RUSSIAN-AMERICAN RELATIONS
Posted: Sun May 22, 2022 10:37 am
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RUSSIAN-AMERICAN RELATIONS
Relations between Russia and the United States, which are a system-forming factor in ensuring global security and stability, have seriously degraded in recent years due to different approaches to resolving a number of international problems and Washington's purposeful actions to destroy the foundation of cooperation.
Under the pretext of an intra-Ukrainian crisis, largely provoked by the Obama Administration, since March 2014, the American side has significantly limited bilateral dialogue and proclaimed a course towards "systemic containment" of Russia. Republican D. Trump, who won the election of the President of the United States on November 8, 2016, during the election campaign, declared his desire to return Russian-American relations to a normal stable state.
On November 9, 2016, Vladimir Putin sent a telegram to D. Trump congratulating him on his victory, and also spoke with him by phone on November 14. After taking office as President of the United States, the heads of state held eight telephone conversations: in 2017 on January 28, April 4, May 2, November 21, December 14 and 17, and in 2018 on February 12 and March 20, when D. Trump called Vladimir Putin to congratulate him on his victory in the presidential election.
On July 7, 2017, on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Hamburg, the first personal meeting of the presidents took place, lasting more than two hours. They discussed a wide range of issues, including the situation in Russian-American relations and topical international issues. On November 10-11, 2017, the presidents made contact four times “on their feet” during the APEC summit in Da Nang (Vietnam). July 16 this year Helsinki hosted the first full-scale summit between V.V. Putin and D. Trump. The Presidents reaffirmed their mutual interest in normalizing relations and discussed steps to intensify dialogue in various fields.
As for the dialogue between the heads of foreign affairs agencies, Sergey Lavrov and the new US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke by phone on May 30, June 18, July 3 and 21, and August 10 this year. July 16 this year their first personal meeting took place in Helsinki. Constant contact was maintained with Pompeo's predecessor in this post, R. Tillerson, including talks in Moscow during the visit of the Secretary of State on April 12, 2017, and in Washington on May 10, 2017, during the return visit of Sergey Lavrov.
The growing Russophobic hysteria in Washington has a strong effect on the atmosphere of the Russian-American dialogue. A certain part of the American establishment, which has not come to terms with D. Trump's victory, is actively provoking a domestic political crisis and using the "Russian card" for this purpose. Unsubstantiated insinuations are being circulated in Congress and the media about Russia's "interference" in the elections and the "connections" of the Republican campaign headquarters with the Kremlin. On May 18, 2017, the US Department of Justice created the position of special adviser to investigate these allegations, to which former FBI Director R. Muller was appointed.
Although the new American leadership has repeatedly confirmed its desire to straighten out relations, in the face of a difficult domestic political situation, its practical actions continued to go in line with Obama's course of "containment" of Russia. In particular, in the White House under D. Trump, they picked up the line on expanding anti-Russian restrictive measures. In total, since 2011, when the Americans abandoned the "reset" of relations, unilateral sanctions against us have been imposed 55 times. April 6 this year 24 statesmen and large entrepreneurs, as well as 12 companies were brought under restrictions. The expansion of the "black lists" was also announced on May 8, June 11, August 3 and 15.
There are currently 249 Russian citizens and 444 Russian legal entities (including three agencies) under various US restrictions, as well as two ships and one oil and gas field.
On July 27, 2017, the US Congress overwhelmingly passed the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act. The document, designed to increase pressure on our country, was signed by D. Trump on August 2. In addition to codifying existing sanctions, it significantly limited the ability of the US President to lift them, and also suggests a number of additional anti-Russian measures. Among them are the reduction in the terms of lending to banks and energy companies under sanctions, the expansion of “sectoral” restrictions, as well as their extraterritorial application.
On our part, the necessary countermeasures are being taken, both mirror ones, including the counter expansion of Russian "black lists", and asymmetric ones. Thus, immediately after the adoption of the said law, the Russian side decided to suspend from August 1, 2017 the use by the US Embassy of the dacha in Serebryany Bor and storage facilities on Dorozhnaya Street in Moscow. We also demanded that the Americans, by September 1, 2017, bring the number of employees of their foreign missions in Russia, including citizens received locally, into line with the number of Russian diplomats and technical personnel who are in the United States.
