Russia's behavior vis-a-vis America and its new President has been quixotic of late. Russia, it is alleged, has pressured the Kyrgyg government to cancel Washington's right to use the Manas air base in Kyrgyzstan. The Manas base in the capital of Bishkek is crucial to American transport lines in the war in Afghanistan. Henry Kissinger, who is well respected in Moscow and has been a point man for the last 2 Presidents on Russia, recently told The Hindu, "With respect to Russia, it requires a clear definition of priorities, especially a choice between partnership or adversarial conduct insofar as it depends on us." From The NYTimes:
"President Obama sent a secret letter to Russia’s president last month suggesting that he would back off deploying a new missile defense system in Eastern Europe if Moscow would help stop Iran from developing long-range weapons, American officials said Monday.
"The letter to President Dmitri A. Medvedev was hand-delivered in Moscow by top administration officials three weeks ago. It said the United States would not need to proceed with the interceptor system, which has been vehemently opposed by Russia since it was proposed by the Bush administration, if Iran halted any efforts to build nuclear warheads and ballistic missiles."
Medvedev -- the puppet leader of Russia -- will, according to CFR, probably get questions at his press conference today in Spain.
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