Key divergences remain

Despite the multiple agreements reached during Obama's visit, the two sides still failed to resolve long-existing differences on issues of major concern at the summit, such as the missile defense plan and Georgia.

On the nuclear arsenals cuts, the respective stances of both sides have not changed fundamentally.

Moscow still firmly believes that a new strategic arms reduction treaty is related to the US missile defense plan in Europe, while the US side contends that these two things are not connected.

Since any missile defense shield cannot stop powerful nuclear weapons from Russia, said Obama, the US plan will not be regarded as a threat to Russia's security.

According to Obama, it is rather meant to deal with missiles coming from a third party.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, who is in charge of Russian-US relations, said that after the summit talks the two sides failed to reach concrete agreements on missile defense cooperation. Still, they have made progress on joint threat evaluation, the Itar-Tass News Agency reported.

As for Georgia, Obama said at the joint news conference that he disagreed with Medvedev over the current Georgian borders. Obama believes that Georgia's territorial integrity and sovereignty should be respected.

Obama also voiced opposition to any new military hostilities in the region, adding that differences should be resolved "peacefully and constructively."

Such remarks reflect the divergence between Russia and the US on the issue of Georgia, analysts noted, since Russia consistently opposes the accession of Ukraine and Georgia into NATO as well as any US interference in the region.

Therefore, the two countries have not reached consensus on this key issue, said analysts.

No easy job to reset ties

Although the summit saw the signing of several agreements, it yielded no concrete results that will have far-reaching influence on Russian-US ties, Russian media said.

"Most of the documents signed by the presidents are not legally binding, but declarations of intentionality," Russian newspaper Vzgliad said in a commentary. Resetting is by no means as simple as pushing a button, Politcom website observed.

More pessimistic observers said that bilateral relations have not been reset as the rows over nuclear arms reduction, the US missile defense plan and NATO's eastward expansion remained.

The only potential breakthrough in the relationship would come if Obama and Medvedev agreed to move toward joint missile defense, said Dmitri Trenin, director of Carnegie Moscow Center.

Due to the insistence of the US to further deploy missile defense shields in Eastern Europe, as well as the far-reaching military power of NATO, Russia is unwilling to give up its powerful strategic offensive arms, analysts noted.

Russia agreed to work out a replacement plan for START I by the end of this year, as the deadline for cutting nuclear weapons will fall on the seventh year after a new nuclear arms control deal takes effect. By then, the new US president may have abandoned the costly missile shield plan.

The summit hardly touched on Ukraine and Georgia's bid for NATO membership, another stumbling block in resetting Russian-US relations. Still, in his keynote speech at the New Economic School, Obama said that the sovereignty of Ukraine and Georgia must be respected. In an apparent reference to the two former Soviet republics, he said it was up to the majority of a country's people to choose whether to join an organization like NATO.

As long as the deadlock over NATO's eastward enlargement and the US missile defense plans remains, there is a slim chance that Russian-US relations will improve, analysts said.

(Xinhua News Agency July 8, 2009)