MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russians queued up in Moscow at the weekend to press -- quite literally -- a reset button on U.S.-Russian relations, a publicity stunt meant to clear the air on the eve of U.S. President Barack Obama's visit. The stunt centered on the symbolic red button U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gave to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in March, urging him to press it to reinvigorate relations between their two nations. Lavrov was quick to point out that the Americans had mis-spelled the Russian word on the button's label, giving it the meaning of "overload" instead of "reset." Lavrov lent the button to the state-owned Rossiyskaya Gazeta newspaper, which installed it on Moscow's Pushkin Square to serve as a kind of geopolitical genie. Russians queued for the chance to press it and make a wish for better bilateral relations between Moscow and Washington.
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russians queued up in Moscow at the weekend to press -- quite literally -- a reset button on U.S.-Russian relations, a publicity stunt meant to clear the air on the eve of U.S. President Barack Obama's visit.
The stunt centered on the symbolic red button U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gave to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in March, urging him to press it to reinvigorate relations between their two nations.
Lavrov was quick to point out that the Americans had mis-spelled the Russian word on the button's label, giving it the meaning of "overload" instead of "reset."
Lavrov lent the button to the state-owned Rossiyskaya Gazeta newspaper, which installed it on Moscow's Pushkin Square to serve as a kind of geopolitical genie.
Russians queued for the chance to press it and make a wish for better bilateral relations between Moscow and Washington.
The US and Russia have agreed to work towards cutting deployed nuclear warheads to as few as 1,500 each, according to an agreement signed by Barack Obama on his first trip to Russia as president.Obama and Medvedev signed a framework agreement that aspires to cut warheads to a maximum of 1,675 within seven years of a nuclear arms reduction treaty coming into force. That represents scrapping almost 1,000 warheads on both sides, according to expert estimates of current warhead levels.The pact signed today also calls for the number of strategic delivery systems to be reduced to between 500 and 1,100 on each side. These systems include intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarine-launched missiles and heavy bombers.Among a flurry of announcements today, Russia agreed to let the US fly troops and weapons across its airspace to provide an air corridor for its forces in Afghanistan.
The US and Russia have agreed to work towards cutting deployed nuclear warheads to as few as 1,500 each, according to an agreement signed by Barack Obama on his first trip to Russia as president.
Obama and Medvedev signed a framework agreement that aspires to cut warheads to a maximum of 1,675 within seven years of a nuclear arms reduction treaty coming into force. That represents scrapping almost 1,000 warheads on both sides, according to expert estimates of current warhead levels.
The pact signed today also calls for the number of strategic delivery systems to be reduced to between 500 and 1,100 on each side. These systems include intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarine-launched missiles and heavy bombers.
Among a flurry of announcements today, Russia agreed to let the US fly troops and weapons across its airspace to provide an air corridor for its forces in Afghanistan.
Alright, Chuck. Don't mention that you are reporting from the city at 3am! I mean, that might have explained the lack of fanfare on Red Square? And it was very curious to me that I'd been watching Russian "state-run" tv off and on all weekend, and it was wall-to-wall coverage of the upcoming summit, including a 4th of July celebration in Moscow, interviews with the American Ambassador to Russia, statements from Medvedev (and Chuck, "Meh-Dvuh-dev"? really?) programmes on US-Russian cooperation in space, interviews with journalists from the EU about Nato & the missile shield, and yeah, the public installation of the "reset" button in Pushkin Square, where Muskovites were having their pics taken with a cardboard cut out of Obama.
Just in case all of this stuff might have been some Potemkin Russia invented by Kremlin-run RT, I checked out Moscow Times, which fancies itself the most independent rag in Russia, and sure enough, they confirm these events.
So, either Chuck got off the plane at the wrong stop, or he's seen too many spy movies, mistaking people asleep at 3am for a city of 8 million being kept in the dark about Obama's visit.
And can someone tell me why the h*** there should be banners announcing Obama has arrived in your county? "Pretending that you already know the answer when you don't is not actually very helpful." ~Migeru.
