A Reply Letter

Secretary of the Security Council of Russia Nikolai Patrushev has delivered an answer from Vladimir Putin to U.S. President Barack Obama to the letter that was given to the Russian leader in mid-April. Washington has refused to comment on the correspondence between the two presidents, but the Russian embassy in the U.S. stated that the letter spoke about current and future relations between the two states.

While meeting national security advisor Thomas Donilon in Washington, Patrushev gave Obama a reply letter from Vladimir Putin.

Caitlin Hayden, spokesperson of the U.S. National Security Council, said the U.S. president himself joined Patrushev and Donilon during their negotiations. During the conversation, he confirmed his intentions to strengthen bilateral relations with Russia, including in the sphere of economics.

“They also discussed the importance of deepening counterterrorism cooperation and the need for a negotiated political settlement in Syria,” said Hayden.

During the meeting, Obama noted that he was looking forward to seeing President Putin in June at the G8 summit in Northern Ireland. The U.S. president also expressed appreciation for President Putin’s condolences and offer of assistance in the wake of the Oklahoma tornado, according to ITAR-TASS*.

The press office of the White House declined to comment to RIA Novosti** on whether the Russian leader had given a letter to Obama.

“Traditionally, we do not comment on presidential correspondence,” explained one worker.

However, in the Russian embassy in the U.S., the existence of the letter was quickly confirmed.

“Nikolai Patrushev gave a reply letter from Vladimir Putin to the American president, which discussed the current state of and future prospects for bilateral relations in a number of areas,” said one Russian diplomat.

If we remember, in mid-April Donilon was on a visit to Moscow and, during his meeting with Patrushev, he personally delivered a letter from Obama inviting Putin to join the negotiations.

“It is written in an entirely constructive tone and contains a number of suggestions on deepening bilateral dialogue and co-operation. Some of the ideas given in the letter have already been expressed earlier, and some contain new elements, which our country will attentively read and respond to in a similar way,” aide to the president Yury Ushakov explained at that time.

“There are also considerations regarding the trade and economic sphere. Here, the suggestions are quite concrete. They involve the development of those ideas, which Putin named at a meeting with Obama in Los Cabos, when he stressed that first and foremost we need to create a safety net, which will help us in difficult times, when the political situation creates some difficulties,” he said.

Later, some privileged sources revealed that in the letter it was mentioned that both states should concentrate on 27 main mutual problems and not get distracted by minor annoyances. These problems included economics and security.

“In the letter there are suggestions for the coming months (until the presidents’ meetings in June and September) and years (until the end of Obama’s presidential term). We are treating it as a working plan,” stressed one source.

As the media confirmed, Obama’s letter in particular suggested “developing a legally binding agreement on transparency, which would include exchange of information to confirm that our programs do not pose a threat to each other’s deterrence forces.”

Obama also proposed further arms reductions. In the opinion of the U.S. president, the countries “could conclude a framework agreement on further reductions to their nuclear arsenals,” on which Obama hopes to reach an agreement before the end of the year.

*Editor’s note: ITAR-TASS stands for Information Telegraph Agency of Russia.

**Editor’s note: RIA Novosti is a state-owned news agency in Russia.