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.
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