President Barack Obama believes that good relations between Moscow and Washington meet the US national interests, and the country will make every effort to boost bilateral ties with Russia. The announcement was made by the White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs during a press-briefing on Tuesday.
Mr. Gibbs commented on US plans towards Russia when asked to explain why the recent spy scandal would not harm the relations with Moscow in anyway. The mere fact that this question was asked proves that there are still quite a lot of people overseas who still view Russia as a hostile country. But they seem to be unaware that none of the twelve Russians deported from the US were not charged with espionage. Both the US Department of Justice and the CIA admitted that the suspects had not leaked any classified information as they simply did not have access to it. I’d like to emphasize that among those who were deported several people had lived in the US for about 10 years, all that time watched by the special services.
I have no doubt that Moscow-if wanted- could have reacted symmetrically to the scandal since it is quite clear that the US has never stopped its intelligence activities in Russia. The head of the Russian Duma Foreign Affairs Committee, Konstantin Kosachev, thinks that the ‘spy scandal’ was a kind of a test which both countries have passed successfully.
The Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has repeatedly stressed the need for friendly relations with the US for the sake of a positive global political climate. That is why it is necessary to ratify the new strategic arms reduction treaty signed by the two presidents on 8 April in Prague. This will certainly give a new impulse to a ‘reset’ in Russia-US relations. The two countries share huge potential in fighting terrorism, extremist, drug trafficking, and also in handling regional conflicts all across the world. So, it would be unwise to spoil the improving relations because of the spy scandal which resembles a storm in a teacup.
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