Comment / Russia Shows Maturity with Cautious Welcome of U.S. Defence Shield U-turn

Today’s breakthrough announcement about the reversal of U.S. plans to build nuclear defence shield is certainly music to the Kremlin’s ears. The Russian leadership has made its objection to the shield very clear over the recent years, so that the critics of Obama’s policy change immediately interpreted his move as “bowing to Russian pressure”. The White House has specifically denied this, and the Kremlin – so far – has been wise enough not to embarrass its partner by making claims to have “prevailed” over the U.S. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov merely remarked that Obama’s decision “rectifies mistakes of the Bush administration”. If the official Russia keeps to this line and resists the temptation to have held sway over the U.S., further progress in bilateral relations and cooperation on topics such as nuclear and European security, can be expected.