The Ups and Downs in Russia-U.S. Relations; From the Cold War to 2018

In the first part, we discussed the relations between the Soviet Union and the United States from the mid-World War II until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. The current section examines other aspects of the fluctuations in the relationship between the United States and the Russian Federation. After December 5, 1991, Clinton and Bush met several times with Russian leaders. The most important topics of discussion included arms reduction, economic aid, political reforms, democracy and human rights, European security, maintaining peace in Bosnia, Kosovo, and the Middle East. Additionally, the situation in Chechnya was also a significant issue during that period, which was somewhat contentious between the two sides. Bush and Yeltsin had a friendly start to their relationship after the fall of the Soviet Union. Most meetings focused on arms reduction and de-escalation of nuclear arms competition, which had no further room for escalation, to the extent that President Bush and Yeltsin announced the end of the Cold War. Boris Yeltsin, who traveled to the U.S. for the first time to attend a UN Security Council summit, met with President Bush from January 31 to February 1, 1992, at Camp David. Following this meeting, Yeltsin announced that the U.S. humanitarian aid program to the former Soviet Union would begin on February 10. In a joint statement, it was declared that "Russia and the United States do not consider each other potential adversaries." Yeltsin's official visit to Washington took place on June 16 and 17, 1992, during which agreements were made regarding the continuation of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START). Initially, the agreement aimed to reduce the number of warheads in the nuclear arsenal to between 3,000 and 3,500. Many diplomatic and consular restrictions between the two countries were lifted, and a joint commission was established to search for American POWs believed to have remained in the Soviet Union (similar to recent agreements with North Korea). Less than a month later, on July 8 of the same year, Bush and Yeltsin had a private meeting on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Munich. On January 2 and 3, 1993, Bush traveled to Moscow to sign the START treaty. Less than three weeks remained before Clinton's presidency began; President Bush promised that the new U.S. administration would remain committed to the agreements, and Yeltsin expressed a desire to meet with President Clinton at a neutral location. It should be noted that six of the eight years of Bill Clinton's presidency (1993-2001) coincided with Boris Yeltsin's presidency (1991-1999) in Russia. On April 3 and 4, 1993, Clinton met with Yeltsin in Vancouver, Canada. The two presidents agreed in the Vancouver statement to focus on "the promotion of democracy, security, and peace." The United States was to allocate $1.6 billion for humanitarian aid, private sector development, democracy, energy resource development, environmental support, and assistance in implementing the START agreement. Agreements were made for subsequent meetings at the level of vice presidents and some ministers, and Yeltsin even invited Clinton to visit Moscow. Clinton and Yeltsin met once again (July 9 and 10, 1993) on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Tokyo, where G7 leaders allocated $3 billion for the reorganization of privatization in Russia. Yeltsin expressed hope that Russia's membership in the G7 would be accepted. He was also invited to participate in the next year's economic summit in Naples, Italy. The year 1994 was marked by Clinton and Yeltsin's meeting in Moscow (January 12-15). Very important agreements were reached, including that after May 30 of that year, the two countries would no longer target nuclear missiles at each other; Russia would convert 500 tons of highly enriched uranium into low-enriched uranium (changing its use from military to energy); and in return, over a period of 20 years, the U.S. would purchase low-enriched uranium from Russia worth $12 billion. These meetings were renewed at the G7 summit in Naples. During this meeting, Clinton congratulated Yeltsin on Russia's membership in the G7 and invited him to visit Washington. Their meeting took place after Yeltsin attended the UN General Assembly. The START II treaty was ratified by both countries, and it was agreed that the warheads to be dismantled would be removed immediately from their launchers. During this visit, Yeltsin visited Seattle in Washington State. The two leaders met again on December 5 at the European Security Summit in Budapest; Ukraine joined the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty; and the U.S. and Russia agreed to reduce their nuclear warheads from 9,000 to a limit of 5,000. The year 1995 witnessed three more meetings between the leaders of the two countries. On May 9 and 10 in Moscow, June 17 in Halifax, and October 23 in Hyde Park (New York), the birthplace of Franklin Roosevelt. These meetings progressed in two directions: first, Russia's approach to NATO to the extent of cooperation in the "Partnership for Peace" program, which was part of NATO's expansion in Europe, and second, agreements on arms reduction, control, and even a ban on nuclear testing. The meetings between the two presidents were renewed in 1996 (March 13) in Sharm El Sheikh and April 20-21 in Moscow. During this period, the issue of Chechen separatism and the suppression of Russians was acute, and Clinton called for a political solution to the Chechen issue. The first frictions over NATO's eastward expansion emerged. Yeltsin was dissatisfied with the acceptance of new members and viewed NATO's eastward movement as a threat to Russia, while Clinton's position was that this door should be open to all emerging democracies in Europe. Nevertheless, during 1997, two more meetings took place outside the U.S., in Helsinki (March 