The American side consistently escalated the diplomatic confrontation. First, on December 29, 2016, B. Obama, in addition to the unreasonable expulsion of 35 Russian diplomats, ordered, in violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, to take away the out-of-town recreation centers of the Embassies and Permanent Missions to the UN, which belong to us and have immunity. Then, on September 2, 2017, American intelligence services forcibly invaded the Trade Representation in Washington and the Consulate General in San Francisco, which demanded to close in two days, and on October 2, 2017, the residence of the Consul General, staged total searches there, despite their inviolability under international law.
March 26 this year Under the pretext of Russia's alleged involvement in the poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter, the Administration decided to expel 60 of our diplomats from Washington and New York, as well as to close the Consulate General in Seattle. Based on the principle of reciprocity, 58 employees of the US Embassy in Moscow and 2 employees of the Consulate General in Yekaterinburg have been declared “personae non gratae”. At the same time, consent to the opening and operation of the US Consulate General in St. Petersburg was withdrawn.
April 25 this year American intelligence agencies occupied the building of the residence of the Consul General in Seattle. As a result, today the US authorities have actually seized six diplomatic objects of state property of Russia, the return of which we categorically demand.
August 8 this year In connection with the Skripal case, the Administration announced the application of the 1991 U.S. Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Military Prohibition Act to Russia. The sanctions are divided into two blocks. The first includes such measures as the termination of technical assistance programs and a ban on the sale of military goods. If within three months (that is, by November 2018) Russia “does not convince the United States” that it “no longer uses chemical and biological weapons,” additional measures are expected to be introduced, up to a decrease in the level of diplomatic relations.
In the contacts between Vladimir Putin and D. Trump, both sides repeatedly confirmed their intention to establish cooperation on a number of international problems. At the same time, on many important issues, including in relation to the settlement of the Ukrainian crisis, the Republican Administration is acting by inertia inherited from B. Obama's team. On the whole, the opportunities for productive cooperation between Russia and the United States in international affairs are significantly limited due to the unfavorable general situation in relations, the inconsistency and unpredictability of Washington's behavior on the world stage.
The intensity of discussions on arms control and non-proliferation was sharply reduced by Washington in 2014, along with the curtailment of contacts between the military. At the same time, the implementation of the Treaty on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms, signed on April 8, 2010 in Prague, continued (entered into force on February 5, 2011, valid for 10 years with the possibility of extension). One of the most problematic issues in the military-political sphere is the deployment of US missile defense. The dialogue on it was suspended by the Americans, who do not want to take into account Russian concerns, even before the events in Ukraine. At the same time, on September 12, 2017, the first Russian-American interdepartmental meeting on strategic stability issues after a long break was held in Helsinki.
Since 2014, trade and economic ties have been hostage to the negative political environment. At the end of 2015, bilateral trade fell by 28.1% to $20.9 billion, and in 2016 it decreased by another 4.5% compared to the previous year to $20.0 billion.
However, at the end of 2017, an increase in trade operations was again recorded - by 15.8% (up to 23.1 billion dollars). Russian exports grew by 14.7% (to 10.6 billion from 9.2 billion), while imports grew by 16.8% (to 12.5 billion from 10.7 billion). The negative balance of Russia in trade with the United States amounted to $ 1.9 billion. The share of the United States in Russia's foreign trade in 2017 was 3.9% (6th place among our trading partners), the weight of Russia in the US trade turnover is less than 1% .
In January-May 2018, bilateral trade increased by 10.5% compared to the same period in 2017 (up to $9.3 billion). At the same time, Russian exports increased by 7.8% (up to $4.1 billion), while imports increased by 12.7% (up to $5.2 billion). The negative balance of Russia in trade with the United States amounted to 1.1 billion dollars.
