Obama In Russia, Interview, Arms Reduction, Statements

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The President started the day with President Dmitry A. Medvedev in a joint press conference. President Obama also sat down with the Russian newspaper, Novaya Gazeta, for a challenging interview that touched on Russian civil rights, missile defense, and the US role in the global economic recession. Obama acknowledged a lack of initiative in tackling US economic challenges, but also pointed out new regulations that will begin to measure the “stability of the financial system as a whole” for the first time.

The two Presidents released a joint statement expressing both country’s commitment to Afghanistan and agreed to work with the international community to “stabilize that country and promote the democratic process and economic growth there.” The statement further said that they will work together “To further support our countries’ shared counterterrorism, anticrime and counternarcotics objectives in Afghanistan, the United States and the Russian Federation have decided to develop a bilateral initiative to increase significantly the use of financial intelligence and law enforcement tools to stop the illicit financial flows related to heroin trafficking in Afghanistan, including that by the Taliban and organized crime. The initiative will include an operational component to target the trafficking and the illicit networks that support it.”

The President also agreed to the creation of a Bilateral Presidential Commission to include various working groups from Space Cooperation to Nuclear Energy & Security to Agriculture to Civil Society. The two Presidents will chair the Commission, while Secretary of State Clinton and Foreign Minister Lavrov will coordinate the working groups.

Lastly, Admiral Mullen, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and General Makarov the Chief of Defense for the Russian Federation signed a new strategic framework for military-to-military engagement between the United States and the Russian Federation, which was suspended in August of 2008. The Armed Forces of the United States and Russian Federation have agreed in their work plan for 2009 to conduct nearly 20 exchanges and operational events before the end of the year.

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