Despite America's constant demonization of Russian President Vladimir Putin, few world leaders have collaborated as effectively with Washington on matters of critical national security, including
overflight rights to Afghanistan, disposal of Syria's chemical weapons stocks, and the agreement to prevent Iran from undertaking a nuclear weapons program.
Now he's done it again.
In the guise of punishing the United States by suspending a nuclear disarmament agreement, Putin has generously relieved the Obama administration of a budgetary headache of Excedrin proportions.
© Russian governmentRussian President Vladimir Putin answering questions from Russian citizens at his annual Q&A event on April 14, 2016.
On Monday, Putin issued a decree suspending a bilateral agreement for the disposal of each side's weapons-grade plutonium, complaining that Washington's economic sanctions and military buildup in Eastern Europe have "
radically changed" relations between the world's two major nuclear powers.
"The Obama administration has done everything in its power to destroy the atmosphere of trust which could have encouraged cooperation," the Russian foreign ministry
explained.
"We want Washington to understand that you cannot, with one hand, introduce sanctions against us . . . and with the other hand continue selective cooperation in areas where it suits them."An instant analysis by Stratfor, a private risk consulting firm, warned that "other nuclear disarmament cooperation deals between the United States and Russia are at risk of being undermined. The decision is likely an attempt to convey to Washington the price of cutting off dialogue on Syria and other issues."
There's some truth to that gloomy forecast. But
Putin was well aware of Washington's own eagerness to find a way out of the agreement due to the spiraling cost of compliance. He thus succeeded in sending a message without risking serious additional damage to the already frayed U.S.-Russia relationship.
Comment: Russia has since suspended two other nuclear agreements it had with the US. The first was an agreement that provided for research into the possibility of converting six Russian reactors from the use of dangerous highly enriched uranium to more secure low enriched uranium, and the second agreement was meant to facilitate co-operation in nuclear and energy-related scientific research. The Russian Foreign Ministry
said,
"We can no longer trust Washington in such a sensitive area as the modernization and security of Russian nuclear facilities." And who can blame them?
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov has also said that these suspensions were merely a legal balancing of the scales for the sanctions imposed on Russia and that if the US really wants the suspensions lifted it need only to lift its sanctions against Russia.
Comment: Further reading: Washington backs down over Syria following Russian threat to shoot down US aircraft