Putin, Trump seek to give fresh start to ailing Russian-U.S. ties – experts
January 29, 2017
In
their 45-minutes talk, presidents have discussed a range of issues from
tackling terrorism and Middle East developments, to strategic stability
and business ties between Russia and the U.S.
Collage: Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. Source: Reuters; RBTH.
Moscow and Washington spoke positively about the first conversationbetween
Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, who was sworn in as the U.S. president
slightly more than a week ago. The leaders discussed a wide range of
global and international issues in a "positive and business-like
atmosphere" and agreed to keep in touch, the Kremlin press service said.
"The
positive call was a significant start to improving the relationship
between the United States and Russia that is in need of repair," the
White House said in a statement, commenting on the results of the conversation.
Partners in the struggle against terror
The
two leaders discussed in detail "pressing international problems,"
including the developments in the Middle East, the Arab-Israeli
conflict, the strategic stability and non-proliferation, the situation
around Iran’s nuclear program and the Korean Peninsula, the Kremlin said
in a statement. "The key aspects of the Ukrainian crisis have been
touched upon as well. It has been agreed to establish partner-type
cooperation in those and other areas," the statement reads.
Putin
and Trump placed a special emphasis on the fight against terrorism.
"The presidents spoke in favor of creating real coordination of Russian
and American actions with a purpose to defeat the ISIL (the former name
of the Islamic State) and other terrorist groups in Syria," the Kremlin
statement reads.
Alexei Pushkov, a
member of the Defense and Security Committee of the Federation Council,
wrote in his Twitter account that discussing coordination in
anti-terrorism efforts "represents a qualitative change" in bilateral
ties, while the first deputy chairman of this committee, Frants
Klintsevich said the Islamic State will literally see its last days if
Moscow and Washington join forces.
The
head of the State Duma International Affairs Committee said the
declared intention to coordinate anti-terrorism effort was the most
important result of the talk. "The main result of the first talk between
Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump was an agreement to coordinate efforts
to defeat the IS. This is what the entire clear-headed world is
expecting from the Russian-U.S. relations," Leonid Slutsky said.
Lawmaker
Nikolai Kovalev, who formerly headed Russia’s security service FSB,
named "coordination of efforts in Syria, joining forces, exchange of
information" and an end to U.S. weapon supplies to the Syrian opposition
as the first practical steps that the U.S. may make in the declared
joint Russian-U.S. antiterrorism struggle. He said Washington previously
refused to cooperate with Moscow on the issue, but "this situation may
now change drastically."
Business ties
Putin
and Trump also discussed restoring trade and economic ties, that could
"further stimulate consecutive and sustainable development of bilateral
relations."
Kirill
Dmitriev, who heads the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), said the
results of the first official contact between the presidents of Russia
and the United States send a positive signal to investors. "Placing the
emphasis on restoring trade and economic cooperation is very important,"
he said.
The
RDIF CEO added that the fund has designed ten Russian-U.S. priority
investment projects and will present them to the U.S. partners for a
preliminary discussion soon.
The
head of the State Duma’s committee on science and education, Vyacheslav
Nikonov, also pointed at the economic part of the discussion. He said
that the declared readiness to restore trade and economic ties "may
envisage a partial cancellation of sanctions."
"Of
course, the word ‘sanctions’ was left out, but restoring trade and
economic ties stipulates that this issue has to be approached as well,"
said the lawmaker, who is also a prominent Russian expert on foreign
affairs.
First step
Russian
politicians were overly positive about the results of the first
Putin-Trump talk after the transition of power in the United States.
"Naturally, a phone conversation between the two presidents is not enough to solve all problems in the Russian-U.S. relations,
which had been accumulating for years. But the first step has
undoubtedly been made," senator Klintsevich said, adding that Trump
appeared to be taking cooperation with Russia seriously. However, he
warned against jumping into optimistic conclusions before the US makes
its first practical steps.
Konstantin
Kosachev, who heads the International Affairs Committee of the Russian
parliament’s upper house, said the phone conversation apparently
"returned sense and reason" into the Russian-U.S. dialogue. "Hopefully,
behind the laconic mention of the matters discussed, there is
determination - bilateral determination, not only on our behalf - to
introduce the new format of relationship, the relations of partnership
instead of rivalry," he said.
Vyacheslav
Nikonov also described the phone talk as "a very good start." "They set
the bar very high at the talks," he said. "The fact that they managed
to discuss this (wide range of issues) in 45 minutes means that there
were no major disagreements."
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