21) and Paris (May 27), and one meeting in Denver (U.S.). In Helsinki, nuclear and chemical arms reduction and NATO's cooperation with Russia were discussed, and in the Élysée Palace in Paris, Russia committed to permanent cooperation with NATO. The Denver meeting (Colorado) is referred to as a historic summit because Bill Clinton hosted the 23rd annual G7 summit in Colorado and, at Yeltsin's invitation, the Denver summit became the Denver Eight and then transformed into the G8. The meetings continued, respectively, on May 15-17 (in Birmingham, UK) in 1998 and on September 1 and 2 in Moscow. The year 1999 also witnessed three meetings. On June 19 and 20 in Cologne, Germany, Clinton told reporters that Russia had now been accepted as a full member of the G8. The agreement signed during this meeting allowed Russia to participate in peacekeeping operations in Kosovo as well. The next two meetings took place on September 12 (Auckland, New Zealand) and November 2 in Oslo, Norway, and are significant in that for the first time, Vladimir Putin, who had been appointed Prime Minister the previous August, participated in negotiations and met with Clinton. The last meeting between Clinton and Yeltsin took place on November 18, 1999, during the European Security Commission in Istanbul, Turkey. The issue of Chechnya and terrorism remained on the agenda, and Western concerns about human rights in dealing with the Chechens overshadowed Russia's concerns regarding terrorism in the discussions. The following year, Clinton had an official meeting with Russian officials (June 3-5 in Moscow). This meeting was significant for two reasons. First, it was the last year of Bill Clinton's presidency, and second, with Boris Yeltsin exiting the political scene in Russia, Vladimir Putin had taken power as the new president in Moscow. A series of issues, including Putin's economic programs, reforms, religious freedoms, and climate changes, were part of the discussions. In Russia, in addition to a new president, there was also a new government and parliament (Duma), and President Clinton appeared before parliament members on June 5, 2000, delivering an official speech. Bush and Putin) Vladimir Putin met three times with George Bush during his presidency. One of these meetings took place on June 16, 2001, in Ljubljana (Slovenia). After this meeting, George Bush stated that he had looked Putin in the eye and assessed him as "a straight and trustworthy person." Despite this positive impression, Moscow's opposition to issues such as the war on terrorism (after September 11, 2001) and the U.S. opposition to Russia's military intervention in Georgia (2008) quickly pushed the relationship between the two countries downward. However, George Bush also recalls friendly relations with Vladimir Putin. For instance, when Putin was hosted by George Bush at the Bush family's private estate in Crawford, Texas, on November 15, 2001. Additionally, George Bush writes in his memoirs that he spent a weekend fishing in Kennebunkport, Maine, with his father (former U.S. president) and Vladimir Putin, while also taking the opportunity to discuss the missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic with Putin. Obama and Medvedev) Barack Obama had a friendly meeting once with then-Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev of the Russian Federation in Prague (Czech Republic) on April 8, 2010. However, Medvedev's presidency represented a power shift with Putin's agreement, and it was not taken seriously by many. When Medvedev became president, Putin was Prime Minister instead of him and was the key player, waiting for the next presidential election. The U.S. and Russia were eager to sign an agreement on nuclear arms reduction. This agreement did not come to fruition. During Medvedev's visit to the White House (June 24, 2010), Obama took him to a hamburger joint in Arlington, Virginia, and they took a commemorative photo while eating hamburgers, but the ice between the two countries did not thaw. However, Putin and Obama encountered each other on various other occasions, including at the G20 summit of the world's twenty largest economies in 2016 in Hangzhou (China). During the summit, President Obama raised the U.S. concern about the existence of a "trust gap" between the U.S. and Russia, especially regarding cybersecurity. Prior to that, in July 2007, the two presidents met in Moscow, and a year later, they signed a new arms reduction treaty. Trump and Putin) From the beginning of Donald Trump's presidency, opponents and Democrats have accused him of having questionable relations with Russia and Vladimir Putin. This issue is intertwined with Russian cyber interference in the elections and is currently one of the most complex legal cases of the U.S. federal government. In practice, Trump has shown leniency towards Putin in various areas, such as delaying the signing of congressional sanctions against Russia. However, as the outcome of their last meeting in Helsinki and Putin's invitation to Trump to visit Moscow shows, the relationship has taken on complex internal dimensions, and the issue of potential "collusion" has become more complicated with the indictment of 12 Russian intelligence officers. Regardless of where this case ultimately leads, U.S.-Russia relations have been fluctuating since World War II. These two countries, which were once allies during World War II, are now embroiled in a situation that could lead to political friction or exacerbate an arms race. In addition to Vladimir Putin's annexation of Crimea and provocations in Ukraine, the accusation of interference in the U.S. presidential elections adds a compounded negative burden. For this reason, political leaders who have a more conciliatory tendency towards Russia face challenges in public opinion. When this conciliation intersects with the electoral votes of the people and raises suspicions of manipulation, any form of conciliation is interpreted as betrayal.