In recent years, the dynamics of inter-parliamentary relations has significantly decreased due to the negative attitude towards cooperation on the part of members of Congress. In response to the visa sanctions imposed by Washington against our parliamentarians, including the leaders of the chambers of the Federal Assembly, a number of American legislators were denied entry to Russia. At the same time, after a long pause in contacts on June 30 - July 5 of this year. A delegation of the US Congress headed by Senator R. Shelby visited Moscow and St. Petersburg. On August 5-11, a delegation of Senator R. Paul visited Russia.
In the sphere of bilateral relations, there are several dozens of intergovernmental and interdepartmental agreements on various issues, including transport, emergency response, etc.
The Russian side has long been raising the issue of resolving the numerous "irritants" created by Washington in the bilateral sphere of relations. The American side, however, has so far shown no real readiness for a constructive search for solutions.
In the field of cultural ties, Russian performers of classical music, theater and ballet are touring the United States with great success. Significant efforts are being made to preserve Russia-related memorials and heritage sites in America, including a museum based at the Russian pioneer fortress Fort Ross in California.
As a new coordination mechanism, in 2017 an interdepartmental working group was created under the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the preservation of Russian historical and cultural heritage in the United States. Under its auspices, a rich program of bilateral cultural and humanitarian contacts has been drawn up. In particular, a series of large-scale bilateral events have already been implemented, including the joint celebration of the 80th anniversary of the legendary transpolar flights from the USSR to the USA by the crews of V.P. Chkalov and M.M. the American Fort Ross Dialogue Forum and others. Mechanisms are being worked out to strengthen bilateral cooperation in the archival field.
The situation around the "Schneerson collection" remains a deterrent for cultural exchanges. After a Washington court, in violation of international law, ruled in 2010 to transfer to the American religious organization Chabad a collection of historical books on Judaism belonging to Russia, a moratorium was introduced on the display of art objects from Russian state museums in the United States due to the threat of arrest of exhibits. Negotiations on our proposed draft treaty on the immunity of cultural property within the framework of exhibition activities were suspended by the State Department in 2014. In Moscow, bilateral consultations on cultural and humanitarian issues, the Americans were invited to resume work on the document.
https://www.mid.ru/ru/maps/us/1814243/
https://www.mid.ru/ru/maps/us/1814243/#popup-relations
RUSSIAN-AMERICAN RELATIONS
Relations between Russia and the United States, which are a system-forming factor in ensuring global security and stability, have seriously degraded in recent years due to different approaches to resolving a number of international problems and Washington's purposeful actions to destroy the foundation of cooperation.
Under the pretext of an intra-Ukrainian crisis, largely provoked by the Obama Administration, since March 2014, the American side has significantly limited bilateral dialogue and proclaimed a course towards "systemic containment" of Russia. Republican D. Trump, who won the election of the President of the United States on November 8, 2016, during the election campaign, declared his desire to return Russian-American relations to a normal stable state.
On November 9, 2016, Vladimir Putin sent a telegram to D. Trump congratulating him on his victory, and also spoke with him by phone on November 14. After taking office as President of the United States, the heads of state held eight telephone conversations: in 2017 on January 28, April 4, May 2, November 21, December 14 and 17, and in 2018 on February 12 and March 20, when D. Trump called Vladimir Putin to congratulate him on his victory in the presidential election.
On July 7, 2017, on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Hamburg, the first personal meeting of the presidents took place, lasting more than two hours. They discussed a wide range of issues, including the situation in Russian-American relations and topical international issues. On November 10-11, 2017, the presidents made contact four times “on their feet” during the APEC summit in Da Nang (Vietnam). July 16 this year Helsinki hosted the first full-scale summit between V.V. Putin and D. Trump. The Presidents reaffirmed their mutual interest in normalizing relations and discussed steps to intensify dialogue in various fields.
As for the dialogue between the heads of foreign affairs agencies, Sergey Lavrov and the new US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke by phone on May 30, June 18, July 3 and 21, and August 10 this year. July 16 this year their first personal meeting took place in Helsinki. Constant contact was maintained with Pompeo's predecessor in this post, R. Tillerson, including talks in Moscow during the visit of the Secretary of State on April 12, 2017, and in Washington on May 10, 2017, during the return visit of Sergey Lavrov.
