Russians Getting Feisty, Plan on Testing Obama on Arms Issues

Russia, already wary of U.S. plans for missile defense systems, is likely to test the "mettle" of President-elect Barack Obama, according to a senior State Department official John Rood. Said Rood, "My assessment is that the Russians intend to test the mettle of the new administration and the new president. The future will show how the new administration chooses to answer that challenge." Rood went on to say that the Russians have been noticeably less flexible in talks regarding missile defense and there have been rumors that the U.S.’s old Cold War nemesis will send ships to the coast of Cuba as a show of force in protesting America’s missile defense initiatives.

On the U.S. side, assurances have been given that the missile-tracking radar located in the Czech Republic and Poland wouldn’t serve as a security risk to Russia. The U.S., along with Poland and the Czech Republic, have apparently gone so far as to suggest allowing Russian inspectors to regularly tour the missile-tracking sites. Said Rood of that prospect, "I don’t want to spell out all the details because I think this is a high-priority dialogue for us in the Unites States, and I don’t think that putting all the details out will facilitate a resolution to it."

The 1991 START nuclear arms deal, which is set to expire in December, 2009, has also been the subject of discussion between the two countries. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, speaking of the START treaty noted that the agreement "should be preserved and strengthened, rather than weakened."