NATO-Russia tension may give rise to modus vivendi for future ties

Source: Xinhua | 05-09-2009 08:55

by Paul Ames

BRUSSELS, May 8 (Xinhua) -- Recent exchanges between the Kremlin and NATO headquarters in Brussels have been marked by dueling espionage allegations, diplomats expelled, war games denounced and high-level talks canceled in anger.

The bombast has resembled the bad old Cold War days rather than the thaw expected after the Obama administration announced it wanted to "press the reset button" on Russian's strained relations with the West.

However, despite the tense rhetoric, a new modus vivendi may be emerging between Moscow and the Western alliance.

"We have an excellent opportunity to reset the relationship between the United States and Russia on a whole host of issues," U.S. President Barack Obama told Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Washington on Thursday.

Those issues, Obama said, include the proliferation of nuclear weapons, Afghanistan, the Middle East and the world economy.

Differences, however, run deep over the future of Ukraine, Georgia and other former Soviet republics which Moscow wants to prevent from joining the Western alliance. Many in the pro-Western camp in those nations fear a new U.S. rapprochement with Russia could leave them out in the cold.