The growing Russophobic hysteria in Washington has a strong effect on the atmosphere of the Russian-American dialogue. A certain part of the American establishment, which has not come to terms with D. Trump's victory, is actively provoking a domestic political crisis and using the "Russian card" for this purpose. Unsubstantiated insinuations are being circulated in Congress and the media about Russia's "interference" in the elections and the "connections" of the Republican campaign headquarters with the Kremlin. On May 18, 2017, the US Department of Justice created the position of special adviser to investigate these allegations, to which former FBI Director R. Muller was appointed.
Although the new American leadership has repeatedly confirmed its desire to straighten out relations, in the face of a difficult domestic political situation, its practical actions continued to go in line with Obama's course of "containment" of Russia. In particular, in the White House under D. Trump, they picked up the line on expanding anti-Russian restrictive measures. In total, since 2011, when the Americans abandoned the "reset" of relations, unilateral sanctions against us have been imposed 55 times. April 6 this year 24 statesmen and large entrepreneurs, as well as 12 companies were brought under restrictions. The expansion of the "black lists" was also announced on May 8, June 11, August 3 and 15.
There are currently 249 Russian citizens and 444 Russian legal entities (including three agencies) under various US restrictions, as well as two ships and one oil and gas field.
On July 27, 2017, the US Congress overwhelmingly passed the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act. The document, designed to increase pressure on our country, was signed by D. Trump on August 2. In addition to codifying existing sanctions, it significantly limited the ability of the US President to lift them, and also suggests a number of additional anti-Russian measures. Among them are the reduction in the terms of lending to banks and energy companies under sanctions, the expansion of “sectoral” restrictions, as well as their extraterritorial application.
On our part, the necessary countermeasures are being taken, both mirror ones, including the counter expansion of Russian "black lists", and asymmetric ones. Thus, immediately after the adoption of the said law, the Russian side decided to suspend from August 1, 2017 the use by the US Embassy of the dacha in Serebryany Bor and storage facilities on Dorozhnaya Street in Moscow. We also demanded that the Americans, by September 1, 2017, bring the number of employees of their foreign missions in Russia, including citizens received locally, into line with the number of Russian diplomats and technical personnel who are in the United States.
The American side consistently escalated the diplomatic confrontation. First, on December 29, 2016, B. Obama, in addition to the unreasonable expulsion of 35 Russian diplomats, ordered, in violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, to take away the out-of-town recreation centers of the Embassies and Permanent Missions to the UN, which belong to us and have immunity. Then, on September 2, 2017, American intelligence services forcibly invaded the Trade Representation in Washington and the Consulate General in San Francisco, which demanded to close in two days, and on October 2, 2017, the residence of the Consul General, staged total searches there, despite their inviolability under international law.
March 26 this year Under the pretext of Russia's alleged involvement in the poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter, the Administration decided to expel 60 of our diplomats from Washington and New York, as well as to close the Consulate General in Seattle. Based on the principle of reciprocity, 58 employees of the US Embassy in Moscow and 2 employees of the Consulate General in Yekaterinburg have been declared “personae non gratae”. At the same time, consent to the opening and operation of the US Consulate General in St. Petersburg was withdrawn.
April 25 this year American intelligence agencies occupied the building of the residence of the Consul General in Seattle. As a result, today the US authorities have actually seized six diplomatic objects of state property of Russia, the return of which we categorically demand.
August 8 this year In connection with the Skripal case, the Administration announced the application of the 1991 U.S. Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Military Prohibition Act to Russia. The sanctions are divided into two blocks. The first includes such measures as the termination of technical assistance programs and a ban on the sale of military goods. If within three months (that is, by November 2018) Russia “does not convince the United States” that it “no longer uses chemical and biological weapons,” additional measures are expected to be introduced, up to a decrease in the level of diplomatic relations.
