Diplomatic relations between Russia and the United States were established in 1807, and the first official contact with one of the American colonies (future Pennsylvania) occurred in 1698.
After the October Revolution of 1917, the United States recognized the USSR only in 1933. During World War II, the USSR and the USA became allies in the Anti-Hitler coalition. Immediately after the end of the war, however, the US and the USSR, as two superpowers, entered into a fierce strategic rivalry for influence in the world (the so-called "cold war"), which determined the development of world processes for half a century.
Currently, relations between Russia and the United States are developing in such areas as the fight against terrorism, non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, and space research.
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The history of Russian-American relations goes back to the end of the 17th century, when an independent American state did not yet exist. In 1698, Peter I met in London with William Penn, the founder of the British colony, which later became the state of Pennsylvania. These were the first bilateral political contacts.
In the first half of the 18th century, active colonization of North America by Russian merchants began. Many Russian settlements were founded in the Aleutian Islands, in continental Alaska, in the territory of the modern Canadian provinces of Yukon and British Columbia and the American states of Washington, Oregon and California. Gradually scattered Russian colonies-settlements were formalized legally; over the territory occupied by Russian settlers, the sovereignty of the Russian Empire was proclaimed. The capital of Russian America was the city of Novoarkhangelsk (now Sitka).
In 1775, an uprising broke out in 13 British colonies against economic oppression by England. George III turned to the Russian Empress Catherine II with a request to assist the British troops in suppressing the uprising, which was refused. On July 4, 1776, the independence of the colonies was proclaimed in Philadelphia. Formally, Russia did not recognize this act, but supported the desire of the colonies for independence. In 1780, at the height of the War of Independence, Russia declared armed neutrality, which meant the actual support of the colonies.
In 1809, Russia and the United States exchanged ambassadors, initiating diplomatic relations. The first US Ambassador to Russia was John Quincy Adams, who later became the sixth President of the United States. Andrey Dashkov became the first Russian ambassador to the United States.
In the 19th century, relations between the United States and Russia were generally friendly, despite the problems that arose at the beginning of the century as a result of the clash of Russian and American interests in the Alaska region and the Pacific coast of North America.
On April 5 (17), 1824, the Russian-American Convention on Friendly Ties, Trade, Navigation and Fishing was signed in St. Petersburg, which streamlined relations between the two states in the northwestern part of North America. It was during the negotiations that preceded its signing that, in the summer of 1823, the Russian government was informed of the intention of the United States to put forward the thesis “America for the Americans” as one of the principles of its foreign policy, subsequently formalized in the form of the Monroe Doctrine. The convention fixed the southern border of the possessions of the Russian Empire in Alaska at a latitude of 54 ° 40 'N. According to the convention, Americans pledged not to settle north of this border, and Russians to the south. Fishing and sailing along the Pacific coast were declared open for 10 years to the ships of both powers.
In 1832, the United States and Russia signed a trade treaty, by which the parties reciprocally granted the most favored nation treatment to the goods and citizens of both countries.
In the middle of the century, the government of Nicholas I attracted American engineers to their projects to modernize the empire. Thus, specialists from the United States played a crucial role in the construction of the railway between Moscow and St. Petersburg and equipping it with rolling stock, in laying the first telegraph lines and re-equipping the army after the Crimean War.
The peak of rapprochement between Russia and the United States was the 1860s. - during the American Civil War and the Polish uprising of 1863-1864. Then Russia and the northern American states had a common enemy - England, which supported both the southerners and the Polish rebels. To counter the actions of the British fleet in 1863, the Baltic squadron of Rear Admiral S. S. Lesovsky arrived in New York, and the Pacific squadron of Rear Admiral A. A. Popov arrived in San Francisco. Based in the USA, Russian sailors were supposed to paralyze English maritime trade in case of war.
In 1867, all Russian possessions east of the Bering Strait were sold to the United States for $7.2 million. In addition to Alaska itself, they included the entire Aleutian archipelago and some islands in the Pacific Ocean.
However, even in the 19th century, contradictions accumulated between Russia and the United States. In 1849-1850. the leader of the Hungarian revolution, Lajos Kossuth, visited the United States and found a sympathetic response in the American province. In 1850, the US Senate, at the initiative of Democratic Senator Lewis Kass, discussed the "Kass resolution" on the need to try European monarchs for suppressing the revolutions of 1848 (primarily, as indicated in the draft resolution, "the Russian emperor"). Democratic Senator John Parker Hell was an active supporter of the resolution. Here is what the American historian Arthur Schlesinger writes about this in his work “The Cycles of American History”:
A future historian, according to Hale, might begin the chapter on 1850 thus: “At the beginning of that year the American Senate, the highest legislature of the world, assembled the wisest and most generous men that ever lived or will live, pushing aside trifling local affairs, concerning their own lands, formed a kind of tribunal and proceeded to judge the nations of the Earth, which had committed the most cruel acts of despotism. Kass's suggestion, Hale continued, is that "we act as angry judges! It is up to us to call the nations of Earth to account, and they will be brought before us as defendants, and we will pass judgment on them." Excellent principle. But why limit yourself to Austria? Hale expressed the hope that the future historian would describe how the United States proceeded "to judge, not some minor power whose trade was negligible and sanctions against which would be cheap, but primarily the Russian Empire, pronouncing its sentence." In the end, Kossuth was defeated by the Russian army. “I will not agree to judge Austria until we have sentenced some of the larger criminals. I do not want our actions to become like catching with frequent nets that catch small fish, but miss the big ones. I want to judge the Russian Tsar, Hale declared, not only for what he did to Hungary, but also “for what he did a long time ago, sending the unfortunate exiles into the Siberian snows ... When we do this, we will show that, in raising our angry voice against a weaker power, we do not do it out of cowardice at all. |
The Kass Resolution was not adopted. But in the 1880s, the US Congress passed a series of decisions condemning the policy of Alexander III in the Jewish question.
