s wish to reassure the elite of the partner countries of the U.S. is justified. However, it is not worth it to sacrifice the truth for the sake of accomplishing this wish.

Benjamin Weiser of The New York Times writes about the negotiations conducted around the “spy scandal” in the U.S. The federal government conducts these negotiations. Their goal is to solve the problem as quickly as possible. The point is that the accused confessed to a crime of small gravity and they may be deported to Russia. Such a solution would break the impasse in which the Russian-American relations could embark upon, according to the journalist of NYT. Both Russia and the United States have already declared that the scandal will not affect the refresh of Russian-American relations, but the situation with the “spies” dominates in the world news releases for the second week.