In the contacts between Vladimir Putin and D. Trump, both sides repeatedly confirmed their intention to establish cooperation on a number of international problems. At the same time, on many important issues, including in relation to the settlement of the Ukrainian crisis, the Republican Administration is acting by inertia inherited from B. Obama's team. On the whole, the opportunities for productive cooperation between Russia and the United States in international affairs are significantly limited due to the unfavorable general situation in relations, the inconsistency and unpredictability of Washington's behavior on the world stage.
The intensity of discussions on arms control and non-proliferation was sharply reduced by Washington in 2014, along with the curtailment of contacts between the military. At the same time, the implementation of the Treaty on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms, signed on April 8, 2010 in Prague, continued (entered into force on February 5, 2011, valid for 10 years with the possibility of extension). One of the most problematic issues in the military-political sphere is the deployment of US missile defense. The dialogue on it was suspended by the Americans, who do not want to take into account Russian concerns, even before the events in Ukraine. At the same time, on September 12, 2017, the first Russian-American interdepartmental meeting on strategic stability issues after a long break was held in Helsinki.
Since 2014, trade and economic ties have been hostage to the negative political environment. At the end of 2015, bilateral trade fell by 28.1% to $20.9 billion, and in 2016 it decreased by another 4.5% compared to the previous year to $20.0 billion.
However, at the end of 2017, an increase in trade operations was again recorded - by 15.8% (up to 23.1 billion dollars). Russian exports grew by 14.7% (to 10.6 billion from 9.2 billion), while imports grew by 16.8% (to 12.5 billion from 10.7 billion). The negative balance of Russia in trade with the United States amounted to $ 1.9 billion. The share of the United States in Russia's foreign trade in 2017 was 3.9% (6th place among our trading partners), the weight of Russia in the US trade turnover is less than 1% .
In January-May 2018, bilateral trade increased by 10.5% compared to the same period in 2017 (up to $9.3 billion). At the same time, Russian exports increased by 7.8% (up to $4.1 billion), while imports increased by 12.7% (up to $5.2 billion). The negative balance of Russia in trade with the United States amounted to 1.1 billion dollars.
In recent years, the dynamics of inter-parliamentary relations has significantly decreased due to the negative attitude towards cooperation on the part of members of Congress. In response to the visa sanctions imposed by Washington against our parliamentarians, including the leaders of the chambers of the Federal Assembly, a number of American legislators were denied entry to Russia. At the same time, after a long pause in contacts on June 30 - July 5 of this year. A delegation of the US Congress headed by Senator R. Shelby visited Moscow and St. Petersburg. On August 5-11, a delegation of Senator R. Paul visited Russia.
In the sphere of bilateral relations, there are several dozens of intergovernmental and interdepartmental agreements on various issues, including transport, emergency response, etc.
The Russian side has long been raising the issue of resolving the numerous "irritants" created by Washington in the bilateral sphere of relations. The American side, however, has so far shown no real readiness for a constructive search for solutions.
In the field of cultural ties, Russian performers of classical music, theater and ballet are touring the United States with great success. Significant efforts are being made to preserve Russia-related memorials and heritage sites in America, including a museum based at the Russian pioneer fortress Fort Ross in California.
As a new coordination mechanism, in 2017 an interdepartmental working group was created under the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the preservation of Russian historical and cultural heritage in the United States. Under its auspices, a rich program of bilateral cultural and humanitarian contacts has been drawn up. In particular, a series of large-scale bilateral events have already been implemented, including the joint celebration of the 80th anniversary of the legendary transpolar flights from the USSR to the USA by the crews of V.P. Chkalov and M.M. the American Fort Ross Dialogue Forum and others. Mechanisms are being worked out to strengthen bilateral cooperation in the archival field.
The situation around the "Schneerson collection" remains a deterrent for cultural exchanges. After a Washington court, in violation of international law, ruled in 2010 to transfer to the American religious organization Chabad a collection of historical books on Judaism belonging to Russia, a moratorium was introduced on the display of art objects from Russian state museums in the United States due to the threat of arrest of exhibits. Negotiations on our proposed draft treaty on the immunity of cultural property within the framework of exhibition activities were suspended by the State Department in 2014. In Moscow, bilateral consultations on cultural and humanitarian issues, the Americans were invited to resume work on the document.