As the Russian researcher A. A. Rodionov notes, the reign of the Russian Emperor Alexander III (1881-1894) was characterized by changes in relations between Russia and the United States, which determined the entire future prospect of their development. If the period before 1881 is described by historians as a time of harmonious relations, then starting around 1885 between these states there is a clash of strategic interests and increased rivalry in all spheres of state relations. The entry of Russia and the United States into a higher stage of economic development leads to their foreign policy reorientation, the rapprochement of the United States with Great Britain and Japan, and the American-Russian conflict of interests in the Far East and Manchuria. In the Russian Empire, after the assassination of Alexander II, there is a tightening of the political regime, which intensifies the US-Russian contradictions in the field of ideology and forms of government that appeared long before that. Therefore, it was precisely at this time that a steady interest in the events taking place in Russia arose in American society - in particular, in the activities of the Narodnaya Volya organization and Russian "nihilists". The issues of Russian "nihilism" were actively discussed in the American press, supporters and opponents of this movement gave public lectures and held debates. Initially, the US public condemned the terrorist methods employed by the Russian revolutionaries. In many ways, according to the researcher, this was due to the manifestations of the phenomenon of political terrorism in the United States itself - suffice it to mention the attempts on the lives of Presidents A. Lincoln and D. A. Garfield. At this time, American society was inclined to draw historical parallels between the assassinations of A. Lincoln and Alexander II as two great reformers.
The position of American society in relation to the Russian political regime in Russia in the first half of the 1880s. A. A. Rodionov characterizes it as a moderate criticism of tsarist authoritarianism, largely due to the aggravation of contradictions between the two countries in the field of ideology and forms of government. The tsarist government is criticized in the US for suppressing the Russian liberation movement, stopping reforms, lacking freedom of the press and popular representation, oppressing Jews, etc. At the same time, US public opinion is favorably affected by the continuing legacy of friendly relations between the Russian and American peoples, as well as the absence of acute conflicts between Russia and the United States in the international arena. Nevertheless, the image of Russia as a non-democratic state, where there are no civil liberties and violence is used against dissidents, is beginning to take shape in American society, while the reasons for the emergence of a radical revolutionary movement are associated with the policies of the tsarist government. In the minds of Americans, the feeling of friendship is mixed with condemnation of the reactionary course of the autocracy.
In the second half of the 1880s - early 1890s. the conclusion of the Russian-American treaty on the mutual extradition of criminals (1887) leads to fundamental changes in US public opinion - to the transition from traditional views of the Russian Empire as a friendly power to the so-called crusade for "free Russia". The very possibility of extradition of political refugees was contrary to the basic democratic principles of American society and its liberal tradition. The struggle against the ratification of the treaty in the United States gave rise to a social movement that advocated the reform of Russia on the basis of the principles of freedom and democracy and supported Russian political emigrants. It was during this period that stable negative stereotypes about Russia were formed in the American public consciousness. Russia for many Americans is becoming a country that is at a medieval stage of development, where the "arbitrary" tsarist government oppresses the population, thirsting for liberation.
In the late 1880s - early 1890s. a small but very active opposition to the tsarist regime appears in American society, which is represented by a small group of Russian political emigrants, American journalists, public and political figures, who organized campaigns in support of the cause of “Russian freedom”, which had a significant impact on the formation of the image of Russia. Under the influence of this agitation, many Americans, - the researcher notes, - are beginning to understand the relations between the USA and Russia from the position of a conflict of civilization and barbarism, a shift is taking place in the public opinion of the USA, which will subsequently lead the American society to Russophobic sentiments and to conviction in the "messianic role" of the USA - that the United States is called upon to carry out a liberation mission and to interfere in the affairs of other countries and peoples. From moderate criticism of the Russian political regime, US public opinion is moving to its active condemnation. Such a change is also facilitated by other objective reasons - the US entry into a new stage of development as one of the world's economic leaders and the resulting clash of US and Russian economic interests, the mass immigration of Russian Jews to the US, technological progress and the development of the media in conjunction with the ideological the development of the American nation - the emergence and implementation of the ideas of superiority and teachings about the civilizing duty of the Anglo-Saxon race. Russia is becoming one of the objects of the US global mission as a country that must be transformed along the North American model.
Among the most significant issues that were discussed during this period by American society, we should mention:
As the Russian historian R. Sh. Ganelin notes, at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. relations between the United States and Russia "were not of an intense nature": trade relations were very poorly developed, American capital was just beginning to penetrate into Russia, and governments did not consider each other as significant foreign policy partners. However, already in the second half of the XIX century. ideas about the bipolarity of the world began to take shape, at different ends of which Russia and the United States were located. The image of Russia, according to the definition of the Russian historian V.V. Noskov, “was composed of three main elements - ideas: about the fundamental opposite of the paths of historical development of Russia and America, excluding the possibility of their peaceful coexistence; about Russia, first of all, as an expansionist power, whose actions on the world stage especially threaten the interests of the United States; about the special - uncompromising and all-encompassing - nature and inevitability of the struggle between America and Russia. The Russo-Japanese War and the Revolution of 1905-1907 that followed it, as well as the intensive economic development of Russia at the turn of the century, contributed to increased attention of the American public to Russia.
