May Day, May Day: The Strains in US-Russian Relations

Miriam Elder of Global Post notes the expulsion of two Russian diplomats by NATO on spying charges and Moscow's treaties with separatist regions to consider the consequences for relations between Moscow and Washington:

Russia and the West have a very bad day

MOSCOW — It was meant to be a day of fresh starts, as officials from Russia and NATO sat down for their first formal talks since breaking off relations last summer in the midst of the Georgia war.

Instead, NATO expelled two top Russian diplomats after accusing them of spying and Russia signed a treaty strengthening its ties with the separatist regions at the center of the controversial war. Are Russia’s relations with the West doomed to fail?

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Comments

[Dave]

Clifford Levy (NYT) says that the US cannot back out on NATO exercises in Georgia because it would need some way to "save face" in order to do that, even though there are only 1,000 troops participating. It seems so insignificant - at least from a military standpoint. Rather, it's ear piercing symbolism. I think the West's continued infusion of cash to rebuild the Georgian military is more significant than the exercises.

Obama is carrying on with the policies of his predecessors in pushing Russia as far as he possilbly can. America's strategy in dealing with Russia in Central Asia/Caucuses and Baltics matches that of the China strategy -- drive it up against a wall and box it in. At least Chinese influence in the Caucuses is less of a problem for the Russians due to China's harsher climate/mountain and desert ranges to its north and west.