Member of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation, General Director of the Institute for Foreign Policy Studies and Initiatives Veronica Krasheninnikova and Ph. D. in Political Science Alexander Bedritskiy gave their assessments of the development of Russian-American relations.
Veronica Krasheninnikova commented on the difficult situation surrounding Edward Snowden. The American technical assistant and former employee of the CIA and the National Security Agency in the United States passed to the The Guardian and The Washington Post newspapers secret information belonging to NSA and concerning the total surveillance of U.S. intelligence of information communications between the citizens of many countries around the world, using existing information networks and communication networks. The U.S. charged Snowden in absentia with embezzling state property, disclosure of information on national defense and deliberate transfer of classified information to unauthorized persons.
He is the subject of an international search by the U.S. authorities; he has been at Sheremetyevo Airport since June 23. Edward Snowden said he wanted to stay in Russia forever to get work here. So far the question of his fate has not been resolved: a document authorizing him to leave the transit area is not yet ready. Meanwhile, the White House wants Russia to clarify the status of its former spy and insists on his extradition to the U.S. government.
Krasheninnikova believes that the situation with Snowden is unlikely to have any fundamental impact on bilateral relations, as it is only the beginning of a list of claims that the United States presents to Russia. The expert believes that the current complications in relations between the two countries is logical, as the reboot really has come to an end, as the U.S. and Russia had different understandings of the concept.
Alexander Bedritskiy believes that at present the United States and Russia have a window of opportunity, in part due to the fact that Obama promotes quite a soft policy towards Russia. In Russian-American relations there are a number of questions that could and should be productively discussed, but there are also those that affect the interests of one party or another, and their resolution will take a very long time. At the same time, the most important thing, in his opinion, is not to go into isolation, but always seek to find a compromise.