The determining factors influencing US-Russian relations at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries were the hostile position of the administration of US President Theodore Roosevelt and the American media towards Russia, especially during the Russo-Japanese War, the clash of economic interests in the Far East and Manchuria, as well as friction over the "Jewish question" associated with restrictions on the rights of Jews in Russia and the active emigration of Russian Jews to the United States.
The number of immigrants from Russia to the United States increased gradually starting in the 1880s and peaked in the decade before the First World War. In total, more than 3.2 million people arrived in the United States from the Russian Empire, according to official figures. A distinctive feature that distinguished Russian emigration from the general European flow was the predominance of representatives of national (primarily Jews, but also Poles, Germans, Baltic peoples) and religious (Old Believers and religious sectarians - Stundists, Molokans and Dukhobors) minorities of the Russian Empire, who moved to United States for reasons of national and religious discrimination. In addition, among the Russian emigrants were representatives of opposition and banned political parties and movements, as well as fugitive political prisoners and exiled settlers. At the same time, in the legislation of the Russian Empire there was a ban on emigration, so resettlement in the United States was of a semi-legal, criminal nature. The Russian authorities granted permission to leave the country only to certain ethnic and religious groups, in particular Jews and sectarian groups of Doukhobors and Molokans. Free transition to foreign citizenship was not allowed, and the time spent abroad was limited to five years. In fact, this led to the fact that most of the Russian immigrants were in the United States illegally, and when they returned to the territory of the Russian Empire, they were threatened with criminal prosecution.
The increase in revolutionary and ethno-confessional (especially Jewish) immigration from Russia began to cause concern among American politicians, however, despite the adoption of several restrictive immigration laws, there was no decrease in the number or change in the structure of the flow of Russian immigrants to the United States. At the same time, the illegal status of Russian settlers in the United States and the unwillingness of the tsarist administration to solve the problem of illegal emigration from the country became one of the factors that contributed to the deterioration of Russian-American relations at the beginning of the 20th century. A certain role was also played by the actions of a number of influential Jewish financiers who tried to put pressure on the Russian authorities in order to force them to remove ethno-confessional restrictions on Jews in Russia.
In the 1880s, the United States finally gained a foothold in the Pacific. In 1886, at the initiative of President Grover Cleveland, Congress held hearings on future US policy in the Pacific. The participants in the hearings came to the conclusion that of all the Pacific countries, only the Russian Empire could potentially threaten US interests.
In this regard, the United States did not support the Russian-German-French ultimatum to Japan (1895). In 1899, the United States proclaimed an "open door" policy, which provided for the preservation of China's territorial integrity, primarily by holding back Russian advances into Manchuria and Korea.
In 1900-1902. American naval theorist Rear Admiral A. T. Mahan developed the theory of "containment" of Russia as a powerful "continental" power by creating a bloc of "marine" states led by the United States. AT Mahan and US President Theodore Roosevelt, who shared his concept, believed that the US should pursue a policy of active expansion in the Far East. The rivalry between Washington and St. Petersburg due to economic dominance in this region (primarily in Manchuria) became one of the reasons for the deterioration of Russian-American relations. The ideologues of the US foreign policy believed that the spread of Russian influence in the Far East threatened the economic and political interests of the United States. Speaking for the neutralization of Russian influence in this region, they stated that “Russia is not a civilized country and therefore cannot play a civilizing role in the East… Under the prevailing conditions, an undemocratic regime, an archaic social structure and economic underdevelopment served as an additional argument against Russia.”
Since 1901, Theodore Roosevelt's administration provided financial and military-technical assistance to Japan, Russia's main adversary in the Far East.
Russo-Japanese military conflict of 1904-1905. marked a new frontier in the development of American public opinion about Russia, putting it before the need to determine its attitude towards each of the warring powers. Theodore Roosevelt actually supported Japan, and a syndicate of American banks, organized by J. Schiff, provided Japan with significant financial assistance. At the same time, efforts were made to close Russia's access to Western loans. Russia and the US thus entered a new phase of relations - open rivalry. Public opinion in the United States was also extremely hostile to the Russian government.
Russia and the United States became allies in the First World War. The turning point for relations between the two countries was 1917. After the revolution took place in Russia, the US refused to recognize the Soviet government. In 1918-1920, American troops took part in foreign intervention.
The United States was one of the last states to recognize the USSR. The first ambassador of the USSR to the USA in 1933 was Alexander Troyanovsky. Since 1919, a struggle was launched in the USA against the communist and socialist movement - the activities of left-wing organizations were banned, dangerous, according to the authorities, persons were expelled from the country. Diplomatic relations between the Soviet Union and the United States were established on November 16, 1933. Other events of this period that are important for bilateral relations include the participation of Americans in the rescue of the Chelyuskin in 1934 (two American aircraft mechanics were awarded the Order of Lenin for this), as well as the flight of Valery Chkalov across the North Pole from Moscow to Vancouver in 1937.
During World War II, relations between the US and the USSR remained moderately good. The German attack on the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941, aroused among the American people a wave of respect and sympathy for the Soviet Union, which almost single-handedly resisted fascist aggression. By Roosevelt's decision, from November 1941, the Lend-Lease law was extended to the USSR, under which American military equipment, property and food began to be supplied to the USSR.
But the union treaty between the USSR and the USA (as between the USSR and Great Britain) was not signed. The USSR and the USA were allies on the basis of an international document - the United Nations Declaration of January 1, 1942. Later, on June 23, 1942, a Soviet-American agreement was signed on the supply of military technology. The United States, referring to the text of the Atlantic Charter of 1941, refused to recognize the Baltic states as part of the USSR. The US Congress also regularly raised the issue of religious freedom in the USSR.
