The trip came at a time when the Iraq war has entered the decisive phase and a diplomatic tussle on postwar arrangements has been intensified.

It seems that Rice did not fail in her endeavor, because Moscow has showed great restraint regarding the attack so far and both countries expressed their willingness to continue pursuing a constructive dialogue and developing a strategic partnership.

The terrorist attack on Sept. 11, 2001, gave a great push to the effort to establish a strategic partnership between the two countries and the relationship had been bolstered by Russian President Vladimir Putin's strong support for the US war in Afghanistan. But later serious disputes emerged between the two sides over the Iraq issue.

With traditional geopolitical and economic interests in Iraq, Russia insists on a peaceful solution to the Iraq crisis within the framework of the United Nations and strongly opposes the military action against Iraq. Putin had strongly condemned the military action against Iraq, saying it broke international law as well as the UN Charter, and as a result, "all the sovereign states lose the sense of security."

The United States, on its part, reproached Russia for selling weapons to Iraq, sent reconnaissance planes near Russia's airspace and bombed the block near the Russian Embassy in Baghdad. The Russian-US relationship, as Putin said, has experienced the most serious crisis since the end of the Cold War.

However, Russia still sees the United States as a "partner" instead of a "rival" and expressed hopes to solve their divergence over the Iraq issue on the basis of the established strategic partnership. A clear indication of this Russian attitude is that Putin has softened his criticism of the US-led war in the past week, saying a US defeat would not be in Russia's interest. Putin also expressed his country's readiness to cooperate with Washington in major international affairs while urging Russian lawmakers to ratify a treaty with the United States on reducing strategic offensive weapons. The State Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament, decided earlier this month to delay the ratification to protest the US-led war on Iraq.

Observers in Moscow said the change in Russia's diplomatic tone reflects the Kremlin's hope to continue promoting its relationship with the United States out of a number of concerns.

First and foremost, Russia and the United States share the same interests and are likely to further cooperate in such fields as maintaining global strategic stability, reducing nuclear weapons, preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and fighting terrorism. The settlement of the Iraq issue would have an impact on the establishment of an international security framework and a new world order. So Russia wants to participate in the international affairs with Washington through dialogue and cooperation.

Second, common economic interests serve to tighten the ties between the two countries. The United States is Russia's most prominent business partner and investor, and the total volume of trade between the two countries reached US$9.2 billion in 2002 and is expected to hit US$10 billion this year. Moreover,Russia is trying to win a role in Iraq's postwar reconstruction. Iraq is reportedly owing Russia US$ 8 billion in debt and the contracts of oil extracting between companies of the two countriesare worth as much as US$30 billion.

Local media in Moscow have speculated that Russia and the United States have reached a secret agreement on postwar arrangements for Iraq.

It can be predicted that Russia would continue pursuing the partnership with the United States, but whether Washington would take Russia's interests into consideration in making postwar arrangements for Iraq would have a significant impact on the bilateral relationship.

(Xinhua News Agency April 9, 2003)