March 3, 2009

A Deal With Russia?

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Peter Baker of the New York Times reports on the latest diplomatic move from Barack Obama:

President Obama sent a secret letter to Russia’s president last month suggesting that he would back off deploying a new missile defense system in Eastern Europe if Moscow would help stop Iran from developing long-range weapons, American officials said Monday.

….The officials who described the contents of the message requested anonymity because it has not been made public. While they said it did not offer a direct quid pro quo, the letter was intended to give Moscow an incentive to join the United States in a common front against Iran.

….The officials who described the contents of the message requested anonymity because it has not been made public. While they said it did not offer a direct quid pro quo, the letter was intended to give Moscow an incentive to join the United States in a common front against Iran.

I’m not sure what to make of this.  The story shows every sign of being an official leak, something that Obama wanted to make public prior to Hillary Clinton’s meeting with the Russian foreign minister later this week.  But does making it public really help its chances of being accepted?  Doesn’t seem like it.  Or perhaps the leak was designed more to put pressure on Iran than it was to put pressure on Russia?

Very odd.  Consider me mystified by this.

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