The agreements between the members of the Anti-Hitler coalition, reached during and after the end of the war, determined the creation of a bipolar world in which the united West, under the leadership of the United States, opposed the bloc of socialist countries that rallied around the Soviet Union.
At the end of World War II, the USSR became a powerful superpower whose influence extended from Western Europe to the Pacific Ocean. The establishment of pro-Soviet communist regimes in the states of Eastern Europe led to a sharp deterioration in relations between the USSR and the USA. The American leadership tried to prevent the spread of Soviet influence and leftist ideas (which was facilitated by the victory of the USSR in the war) further to the West, in Latin America, Asia and Africa. In the United States itself, anti-communist hysteria began - the so-called "Witch Hunt".
Very soon, the struggle of two ideologies went beyond diplomatic relations and grew into a global confrontation of systems with now and then breaking out armed conflicts around the world - the Korean War, the Vietnam War, numerous Arab-Israeli wars, wars in Latin America, the Middle East and Africa .
An important factor in relations between the Soviet Union and the United States was the arms race. Since August 1945, the United States considered itself a monopoly on the possession of atomic weapons and tried to use this trump card against the USSR. But in 1949, the Soviet Union also acquired atomic, and in 1953 - thermonuclear weapons, and then - and the means of delivering these weapons to targets on the territory of their potential enemy (ballistic missiles). Both countries invested colossally in the military industry; the total nuclear arsenal in a few decades has grown so much that it would be enough to destroy the entire population of the planet more than a dozen times.
Already in the early 1960s, the United States and the Soviet Union were on the brink of nuclear war when the USSR, in response to the deployment of American medium-range missiles in Turkey, deployed its own nuclear missiles in Cuba, leading to the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. Fortunately, thanks to the political will of the leaders of both countries, John F. Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev, a military conflict was avoided. But, in addition to the danger of nuclear war, the arms race posed a threat to the economies of the United States and the USSR. The constant, essentially meaningless, increase in the armed forces threatened economic collapse on both sides. In this situation, a number of bilateral treaties were signed to limit the accumulation of nuclear weapons.
Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev in Geneva November 19, 1985" class="cboxElement">In the 1970s Negotiations were held on the limitation of strategic weapons, as a result of which the SALT-I (1972) treaties were signed, which included the ABM Treaty and SALT-II (1979) to limit launchers.
After the Walkers (Naval Officer Walker, John Anthony) who collaborated with Soviet intelligence were exposed, 25 Soviet diplomats were expelled.
On June 1, 1990, an Agreement was signed between the USSR and the USA on the line of demarcation of maritime spaces (the Agreement on the Shevardnadze-Baker Line), under the terms of which part of the exclusive economic zone of the USSR and a section of the continental shelf with an area of 46.3 thousand square kilometers in the open central parts of the Bering Sea, as well as territorial waters in a small area in the Bering Strait between the islands of Ratmanov (Russia) and Kruzenshtern.
The most acute political, ideological and interethnic crisis that engulfed the Soviet Union by the end of the 1980s led to the collapse of the state. Many conservative American politicians tend to attribute victory in the Cold War to the United States in this regard. One way or another, the collapse of the USSR (and the collapse of the socialist system that preceded it) is considered to be the end of the Cold War and the beginning of new relations between East and West.
Mr. Bush and his 2000 presidential campaign aides promised the nation that they would end what they considered to be intrusive and unproductive US interference in Russia during the Bill Clinton era, which prioritized Russia's integration into the global system of democratic states. with a free market economy.
After the collapse of the USSR, the Russian Federation declared itself the successor state of the Soviet Union, thanks to which Russia inherited a permanent seat on the UN Security Council. American consultants actively participated in the development of economic reforms that marked Russia's transition from a planned to a market economy. During the transitional period, the United States provided humanitarian assistance to Russia (Operation Provide Hope). Relations between Russia and the United States have improved, but not for long.
The collapse of the Soviet Union, the economic and socio-political crisis in Russia, a sharp drop in its international prestige and military-political potential led to the fact that the United States became virtually the only world leader. Russia hoped that with the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact, NATO would sooner or later also be disbanded, especially since the US leadership gave guarantees that the bloc would not expand to the east.
Vladimir Putin and George Bush sign the Offensive Reduction Treaty (SORT)" class="cboxElement">However, in 1999, the Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary were admitted to NATO, and in 2004, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Bulgaria. This fact, as well as the operations of the US and its allies against Yugoslavia, Afghanistan and Iraq, caused confusion in Russia about building relations with the US. On the one hand, after the terrorist act of September 11, 2001 in the United States, Russia joined the anti-terrorist coalition led by the United States, counting on the fact that under the concept of "terrorism" it would be possible to bring the actions of the Chechen separatists under the concept of "terrorism", and, therefore, to receive at least the tacit support of the West; on the other hand, as early as June 13, 2002, the US denounced the 1972 ABM treaty, citing the need to protect itself from "rogue states."
In 2003, Russia, together with France and Germany, actually led the "camp of those who disagree" with the US actions against Iraq. At the end of 2004, an unprecedented "cooling" occurred in Russian-American relations, connected with the events in Ukraine (the "Orange Revolution").
(During M. Albright's visit to Russia in January 1999.) B. N. Yeltsin and M. Albright reaffirmed the commitment of Russia and the United States to building bilateral relations on the basis of equality, respect and consideration of each other's interests. The importance of constructive Russian-American cooperation as a stabilizing factor in international life. The President of the Russian Federation and the US Secretary of State spoke in favor of the further progressive development of multifaceted relations between the two countries at all levels and noted that the emerging differences in approaches to certain problems should not obscure commonality of fundamental strategic goals two countries. M. Albright reaffirmed the principled line of the US administration to support Russian reforms.)
