Burgers, Boeings and bonhomie as Obama meets Medvedev

Obama and Medvedev sought to cement their “reset” in national security ties with new progress in trade and exports, and munched burgers and strolled outside the White House together in carefully choreographed photo-ops.

The U.S. leader praised Medvedev as a “solid and reliable partner” — adding “we listen to one another and we speak candidly. ... By any measure, we have made significant progress and achieved concrete results.”

After signing a landmark nuclear arms reduction treaty signed in April, each leader sought new economic frontiers, announcing a deal to resume U.S. poultry exports to Russia after a row over health and safety standards.

That deal allowed Obama to say he would order U.S. negotiators to accelerate a dialogue with Moscow on Russia's long desired entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Obama, struggling to cut U.S. jobless rolls, also said that Russia would buy 50 Boeing aircraft valued at four billion dollars that could create 44,000 American jobs, part of a broad array of major trade and investment deals.

Medvedev said the work he and Obama had done had made the world “safer” and, after arriving in Washington from high-tech Silicon Valley, said it was time to move on from geopolitical cooperation to the economic sphere.

“We are ready for that now; our American partners are ready for the same thing.”

The imagery of the visit was carefully planned to suggest a relationship functioning both at a personal level, as well as diplomatically.

Obama and Medvedev left the White House after their talks to munch cheese burgers at the president's favorite fast food joint in Arlington, Virginia, “Ray's Hell-Burger.”

Later, in a highly unusual move, the two presidents left the White House under the gaze of Secret Service sharpshooters on nearby roofs, and strolled to a Russia investment summit at the nearby U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Obama noted how the United States and Russia had worked together to further disarmament, to open new transit routes to Afghanistan and to frame new nuclear sanctions against Iran in the United Nations Security Council.

The only sign of discord at the summit was an acknowledgement by Obama that the two sides were not on the same page on everything.

“Our two countries continue to disagree on certain issues, such as Georgia, and we addressed those differences candidly.

“But by moving forward in areas where we do agree, we have succeeded in resetting our relationship, which benefits regional and global security.”

In that vein the two leaders issued a sheaf of statements, agreeing to work together on issues as diverse as rules for adoption, putting air marshals on U.S.-Russia flights, and expressing concern at events in Kyrgyzstan.

Obama took office vowing to recalibrate relations with the Kremlin, after a tense period in the latter years of the Bush administration, which included tensions over Russia's war with Georgia.

However, some U.S. critics of Obama say he may be relying too much on a personal relationship with Medvedev, and argue that the real power in Russia lies with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

They also cite what they say is a deteriorating human rights situation in Russia and question whether Moscow is merely cooperating with Washington in the short-term in a bid to enhance its long-term geopolitical interests.

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