The meeting of the presidents of the US and Russia was most unusual: They ate hamburgers and shared French fries for lunch, told jokes and took a walk in the park. No summit, no sanctions, no weapons treaty. They did strike a deal on chicken exports.
The camaraderie on Thursday between President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev was on intentional display.
Obama’s first time hosting Medvedev at the White House probably will be remembered most for the extent to which they got along like a couple of buddies.
PHOTO: AFP
It was all a metaphor for two countries that were once at risk of Cold War annihilation, and just two years ago were back to cold shoulder animosity.
For Obama, on an oppressively hot day, in the midst of a most difficult week, it amounted to a surprising chance to relax.
The buzz around the White House centered much more on the presidents’ unexpected jaunt for cheeseburgers to Ray’s Hell Burger in Virginia — Medvedev took jalapenos — and less about the many substantive matters they discussed.
Even Obama acknowledged the topics seemed a bit foreign.
“You know, sometimes it’s odd when you’re sitting in historic meetings with your Russian counterpart to spend time talking about chicken,” Obama conceded in describing an agreement to export US poultry products to Russia.
Yet he said it was, in fact, a multibillion-dollar matter and a sign of something even greater: the ability of the US and Russia to get beyond nuclear security, one of the areas in which both sides have made concrete progress in recent months.
Now they can talk more about trade, technology, space and sports.
The smiling Obama was a man in contrast to the one of a day earlier, when he was forced to sack the commander of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal.
“We may be able to finally throw away those red phones that have been sitting around for so long,” Obama said, evoking the symbol of scary US-Russia relations.
Obama said that was doable because both men have Twitter accounts.
Responding to questions from reporters, Obama said there will be no more firings in the chain of command over Afghanistan. Medvedev seemed reluctant to wade into the topic, recalling the ultimately disastrous Soviet invasion decades ago.
“I have quite friendly relations with President Obama,” he deferred, “but I try not to give pieces of advice that cannot be fulfilled.”
The presidents showed solidarity on a range of matters — Coordinated humanitarian aid for Kyrgyzstan, wracked by deadly unrest in the aftermath of its president’s ouster there.
As to Russia’s stalled attempt to join the WTO, Obama endorsed the idea wholeheartedly as a matter of world interest.
Both said their relationship could thrive despite disagreements and nothing says harmony like leaving the White House for burgers.
“An interesting place, which is typically American,” is how Medvedev described it later at an East Room news conference.
“Probably it’s not quite healthy. But it’s very tasty. You can feel the spirit of America,” he said.
For an appearance at the US Chamber of Commerce, a block from the White House, the presidents skipped the motorcade. Instead they strolled through Lafayette Park, side by side, suit coats slung over their shoulders.
Archeologists in Peru on Thursday said they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, revealing the important role played by women in the oldest center of civilization in the Americas. “What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman,” archeologist David Palomino said. The mummy was found in Aspero, a sacred site within the city of Caral that was a garbage dump for more than 30 years until becoming an archeological site in the 1990s. Palomino said the carefully preserved remains, dating to 3,000BC, contained skin, part of the
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
TRUMP EFFECT: The win capped one of the most dramatic turnarounds in Canadian political history after the Conservatives had led the Liberals by more than 20 points Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday pledged to win US President Donald Trump’s trade war after winning Canada’s election and leading his Liberal Party to another term in power. Following a campaign dominated by Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats, Carney promised to chart “a new path forward” in a world “fundamentally changed” by a US that is newly hostile to free trade. “We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons,” said Carney, who led the central banks of Canada and the UK before entering politics earlier this year. “We will win this trade war and
Armed with 4,000 eggs and a truckload of sugar and cream, French pastry chefs on Wednesday completed a 121.8m-long strawberry cake that they have claimed is the world’s longest ever made. Youssef El Gatou brought together 20 chefs to make the 1.2 tonne masterpiece that took a week to complete and was set out on tables in an ice rink in the Paris suburb town of Argenteuil for residents to inspect. The effort overtook a 100.48m-long strawberry cake made in the Italian town of San Mauro Torinese in 2019. El Gatou’s cake also used 350kg of strawberries, 150kg of sugar and 415kg of