Two Senate Republican hawks are calling for changes in the United States’ relations with Russia, including a push forward on missile defenses in Europe.
Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), senior members of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), said Thursday they agree with President Barack Obama’s decision to cancel his planned meeting in Russia with President Vladimir Putin. The Russian government is granting asylum to Edward Snowden, the U.S. citizen and former Booz Allen Hamilton [BAH] contractor who leaked classified details of National Security Agency programs.
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McCain and Graham, in a statement Thursday, said of the United States “now we must move beyond symbolic acts and take the steps necessary to establish a more realistic approach to our relations with Russia.”
“That means demonstrating to the Russian government that there will be consequences for its continued actions that undermine American national interests,” they said.
Graham and McCain’s wish list calls for U.S. officials to “push for the completion of all phases of our missile defense programs in Europe, and move expeditiously on another round of NATO expansion, including the Republic of Georgia.”
The White House issued a statement Wednesday stating: “Following a careful review begun in July, we have reached the conclusion that there is not enough recent progress in our bilateral agenda with Russia to hold a U.S.-Russia Summit in early September.”
“We value the achievements made with Russia in the president’s first term, including the New START Treaty, and cooperation on Afghanistan, Iran, and North Korea,” spokesman Jay Carney said in writing. “However, given our lack of progress on issues such as missile defense and arms control, trade and commercial relations, global security issues, and human rights and civil society in the last twelve months, we have informed the Russian government that we believe it would be more constructive to postpone the summit until we have more results from our shared agenda.”
Carney referred to Russia’ “disappointing decision” to grant Snowden as “a factor that we considered in assessing the current state of our bilateral relationship.”
Saying “cooperation on these issues remains a priority for the United States,” Carney said Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Secretary of State John Kerry will meet on Friday with their Russian counterparts in a “2+2 format” in Washington.
Carney further told reporters Thursday at a press conference that Hagel and Kerry during the meeting will be “very blunt and clear about our disagreements on Syria, on missile defense, and other areas.”
Russian broke off talks about involvement with Obama’s Phased Adaptive Approach (PAA) to missile defense in and around Europe after NATO would not provide legal guarantees that the systems would not target Russia’s strategic nuclear deterrent (Defense Daily, March 27). The PAA includes sites in Poland and Romania.
Obama plans to hold a press conference today, he told reporters yesterday, according to a press pool report.