White House Reaches Agreement With Russia On START

President Barack Obama announced Friday that he will head to Prague on April 8 to sign a new arms control agreement with Russian President Dimitry Medvedev. The new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) between the U.S. and Russia is an attempt by the two nations to limit the spread of nuclear weapons worldwide.

"Since I took office, I’ve been committed to a “reset” of our relationship with Russia. When the United States and Russia can cooperate effectively, it advances the mutual interests of our two nations, and the security and prosperity of the wider world...Today, we have reached agreement on one of my administration’s top national security priorities -- a pivotal new arms control agreement," said Mr. Obama during brief remarks in the White House.

The President spoke via telephone with Medvedev shortly before the announcement. According to White House officials, the conversation marked the 14th meeting or phone call between the two leaders. Mr. Obama was joined in the briefing room by U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen.

Under the new treaty, both nations would agree to cut their stock of nuclear warheads by 30 percent. Mrs. Clinton said the deal symbolized the ushering of a new era in relations between the U.S. and Russia.

“The START treaty, it says to our country the Cold War really is behind us and these massive nuclear arsenals that both of our countries maintained as part of deterrence no longer have to be so big."

Russia's Former Deputy Prime Minister Urges Obama To Strengthen Ties With Russian President

By Celia Canon-Talk Radio News Service

Boris Nemstov, Russia's former Deputy Prime Minister, believes that the global financial crisis is forcing changes in Russia's balance of power. Consequently, Nemstov urged President Barack Obama during a discussion at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Center on Thursday to focus more attention on Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in order to achieve a stronger democracy.

“[For a ] transformation from an authoritarian to a democratic regime, the best way is to give a chance to Medvedev to be a real president,” since, as Nestov explained, Medvedev is in charge of foreign affairs while former President and current Prime Minister Vladimir Putin takes care of domestic concerns.

Nemstov stressed that “Putinism is disastrous for Russia...Obama plays by Putin's rules which [are] crazy, its unconstitutional.”

Discord between the two countries has presented a challenge to the U.S. in the past few of years following Russia’s desire to expand in the Arctic, however the U.S has recently extended a hand to Russia in order to enforce sanctions against North Korea for their missile tests.

Medvedev ruling a continuation of Putin

In contrast to the American Presidential transition of power, Kathryn Stoner-Weiss argued that the transition of power from Russian President Putin to President Medvedev is not bringing any change at all. Weiss, associate director of research and senior research scholar at the Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law at Stanford University and former Title VIII supported scholar at the Kennan Institute, made this argument at a discussion on "Medvedev's Challenges in Governing Putin's Russia: What a New American President Should Know.”

With the current global economic crisis and Russia’s growing interest in economic development over security, Weiss advises President-Elect Obama to engage with Russian civil society and improve relations with Russia and their European allies.

Weiss said President Medvedev has always been working under Putin, and that Putin is clearly still running the country. Russia is currently proposing to extend the term of president from four years to six years for the next elected president, which Weiss believes opens the door for Putin to come back into office. Weiss argued that the causes of economic growth under Vladimir Putin were independent from the regime change after President Yeltsin, and that the corruption and drawback of freedoms actually worsened under Putin. Transparency International dropped Russia’s ranking by 26 places from last year, tying Russia with Syria and Kenya.

Weiss also believes Putin did not necessarily represent a democracy because he had high approval ratings. She said his high approval was the result of people conflating a leader with an era, and because Putin put restrictions and regulations on the media.

White House Gaggle

Briefer: Deputy White House Press Secretary Tony Fratto

President’s Schedule

This morning President Bush got an update from National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley and also spoke to Secretary Rice on the phone. He then received his daily intelligence briefings where Georgia was also discussed.
There have been a number of calls made to foreign leader in the last 24 hours: Yesterday, President Bush made calls from Air Force One to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Lithuanian President Adamkus, and President Kaczynski of Poland. Following last night’s statement in the Rose Garden, he also spoke with Georgian President Saakashvili. This morning, President Bush talked to Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi and Chancellor Merkel of Germany.
At 1.15 pm, the President will meet with the Coalition for Affordable American Energy.

At 11 am, National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley will hold a briefing on the situation in Georgia, and there will be no regular White House briefing today.

Georgia

When asked about an assessment of the ground and the White House reaction to Russia’s saying that they are halting their attacks; Fratto said that Hadley will be able to give us an assessment at the 11 am briefing and talk about what a halt really means and whether it is taking place. Fratto is not in a position to talk about the conditions on the ground and how to read it.
Fratto was also asked what else the US can do apart from calling foreign leaders and expressing their disapproval, and he said that the there is great unity within the global community. Everyone believes that cease-fire and returning to the August 6th status is critically important, Fratto said.
When asked if President Bush has been asked to consider any military engagement to back up Georgia, Fratto said that he is not aware of any request. Right now, the US is providing some humanitarian assistance, but we have to wait for the shooting to stop in order to assess the need for the civilian population. At the request of the Georgian authority, the US was able to assist in returning their troops from Iraq.

President Bush talked to Prime Minister Putin in Beijing, and made a phone call to President Medvedev subsequent to that. When asked if there are any plans to call the Russian President now, Fratto said that no calls were planned.
When asked to state who bears the blame for the situation, Fratto replied that he is not going to get in to the position of blame, or become a fact witness of the events, as he thinks it is irrelevant question at this point. It is clear that there have been lots of provocations well before August 6th. The history between Georgia and Russia is long and complicated, and Fratto was not to make any assessments of it.
“Since August 6th… the escalation on the part of Russia was disproportioned to their stated intentions, and that is our position, “Fratto said. He continued to say that at this point Russia need to pull back, agree to a cease fire, respect the territorial integrity of Georgia, and begin a dialogue with the international mediators.


Pakistan

When asked if Fratto had any comment on Pakistan claiming that a senior Al Qaeda commander, Sheik Saeed al-Masri, has been killed, Fratto said that he saw the report just as he walked out to the gaggle and did not have a comment on it.



CPSC legislation signing

Fratto was asked if there are any plans to sign the CPSC legislation today, and he reponded that it is probably going to happen either day or tomorrow.


North Korea

When asked about a comment on today’s meeting between North Korea and Japan, Fratto said that questions regarding de-listing of North Korea requires a verification protocol and will not go forward until fulfilled. However, he also said communication between the parties is still very positive.

Only time will tell

At a meeting today sponsored by the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, Daniel Fried, assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasia Affairs, spoke on the potential actions of the new Medvedev administration.

Dmitri Medvedev took office Wednesday as Russia’s third president. Medvedev officially elected Vladimir Putin as prime minister. Fried discussed the future actions of the United States in reference to the new administration and discussed what changes could occur.

Fried stressed that the United States actions towards the new Administration would remain the same as it has been in the past, and that the U.S. would negotiate with Russia when “interests and principles overlap.”

Concerns were raised about the abuses of the democratic system, the restrictions on the political debate during the campaign season, and the civil liberties and human rights issues that the Russian government has been dealing with, as well as the Russian government’s interactions with Georgia and Ukraine.

When asked whether or not he felt Medvedev will take the country in a new direction or work under the same constraints as Putin, Fried said, “only time will tell.” But he expressed hopes that the new administration would be more supportive of Ukraine and Georgia’s efforts to join NATO and let them determine their own future.