Like Cathy Young, I worry that President Obama might be overly solicitous of the interests of Russia’s authoritarian regime. In this respect, he could potentially repeat the mistakes of President Bush, who – until relatively late in his presidency – tried very hard to develop a close relationship Russia’s ex-KGB ruler Vladimir Putin (including ending US criticism of Russian atrocities in Chechnya, signing a nuclear arms limitation pact on terms favoring Russia, and waxing eloquent about how he had looked into Putin’s eyes and saw an “trustworthy” partner with a wonderful “soul”), while getting few concessions from the Russians in return.
President Obama’s decision to meet with Russian opposition leaders during his trip to Moscow is, however, a small hopeful sign:
President Barack Obama has invited several prominent members of the Russian opposition, including United Civil Front leader Garry Kasparov, for a meeting in Moscow. Boris Nemtsov, a chair of the Solidarity opposition movement, has also been invited to the meeting, set to take place on July 7th at the Ritz Carlton hotel. The format of the event was still unclear.