Key issues of concern between Russia and the US include Russia's nuclear assistance to Iran, energy security, the situation in Georgia, Ukraine, and Palestine, and the US-deployed missile defense system in Europe. Under the pretext of developing democracy, the United States is funding some Russian non-governmental organizations and political parties.
On May 4, 2006, US Vice President Richard Cheney, while in Vilnius, delivered a speech that many now call "Vilnius" after the example of Churchill's "Fulton" speech. According to him, the United States is not satisfied with "Russia's use of its mineral resources as a foreign policy weapon of pressure, the violation of human rights in Russia and Russia's destructive actions in the international arena." Russia's refusal to cease cooperation with Iran, Syria, North Korea, Belarus and other states that "cause concern" in the United States leads to constant Russian-American conflicts in the UN Security Council.
In early 2007, a conflict flared up between the United States and Russia over the intention of the United States to deploy elements of its missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic. According to the US leadership, this move is aimed at protecting Europe from North Korean and Iranian missiles. The Russian leadership categorically rejects such an explanation. On February 8, 2007, US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates stated that "the United States of America should be prepared for a possible armed conflict with Russia." In turn, at the Munich Security Conference on February 10, 2007, Vladimir Putin attacked US foreign policy with harsh criticism. The Commander-in-Chief of the Strategic Missile Forces, General Solovtsov, also said that if elements of the US missile defense system are nevertheless deployed in Eastern Europe, Russia may denounce the Treaty on the Elimination of Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles.
On July 14, 2007, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the Decree "On the Suspension by the Russian Federation of the Treaty on Conventional Arms in Europe and Related International Treaties." Observers believe that this decision was the first step of the Russian leadership towards a radical change in the military-political situation on the European continent, which has been developing since the early 1990s not in favor of Russia.
The certificate accompanying the document states that this decision was caused by "exceptional circumstances affecting the security of the Russian Federation." These include, in particular:
In August 2008, a new round of confrontation between Russia and the United States was given by the invasion of Georgian troops into South Ossetia. Russian troops cleared the territory of the almost completely captured unrecognized republic from the Georgian army and for several days continued to bombard military facilities throughout Georgia, after which Russia officially recognized South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states. The continued existence of the Russia-NATO Council was called into question.
Francis Fukuyama noted that with the election of Barack Obama for the first term: “I do not rule out that relations of the Cold War period can resume when we were dealing with Russians who could not be trusted and who at any moment could resort to military force. The only difference will be that, unlike the Soviet Union, Russia is more integrated into the world economy, and therefore more vulnerable. This imposes certain restrictions on the actions of Russia, which did not exist during the Cold War.”
At a briefing on January 7, 2009, dedicated to the policies of the outgoing administration of US President Bush Jr., his national security adviser Stephen Hadley, speaking of US-Russian relations, formulated the results of recent years as follows: “... President Bush worked to take bilateral relations out of the mainstream Cold War confrontations to the path of cooperation in areas where we have common interests, while resolving existing differences in an open, consistent and transparent manner. Among the achievements, Hadley noted US-Russian cooperation in the field of reducing nuclear weapons, non-proliferation of WMD, in solving the Iranian and North Korean problems, and maintaining the negotiation process to achieve peace in the Middle East.
In 2013, the situation in Syria and North Korea, missile defense, the position of non-profit organizations in Russia, the Magnitsky Law and the Dima Yakovlev Law stand out as topics of disagreement between the Russian Federation and the United States.
On the night of May 13-14, the FSB, while recruiting one of the Russian special services, detained Ryan Fogle, an employee of the Central Intelligence Agency, who worked as the third secretary of the political department of the US Embassy in Russia.
The United States, despite problems in the political sphere, has traditionally been one of Russia's leading trading partners. Bilateral trade reached $19.2 billion in 2005, with Russian exports of $15.3 billion and US imports of $3.9 billion
On November 19, 2006, within the framework of the Russian-American summit at the APEC summit in Hanoi, a protocol was signed on the completion of bilateral negotiations with the United States on the terms of Russia's accession to the WTO in a package with intergovernmental agreements on agricultural biotechnologies, on trade in beef, on inspections of enterprises , on the pork trade, on the protection of intellectual property rights and on the procedure for import licensing of goods containing cryptographic means.
In 2005, deliveries of Russian oil and petroleum products to the US reached 466,000 barrels per day. If this trend continues, Russia may enter the top four energy exporters to the United States. In 2003, Gazprom began work on a project to supply liquefied natural gas to the USA. In 2005, the first "swap" deliveries were made. In the mid-2000s, the United States ranked 6th ($8.3 billion) in terms of accumulated foreign investment in Russia (6.5% of the total), with about half of American direct investment invested in the fuel and energy complex. Among the main projects are Sakhalin-1 and the Caspian Pipeline Consortium. At Russian car factories, there are assembly shops for American cars of the Ford brand, General Motors. The non-manufacturing sector accounts for a quarter of US direct investment, directed primarily to banking and insurance activities, as well as to information services.
Direct Russian investment in the American economy exceeds $1 billion. The Russian companies Lukoil, Norilsk Nickel (a platinum group metals plant), Severstal (a steel production company), EvrazGroup (a vanadium), Interros (hydrogen energy) and some others.
Cooperation is developing in the field of high technologies, innovation and informatics. A Russian-American High Technology Innovation Council has been set up, an Intergovernmental Committee on Science and Technology is operating, and Russian companies participate in innovation forums in the United States. Leading companies in the US aerospace industry - Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Pratt & Whitney - have been actively cooperating with Russian enterprises for many years within the framework of projects on the ISS, space launches, the production of aircraft engines, and the development of new aircraft models.
