Obama on 'reset' mission to Russia

PRESIDENT Barack Obama leaves for Russia yesterday, seeking to honour a US vow to "reset" strained but tentatively easing ties with Moscow and to muster a united front against Iran's nuclear programme.

With questions clouding his push for Middle East peace, and facing fresh challenges from US foes North Korea and Tehran, Obama will seek to highlight what aides hope will be an emerging foreign policy success: better ties with Moscow.

His task may be facilitated after Russian President Dmitry Medvedev indicated yesterday that he shared the same goal, saying: "We are ready to play our part".

The summit between the former Cold War foes "is a way of showing what that reset is going to mean in practice," said Stephen Sestanovich of the Council on Foreign Relations.

"There's been heavy use of that metaphor, but until now, not too much clarity about exactly what the reality of a new relationship is going to be."

Obama arrives in Moscow for private Kremlin talks and a press conference with Medvedev, who dubbed the US leader "my new comrade" after their debut meeting in London in April.

On Tuesday, Obama will share breakfast with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who many US observers consider still holds power behind the throne in Russia.

He will also pay his respects to former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev on a trip that later takes him to the Group of Eight summit in Italy and a journey to Ghana.

Obama and Medvedev will seek to advance their quest to agree a replacement to the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), a cornerstone of Cold War-era nuclear arms control, which expires on December 5.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the presidents would instruct negotiators to keep working toward that goal, but he stopped short of saying there would be a concrete deal.

AFP