Washington briefing: U.S., Russia agree on Afghanistan transit, disagree on Georgia

by Emil Sanamyan

Published: Thursday July 09, 2009

President Dmitry Medvedev of Russia with President Barack Obama of the United States, Grand Kremlin Palace, Moscow, July 6, 2009. Russia's Presidential Press and Information Office

Washington - Russia will allow the United States to transit supplies for U.S. and coalition forces via Russian territory, news agencies reported. The agreement was made public as President Barack Obama was hosted for a working visit to Moscow on July 6-8 that was supposed to "reset" bilateral relations that have long been troubled by tensions.

The Russian move came shortly after the United States succeeded in reversing a decision by Kyrgyzstan to close a U.S.-run air base in that Central Asian country. Kyrgyzstan announced the closure earlier this year, when Russia offered a substantial aid package to the country.

To secure the reversal, the U.S. government agreed to triple the base rent to $60 million a year and provide additional aid to the Kyrgyz government despite its increasingly authoritarian policies.

Following the Moscow meetings, no agreements were reported on a series of contentious issues such as U.S. plans for missile defense in Central Europe and NATO expansion into the former USSR, both strongly opposed by Russia, which sees them as undermining its interests.

"We're not going to reassure or trade or give anything to the Russians with regard to NATO expansion," Michael McFaul, the White House senior director for Russian and Eurasian affairs, said on July 1, on the eve of the visit. "We are not in any way, in the name of the reset, abandoning our very close relationships with these two democracies, Ukraine and Georgia."

Speaking in Moscow, President Obama also underscored continued U.S. support for Georgia and Ukraine, saying that they and "all states should have the right to choose their leaders, have the right to borders that are secure, and to their own foreign policies.

"Any system that cedes those rights will lead to anarchy," Mr. Obama warned.

Separately, U.S. and Russian leaders also agreed to continue to reduce stockpiles of strategic nuclear weapons when the existing disarmament regime expires later this year.