American companies are showing considerable interest in developing trade and economic cooperation with Russian regions. For more than 10 years, the Russian-American Pacific Partnership has been operating, bringing together representatives of business, science, public circles, federal and regional authorities of the Russian Far East and the US West Coast.
US officials occasionally make public statements about the human rights situation in Russia. The US State Department issues annual reports on the state of human rights in countries around the world; The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia in 2005-2013 responded to the assessments made by these reports to Russia. In 2008, 2009 and 2013. The Russian Foreign Ministry also commented on the approach to Russia in the State Department's annual reports on religious freedom in the countries of the world.
The Russian Foreign Ministry in 2011 released a report on human rights in a number of countries, beginning with a section on the United States. A spokesman for the US State Department said the US does not consider foreign criticism of human rights issues to be interference in domestic affairs, without commenting on the report's specific allegations. In 2012, the Russian Foreign Ministry issued a special report on the United States. US State Department spokeswoman V. Nuland commented: “We are an open book and want to continue to improve our society; openness to observation from the world is not a concern for us.”
United States Senate in 2011 and 2013 conducted hearings on human rights and the rule of law in the Russian Federation, the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation in October 2012 held hearings on human rights in the United States.
Cultural cooperation between Russia and the United States is carried out on the basis of the Memorandum of Understanding between the governments of Russia and the United States on the principles of cooperation in the field of culture, the humanities and social sciences, education and the media of September 2, 1998.
In 1999, the Russian Center for Science and Culture was opened in Washington.
The United States cooperates with Russian museums, cultural centers, art groups and artists on the basis of individual projects and contracts. US federal and municipal authorities rely on direct links between organizations, citizens, cultural and educational institutions.
One of the main places in Russian-American cultural cooperation is occupied by a long-term cooperation project between the Guggenheim Foundation and the State Hermitage Museum. Its main goal is to present on a permanent basis expositions of classical art from the Hermitage collection in the Guggenheim museums and, accordingly, to present collections of Western art of the 20th century in the halls of the Hermitage. In October 2001, the Guggenheim-Hermitage Museum opened in Las Vegas. A joint exhibition from the collections of the Hermitage and the Guggenheim was timed to coincide with the opening.
In 2001, the Russian Embassy in Washington hosted a gala concert under the motto "St. Petersburg-2003: Cultural Renaissance". It initiated a series of events in connection with the 300th anniversary of St. Petersburg in order to popularize it as a center of world culture and draw the attention of the American public to the cultural heritage of St. Petersburg.
Relations are actively developing through the US Library of Congress. As part of the Open World Program for Russian Managers, which was established in 1999 on the initiative of Library Director John Billington, more than 4,000 young Russian politicians, entrepreneurs, and public figures have made short-term study trips to the United States. A joint project of the Library of Congress and the Mariinsky Theater was launched to modernize the theatre's archives.
A program of cooperation between the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the Mariinsky Theater is being implemented. This project is designed for 10 years and involves the annual tour of the "Mariinsky" in the largest opera house in the United States. The first performances of the Mariinsky Theater at the Kennedy Center took place on February 12-24, 2002 and became a new milestone in the development of Russian-American cultural ties.
A few days ago, UN Secretary General António Guterres told the Security Council that the Cold War had returned. And Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Moscow's relations with the West are even worse than in those days.
The conflict between Russia and the United States has been growing for several years in a row. But it was not always so. There were warm and even fraternal periods in the history of the two countries. RTVI remembered these moments.
American Revolutionary War
During the war of the North American colonies for independence from the British Empire, Russia, in fact, supported the rebels, declaring armed neutrality in 1779.
The British wanted to blockade the ports of France and Spain, inspect the ships of the neutral powers and even confiscate their goods, but a joint declaration by Russia, Sweden, Denmark and other countries ruined London's plans. The Russian fleet - including with its weapons - helped the young American republic to receive food and other necessary goods.
In the 1860s
During the Civil War, Russia again came to the aid of the Americans. Emperor Alexander II in 1863 sent two Russian squadrons to New York and San Francisco. They kept the southern fleet from attacking these ports and at the same time prevented England and France from entering into a conflict on the side of the Confederates.
Ministers and congressmen have been on Russian ships in New York. On one of the ships, the young Rimsky-Korsakov, the future composer, arrived in New York.
Here are some headlines in American newspapers of the period: “The new alliance is sealed. Russia and the United States are fraternal", "The Russian cross weaves its folds with stars and stripes", "Enthusiastic popular demonstration", "Big Parade on Fifth Street".
Shortly after the end of the American Civil War, Russia sold Alaska to the Americans for $7.2 million in gold.
After the February Revolution of 1917
The United States was the first to recognize the provisional government in Russia. This was personally stated by the Ambassador in Petrograd, David Francis. The US government perceived the new Russia without a czar as a great "brotherly" democratic power, offering loans and support. American journalists were generally positive about the overthrow of the tsar in Russia.
But the friendship of the Democratic brothers was short-lived. After the Bolsheviks came to power, relations deteriorated sharply. The United States supported the "white army" and even sent troops to the Far East and Pomorye.
Early 1930s
The onset of the Great Depression prompted the US to restore relations with the Soviets. In 1933, Washington finally recognized the USSR officially, and after that the countries began to actively make friends - at least in terms of the economy. Moscow needed technology and investment, and American companies needed a market.
Stalin's industrialization was helped, in particular, by Ford, Austin Company (they built a GAZ plant in Nizhny Novgorod), Albert Kahn Inc. (built the Chelyabinsk and Stalingrad tractor plants) and General Electric (helped with GOELRO, in the construction of power plants and the first electric locomotives).
