U.S.-Russian Civilian Nuclear Cooperation Agreement — Continued …

On May 10, Obama decided to “activate” the U.S.-Russian Civilian Nuclear Cooperation Agreement, which, due to the Russian-Georgian conflict, has been shelved since 2008. On May 11, he presented the proposal to Congress. The Russian authorities gave a positive assessment of such a move, which was viewed as Obama’s latest attempt at seeking better relations with Russia.

Obama called on Congress to reconsider the terms of the agreement, which are to allow nuclear technology exchange between the U.S. and Russia, establish joint ventures within the nuclear industry, and broaden the scope of cooperation in making use of nuclear power for peaceful purposes. Obama wrote on May 10 in a letter to Congress that the Georgia conflict shouldn’t be an obstacle in approving the agreement. Obama believes that Russia has been America’s ally in the attempted sanctions toward Iran’s nuclear issue, and the [U.S.-Russia Business Development and Economic Relations] Working Group founded last year to tackle the nuclear issue and security affairs is another example of Russian and America’s allied relationship.

The Bush administration reached the U.S.-Russian Civilian Nuclear Cooperation Agreement after a two-year negotiation, and presented it to Congress for discussion in May 2008. But the Russian-Georgian conflict that broke out in August forced Bush to withdraw the proposal in September, hence the stalling of the agreement. Laying aside the agreement was considered to be America’s most practical sanction toward Russia with regards to the Russian-Georgian conflict. The Russian foreign minister responded at that time that America had neglected its responsibility and harmed Russian-U.S. relations.

Russian analysts have claimed that the postponed agreement has caused a great loss for America. Bolishov, the director of the Institute of Russian Nuclear Safety Development, said that the agreement was promoted under the lobbying of American companies that urgently needed Russian nuclear fuel. If the agreement were not met, those companies would have to purchase uranium at a higher price from monopolized suppliers, bringing billions of dollars’ loss to those companies. Dragoonsky, the president of Russian Energy Efficiency Alliance*, agreed that sitting on the agreement is a heavy blow to American companies.

Hoping to go deeper into the American nuclear power market, Russia as of late has been actively calling for America to pass the U.S.-Russian Civilian Nuclear Cooperation Agreement. In May 2010, when attending the review conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov urged the U.S. government to propose the agreement to Congress. Ryabkov pointed out that there were no connections between the justification behind the Bush administration’s postponement of the agreement and the terms of the agreement — instead, the postponement was merely motivated by political interest. He also said that passing this mutually beneficial agreement would solidify Russia’s and America’s leading positions regarding nuclear power.

The Russian authorities have spoken highly of America’s “activation” of the U.S.-Russian Civilian Nuclear Cooperation Agreement. The Chairman of the Federation Council International Affairs Committee Margelov said to a reporter that this agreement will do both Russia and America good, as it will work practically to better Russian-American relations and broaden the scope of nuclear cooperation between the two countries. Russian Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Energy Committee Zaitsev also agreed that this is another sign of the substantial improvement in Russian-American relations.

An article named “Resume the Nuclear Cooperation Agreement” from a Russian network reported the agreement as one of Obama’s steps to forge a closer relationship with Russia. The report says the agreement, if approved by Congress, will pave a path for Russia toward America’s nuclear power market. When analyzing the reason for America’s change of attitude toward the agreement, the report notes that — just as Obama said — Moscow took a constructive stand toward the Iran nuclear issue and approval of the agreement is a consequent bonus. In addition, the Georgia issue is no longer an obstacle in passing the agreement.

However, American public opinion shows that there will be difficulties as to whether Congress will approve the agreement by the end of this year as Obama expected. Many congressmen have a doubtful attitude and feel that America has made too many compromises with Russia. Some congressmen claim that this will be a significant revision to the nuclear policy, which was supported by the two parties, and which America has maintained for decades; it will also clear the way for Russia to reprocess the nuclear fuel that American nuclear reactors have used, which is a lucrative deal for Russia. Critics believe that America has two diplomatic goals when dealing with the Iran issue while allied with Russia: first, to gain Russia’s support of the U.N.’s new sanctions; second, to persuade Russia to abandon the agreement of selling anti-aircraft missiles to Iran. Before Obama gets the definitive commitment from Russia on these two issues, he will give Russia whatever it wants.

When asked about the perspective of the U.S.-Russian Civilian Nuclear Cooperation Agreement, Klimov, deputy of the Russian Federation State Duma, says that the agreement was once viewed as the hostage of Russian-American relations. Now it won’t meet any serious hindrance when discussed by the American Congress. He believes the agreement will be implemented before August of this year, and that it will be the best proof of solid Russian-American relations.

The discussion period of the agreement in Congress is 90 days. During that time, Congress may kill the agreement by taking votes. But the analysts speculate that Obama will use his presidential veto power to force Congress to get the agreement approved.

*Editor’s Note: Name and title could not be verified.