Do Russia and the U.S. Need Each Other?

Is Barack Obama also meeting with Russia’s president-to-be, or in 2012 will he talk with another representative from Moscow? That is one of the questions in the air before negotiations between Dmitry Medvedev and Barack Obama in Deauville. In Washington they can hardly hide their hope that later will come true, but if they have to deal with a different Russian president, they will.

Nowadays Russia is not among Washington’s three main. But still there is interest in Russia’s political evolution. Though Moscow now has less influence on world politics than the USSR did, it still can create problems for America or, on the contrary, facilitate their solving. That is why the White House cannot ignore the Kremlin’s opinion. America is not loved for its victory in the Cold War, but, at the same time, it is admired for its impressive military, political and economic might.

However, if we set aside emotions of nostalgia for the Soviet past and look at Russia’s agenda for bilateral relations, we will discover that Germany plays a much larger role in it, apart from the European Union, than the United States. The list of agenda items is long and formal, but the real problems are few: Iran, maybe also North Korea and the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Even nuclear disarmament, the exclusive topic of superpowers, does not much affect the core of U.S.-Russia relations. Russia’s economic ties with the United States, in spite of the recent contracts with Boeing and Exxon Mobil, are not comparable with its ties to Europe. People exchange, scientific communication, a visa-free regime and even emigration from Russia – all these factors considered, the U.S. is less important a partner for Russia than the European Union.

The reset, which was launched by Obama, improved the atmosphere but did not eliminate two main problems: the lack of mutual trust, and practical issues that would otherwise link Moscow and Washington. On the whole, though, it is normal. It is the reality that you need to get used to. Indeed, Obama’s America and Medvedev’s Russia need each other less, than Nixon’s America and the USSR did.