During the Great Patriotic War
After the German attack on the USSR and Japan on the USA in 1941, the countries (together with Britain and other states) became allies. However, lend-lease support began in the fall of 1941. In 1942, an agreement on mutual assistance was signed.
Propaganda in both countries told the soldiers and the population that the countries were fighting for freedom. Propaganda posters were drawn in the USSR, and in the USA, for example, in 1943, a semi-documentary film “Mission to Moscow” was released, which was forcibly shown in all cinemas of the country: it justified the Stalinist repressions of 1937-1938. Ten years later, during the rampage of "McCarthyism", it was banned as pro-communist propaganda.
The culmination was a meeting on the Elbe in April 1945. Already in the summer of 1945, relations began to deteriorate rapidly, especially after the nuclear bombing of Japan.
Fall of the Berlin Wall
Boris Kavashkin / TASS
After the fall of the Berlin Wall
In 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev came to power in the USSR. Along with perestroika and glasnost, he announced a "new mindset" that involved a different outlook on international relations and a rejection of the class approach.
After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the Warsaw Pact collapsed and the former Soviet satellites, one by one, declared democratization and a desire to join a “united” Europe. In the USSR itself, against the backdrop of economic and other difficulties (empty stalls, queues, mass protests, ethnic conflicts), the Western model - primarily the American one - is unequivocally perceived as a role model.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, warm relations continued for several more years. In 1992, President Yeltsin addressed the US Congress with a speech about the need to move from confrontation to interaction.
In 1992-1994 The United States carried out Operation Provide Hope: 25,000 tons of humanitarian supplies were delivered to 33 cities of the former USSR.
In 1994, Russia joined the "Partnership for Peace" - a program of cooperation between the countries of the former USSR and NATO. In 1997, the Russia-NATO founding act was signed, which stated that Russia and NATO are not rivals.
Everything changed dramatically in March 1999 with the start of the bombing of Yugoslavia by NATO aircraft, which for the first time in a long time caused a surge of anti-American sentiment both at the government and at the philistine level.
Gulnara Samoilova / AP
After the September 11 attacks, Vladimir Putin was one of the first to call George W. Bush with words of condolence and support.
Russia joined the antiterrorist coalition, which was created by the United States in 2001. Moscow actively supported the operation in Afghanistan, including providing its own airspace.
For some time it seemed that this warming would be for a long time. In 2002, a joint declaration by Bush and Putin appeared, emphasizing that the countries were now partners. It dealt with respect for democratic values, expansion of ties between countries, joint resolution of conflicts in Afghanistan, Abkhazia, Nagorno-Karabakh, as well as economic cooperation (and Russia's entry into the WTO).
But everything turned bad again in the same 2002, when the US withdrew from the ABM treaty, and Russia from START-2. And with the start of the American operation in Iraq in 2003, relations became even more complicated.
The typo about "overload" became prophetic.
PARTNER NEWS
Russian-American relations, which are a system-forming factor in ensuring global security and stability, have been going through a difficult period in recent years. Under the pretext of an intra-Ukrainian crisis, largely provoked by the Obama administration, in March 2014 Washington set a course for “systemic containment” of Russia and took steps to destroy the foundation of interaction.
D. Trump, who won the US presidential election on November 8, 2016, has repeatedly stated his desire to return the dialogue to a more stable state. However, in practice, Washington continued the confrontational line, using economic, military-political, propaganda and other tools against our country. As of the end of June 2019, 288 Russian citizens and 485 legal entities have been placed under various US restrictions.
The atmosphere of relations is negatively affected by the domestic political situation in the United States. Its component was the use of Russophobia in the inter-party struggle and the spread of baseless insinuations about "Russian interference in the American elections."
On our part, the necessary measures are being taken - both mirror and asymmetric - to protect national interests in connection with the unfriendly actions of Washington. At the same time, we do not close the possibility of normalizing relations if the United States actually shows readiness for equal and mutually beneficial cooperation.
As part of political contacts at the highest level, since the beginning of 2017, V.V. Putin and D. Trump have held six personal meetings, including a full-scale bilateral summit in Helsinki on July 16, 2018, as well as nine of their telephone conversations. A regular dialogue is maintained by the heads of foreign affairs agencies - in addition to talking on the phone, S.V. Lavrov and M. Pompeo held detailed negotiations during the visit of the Secretary of State to Sochi on May 14, 2019, and also meet at events in third countries.
During the conversation of the heads of state on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Osaka on June 28, 2019, both sides expressed their intention to improve the quality of relations and restore channels of communication. It was agreed to resume the dialogue on strategic stability, to consider the possibilities of giving additional impetus to bilateral economic cooperation. Vladimir Putin invited D. Trump to Moscow to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Victory on May 9, 2020.
In the sphere of arms control, a number of serious problems have accumulated due to the actions of the United States. The collapse of the INF Treaty by Washington, finalized by a note from the US State Department on February 2, 2019, dealt a blow to the entire architecture of international security. Russia will not be able to ignore the threats that have arisen in this regard, just as it was previously forced to start developing new offensive weapons in response to the creation of the American missile defense system, which is an integral part of the offensive potential.
In addition, Washington remains uncertain about the fate of the START Treaty expiring in February 2021, ignoring our well-founded questions about its implementation by the American side. The productivity of further dialogue on strategic stability will directly depend on the readiness of the United States to take into account Russian interests and concerns.
