From Russia, No Obama Love

(NEWSER) - Barack Obama began his second day in Russia by meeting with Vladimir Putin at the president-turned-prime minister's country home outside Moscow. The two leaders both expressed a desire for improved relations, and observers said they had a cordial discussion. The president then addressed a Moscow economics university, where he told students that the US and Russia are not "destined to be antagonists." More»

(NEWSER) - As Barack Obama arrives in Moscow for his toughest diplomatic challenge since taking office, the Guardian looks back on earlier US-Russia showdowns to gauge who had the upper hand.

• Kennedy vs. Khrushchev, 1961: The ultimate cold war summit, shadowed by the space race and the Berlin Wall. A draw, although JFK might have come out slightly ahead.

President's trip to Moscow will be hard work, no fun

(NEWSER) - The last time Barack Obama went to Russia, he and another senator were detained by border guards for hours—and his upcoming trip won't be much fun either, say the editors of the Economist. Russia's economy is beholden to unstable oil and gas prices, the country's mortality rate is spiking, and the political system has devolved into "a pretense of democracy." Obama must placate Moscow's "kleptocratic courtiers and former spies" without coming off as a pushover. More»

White House engages with Russia, China, and more, and gets results

(NEWSER) - Diplomacy has become a major part of Barack Obama’s strategy in Afghanistan; the administration has been proactively recruiting regional allies, even ones that seem like strange bedfellows. Russia, for example, which suffered its own defeat in Afghanistan in part thanks to US covert operations, recently gave a general authorization allowing flights supplying US forces to fly through its airspace. “What we coalesced around is, this is a regional issue,” National Security Adviser Jim Jones tells Politico . More»

(NEWSER) - President Obama’s decision to scrap plans for a missile defense shield is a political bombshell, writes Robin Oakley for CNN. America’s allies in Poland and the Czech Republic are left holding the bag after expending significant political capital on the unpopular system. Abandoning it might make their lives easier, but it won’t make them likelier to embrace future US causes. Moscow, meanwhile, must choose whether to tout its victory or embrace the move as a sign of easing relations. More»