Rights Activist: Obama Lost 'Reset' with Putin
Eli Lake writes in the Washington Times:
A key leader of Russia's democratic opposition said this week that Russians are unsure of President Obama's position on support for democracy and human rights in Russia.
Boris Nemtsov, former Russian deputy prime minister and founder of Russia's "Solidarity" movement, also said in a speech this week that Mr. Obama is making a strategic error if he thinks ratifying an arms treaty with Russia would "reset" relations with America's former Cold War rival.
"Russians do not know what Obama thinks about human rights and democracy," he told a conference held by the Foreign Policy Initiative.
The criticism from Mr. Nemtsov highlights the Obama administration's approach to improving relations with Russia that critics say has neglected past U.S. priorities for Russia, such as advancing democracy and the rule of law. Instead, the administration has sought to win Russian cooperation with U.S. goals at the United Nations, to sanction Iran and to win cooperation for U.S. military operations in Afghanistan.
The centerpiece of the so-called "reset" in Russian ties was the signing in April of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), an agreement the White House wants ratified before the end of the year during the current lame-duck session of the Senate.
Mr. Nemtsov, who said he supports arms control, noted that the United States signed a similar arms treaty with Soviet-era leader Leonid Brezhnev.
"Now [Prime Minister Vladimir] Putin is in power; it will not reset. Reset is confidence. Do we have confidence? The answer is 'no,' because Putin has absolutely different values than Obama. Obama believes really in rule of law, freedom, freedom of speech and democracy. Putin believes in money, business and power," he said.
But Mr. Nemtsov was particularly critical of Mr. Obama's track record on promoting democracy. ...
Click here to read more.
