Russia welcomes 'strong signal' from Washington to better ties

Relations between Washington and Moscow had hit low over the recent years due to differences over NATO's eastward enlargement and Washington's plan to deploy missile defense system in East Europe.

Biden said on Saturday that America hopes to reduce tension in the relations, and relaunch cooperation in non-proliferation of the nuclear weapons, disarmament, arms control. He also said that both sides can keep differences while working together.

In a meeting with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov on Sunday, the first contact between top officials from the two sides since Obama took office, Biden repeated this position to his Russian counterpart.

Ivanov said Russia welcomed the "strong signal" from Washington to promote bilateral relations, and was ready to cooperate with it in all fields. Meanwhile, he demands mutual trust in the cooperation.

To Ivanov, what is more important is what Obama would do with Russia in the future. "we'll wait and see," said Ivanonv.

Analysts said that behind the beautiful promises from Biden, it seemed the United States would not make any concessions on some key spheres.

"We will strive, every day, to honor the values that animate America's democracy," said Biden.

And he reminded the Russians that his country would continue to develop missile defense to counter threats from "rogue" states like Iran. "We will do so in consultation with our NATO allies and Russia," he added.

He said America would not recognize Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states, which Moscow recognized, and will not recognize a "sphere of influence," referring to Russia's traditional dominance in some former Soviet states.

Meanwhile, he warned against Moscow's opposition to some former Soviet nations' ambitions to join NATO. "It will remain our view that sovereign states have the right to make their own decisions and choose their own alliances," he stressed.

Calls for multilateralism

The more than 350 participants to the Munich conference agreed that with the world fighting the financial crisis, climate change and other global challenges, no single country, no matter how powerful it is, could solve the problems by itself. Multilateral cooperation is needed more than ever to address these issues.

"We believe that international alliances and organizations do not diminish America's power -- they help us advance our collective security, economic interests and values," said Biden. "America needs the world, just as I believe the world needs America."

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso called Saturday for a more effective multilateralism to address the global security threats.

"To meet today's global security threats, the European Security Strategy calls for a more effective multilateralism as the only way forward," said Barroso.

While EU cooperation with the United Nations, NATO and the United States are essential for a more effective multilateralism, Barroso said that "it is time to encourage our other partners to see that they too have an interest in, and responsibility for, the global community because that is the only way we can consolidate and strengthen a stable, multilateral world, governed by internationally-agreed rules."

Both French President Sarkozy and EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana urged the EU and the United States to take seriously Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's proposals on restructuring European security arrangement, which features multilateral participation.

Analysts said that the G20 summit on financial crisis in April in London could immediately serve as a test as to how multilateral collaboration could contribute to addressing the lingering issue.

(Xinhua News Agency February 9, 2009)