Obama Wants To Build Better Relations With Russia

By Gilbert Mercier, NEWS JUNKIE POST

President Obama will be in Russia for an official visit from the 6Th to the 8Th of July. He will meet with President Medvedev and of course Vladimir Putin.

Ahead of his trip, President Obama gave an exclusive interview to Itar/Tass Agency. President Obama said that in recent years the US-Russian relations left much to be desired, President Obama believes that the two countries can cooperate positively on a lot of issues. He also mentioned he wants Russians to know that America treats Russia with respect, and intends to build its relation with Russia on the basis of equality.

Russia special service and police have beefed up security in Moscow by taking unprecedented security measures before the US President’s visit. President Obama will be staying at Moscow’s Ritz-Carlton. Pravda ( the former press mouth piece of the Kremlin in Soviet-era) headlines their story on the fact that the President is staying in a $13,000 luxury suite.

Meanwhile, in Washington, President Obama’s key advisor on Russia, Michael McFaul, made the following statement to the press concerning the broad goals of the trip. ” It is not in our view, a zero-sum game, that if it’s two points for Russia it’s negative for us. But there are ways that we can cooperate to advance our interests and at the same time, do things with the Russians that are good for them as well.”

President Obama and his counterpart(s) have a lot of work on their plate. This visit will mark the first one, in seven years, of a US President. To be fair the US/Russians relationships were even worse in the 90’s during the Cinton-era than during the Bush-era. The main problem for Russia remains NATO’S expansion  in Eastern-Europe.