Moscow Prefers Talks to Agreements (RUSSIA)

Russia and the United States will soon begin negotiating a new strategic nuclear arms agreement to replace the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty that expires in December. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has announced that the signing of a new nuclear arms reduction treaty is a top priority for the new Washington administration.

Now the authors of Russian foreign policy can celebrate. Two years ago, they formulated a strategy calling for Russian-U.S. relations to be reduced to a discussion of military strategy. In his speech before a security conference in Munich in 2007, then-President Vladimir Putin said the 1980s had been the most stable period for Moscow's relations with the West. Ever since, all of Russia's international policies have been directed at returning the West to the agenda of 30 years ago, with its focus on nuclear arms reduction.

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