After Russia granted asylum to NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, Washington pulled out of a summit meeting scheduled for September 2013. Then, after Crimea rejoined Russia, Obama only briefly met Putin on a couple of occasions.
From time to time, the two leaders have phone conversations. But the last time they had in-depth face-to-face discussions was over two years ago, the author underscored.
Many observers have presumed that by meeting Putin Obama now would de facto recognize Crimea’s reunification with Russia and Moscow’s policy toward the Ukrainian crisis, the article read.
"Putin, along with much of Russia’s defense establishment, has interpreted NATO expansion and the development of ballistic missile defenses as attempts to encircle Russia militarily," he added.
According to the author, it is very important to realize that Russia’s concerns are not as groundless as they have been portrayed by Western leaders.
This is why the central task for the Obama administration should be to ease tensions with Russia, according to the analyst.
"That task cannot be accomplished, however, without dialogue. To be fair, Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, have engaged in a number of substantive discussions over the past several years," he wrote.
He added that "Obama surely realizes this." The author reminded that during his election campaign Obama pledged to conduct peaceful policy not only toward US allies.
"Now that the administration has negotiated pivotal agreements with Cuba and Iran, it is time for Obama to make good on that promise with regard to Russia," the article read.
However, one conversation will surely not be enough to restore relations between Washington and Moscow, the author underscored.
"For that reason, an Obama-Putin meeting at the United Nations must not be a one-off event," according to him.
Dialogue is the only way to prove that cooperation between Russia and the West could give more benefits than confrontation, the author concluded.
