Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said yesterday that Washington and Moscow must set aside the power politics of the past and use a forthcoming summit to unite in tackling global economic and political problems.
US President Barack Obama’s first visit to Moscow next week is expected to demonstrate the fruits of his and Medvedev’s attempts to “reset” thorny relations, which reached post-Cold War lows under the previous US administration.
At their first brief meeting in London on April 1, Medvedev and Obama committed themselves to cooperating on further nuclear arms cuts and on solving the conflict in Afghanistan where a US-led international force is fighting the resurgent Taliban.
“The new US administration headed by President Obama is now demonstrating readiness to change the situation, and build more effective ... relations,” Medvedev said in a video blog entry posted on his Kremlin Web site.
“We are ready for this,” he said.
The two leaders are expected to pin down the outline of a new arms control treaty, due to replace the START-1 pact expiring in December, and to finalize arrangements for the transit of lethal NATO supplies to Afghanistan through Russia.
“We must improve our relations to solve multiple global problems through joint efforts,” he added.
But analysts say that despite goodwill from both sides, the “resetting” of relations is unlikely to be an easy process, with both sides having their own priorities and goals. Hurdles, amplified by persistent mutual distrust, could overshadow work on a priority project like the new arms cuts pact.
Medvedev said last month that Russia is ready for big cuts in strategic weapons if Washington reverses its plans to create a national anti-missile system and deploy parts of it in eastern Europe.
Also See: Obama facing climate leadership test
The collapse of the Swiss Birch glacier serves as a chilling warning of the escalating dangers faced by communities worldwide living under the shadow of fragile ice, particularly in Asia, experts said. Footage of the collapse on Wednesday showed a huge cloud of ice and rubble hurtling down the mountainside into the hamlet of Blatten. Swiss Development Cooperation disaster risk reduction adviser Ali Neumann said that while the role of climate change in the case of Blatten “still needs to be investigated,” the wider impacts were clear on the cryosphere — the part of the world covered by frozen water. “Climate change and
Poland is set to hold a presidential runoff election today between two candidates offering starkly different visions for the country’s future. The winner would succeed Polish President Andrzej Duda, a conservative who is finishing his second and final term. The outcome would determine whether Poland embraces a nationalist populist trajectory or pivots more fully toward liberal, pro-European policies. An exit poll by Ipsos would be released when polls close today at 9pm local time, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points. Final results are expected tomorrow. Whoever wins can be expected to either help or hinder the
DENIAL: Musk said that the ‘New York Times was lying their ass off,’ after it reported he used so much drugs that he developed bladder problems Elon Musk on Saturday denied a report that he used ketamine and other drugs extensively last year on the US presidential campaign trail. The New York Times on Friday reported that the billionaire adviser to US President Donald Trump used so much ketamine, a powerful anesthetic, that he developed bladder problems. The newspaper said the world’s richest person also took ecstasy and mushrooms, and traveled with a pill box last year, adding that it was not known whether Musk also took drugs while heading the so-called US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) after Trump took power in January. In a
IMBALANCE: In Vietnam, a preference for boys has caused the sex ratio at birth to be 112 boys for every 100 girls, despite penalties for gender selection The number of births in Japan last year fell for the ninth consecutive year, reaching another historical low of fewer than 700,000, government data showed yesterday, as Vietnam, which is also battling to reverse a declining birthrate, scrapped its long-standing policy of limiting families to two children. Fast-aging Japan welcomed 686,061 newborns last year — 41,227 fewer than in 2023, Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare data showed. It was the lowest figure since records began in 1899. Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has called the situation a “quiet emergency,” pledging family friendly measures such as more flexible working hours to
RSS