At the same time, bilateral contacts on a number of international and regional problems have been intensive in recent times. Since December 2018, the Russian-American counter-terrorism dialogue, interrupted by B. Obama, has resumed. In 2018-1019 Four meetings were held between the Secretary of the Russian Security Council, Nikolai Patrushev, and the Assistant to the President of the United States for National Security, John Bolton. The degree of coordination of our efforts in order to resolve the situation in Afghanistan and on the Korean Peninsula has grown, and the exchange of views on the situation around Syria has intensified.
However, opportunities for cooperation remain limited due to the overall unfavorable situation in the relationship. The aggressive behavior of the United States on the world stage in pursuit of global dominance is also having an effect.
We have long been raising the question of removing the numerous "irritants" created by Washington in the bilateral segment of relations. We demand an end to the “hunt” by the American intelligence services for Russian citizens in third countries, and the speedy return of those who suffered from it, including V. A. But and K. V. Yaroshenko. We insist on the release of M.V. Butina, who was arrested in Washington in the summer of 2018 and convicted on trumped-up charges only for her Russian citizenship.
One of the acute problems is the situation around our diplomatic real estate in the United States. First, the Obama Administration, in the last days of its activity on December 30, 2016, blocked the out-of-town complexes of the Embassy in Washington and the Permanent Mission to the UN in New York. Already under D. Trump, the Russian consulates general in San Francisco and Seattle were forcibly closed, their premises were seized, as well as the building of our Trade Mission. As a result, the American authorities, in violation of international law, actually confiscated six objects that are the property of Russia.
Despite the difficulties in interstate relations, positive dynamics of Russian-American trade is recorded. In 2017 - 2018 it increased from $20 billion to $25 billion. Realization of the potential of economic cooperation could be facilitated by the activities of the Business Advisory Council of the "captains" of private business, the creation of which the presidents agreed at the summit in Helsinki. However, subsequently Washington began to delay the implementation of this initiative.
For our part, we consider it important to develop the widest range of bilateral public and humanitarian contacts that contribute to strengthening mutual understanding between peoples. One of the most promising topics in this context, which evokes an interested response from Russians and Americans, is the common history and cultural and historical heritage, including the preservation of the memory of Russian America and our allied relations during the Second World War.
Diplomatic relations between Russia and the United States were established on November 5 (October 24, old style), 1809. After the 1917 revolution, the United States refused to recognize the Soviet government. Diplomatic relations between the USSR and the USA were established on November 16, 1933.
Russian-American relations have undergone a complex evolution in a relatively short period of time - from the willingness of Russia and the United States to cooperate to mutual disappointment and the gradual distancing of countries from each other.
The first Russian President Boris Yeltsin visited the United States for the first time on January 31-February 1, 1992. A summit was held at Camp David with the participation of the Russian leader and US President George W. Bush. The parties agreed to continue the process of reducing strategic nuclear weapons, to cooperate in the field of arms trade, non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), etc. As a result of the meeting, the Camp David Declaration was adopted, which fixed a new formula for Russian-American relations, and the end of the Cold War was officially proclaimed for the first time. .
On November 7-16, 2001, Russian President Vladimir Putin made his first state visit to the United States. The main topic of the Russian-American consultations was the coordination of joint efforts in the fight against terrorism. They discussed the general international situation and the situation in certain regions of the world - in Central Asia, Iraq, in the zone of the Arab-Israeli conflict and in the Balkans. Following the talks, Vladimir Putin and George W. Bush adopted joint statements on the situation in Afghanistan and the situation in the Middle East, the fight against bioterrorism, countering drug trafficking, new relations between the US and Russia, and economic issues.
Currently, relations between Russia and the United States are going through a difficult period due to different approaches to resolving a number of important international problems. In the context of the intra-Ukrainian crisis, largely provoked by Washington, since March 2014, the Obama administration has taken the path of curtailing ties with Russia, including stopping interaction through all working groups of the Joint Presidential Commission and imposing sanctions against Russian individuals and legal entities in several stages. . The Russian side has taken retaliatory steps, both mirror and asymmetric.
Under these conditions, the ongoing political dialogue at the highest and high levels is of particular importance.
On September 29, 2015, Russian President Vladimir Putin and United States President Barack Obama held a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session in New York.
On November 30, 2015, Vladimir Putin met with US President Barack Obama on the sidelines of the UN climate change conference in Paris. A detailed exchange of views took place on the Syrian problem, and the situation in Ukraine was also discussed.
On September 5, 2016, the leaders of Russia and the United States met on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Hangzhou (China). Topical issues on the international agenda were also discussed, in particular, the situation in Syria and Ukraine.
Vladimir Putin and Barack Obama also spoke on the phone on numerous occasions.
On January 28, 2017, Vladimir Putin had a telephone conversation with US President Donald Trump. Vladimir Putin congratulated Donald Trump on his official assumption of office and wished him success in his future activities. In the course of the conversation, both sides demonstrated their commitment to active joint work to stabilize and develop Russian-American cooperation on a constructive, equal and mutually beneficial basis.
On April 4, 2017, the leaders of Russia and the United States spoke again by phone.
Foreign ministers Sergei Lavrov and John Kerry maintained regular contact, having held more than 20 meetings and dozens of telephone conversations in 2015-2016.
In 2015-2016, John Kerry visited Russia four times on working visits (May 12 and December 15, 2015, March 23-24 and July 14-15, 2016).
On February 16, 2017, the meeting was held by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. The talks between Lavrov and Tillerson were held in Bonn on the eve of the G20 ministerial meeting.
An intensive exchange of views continues on topical international and regional issues, including the situation in the Middle East, Afghanistan and the Korean Peninsula, countering international terrorism and other challenges. With the leading role of Russia and the United States, an agreement was worked out to resolve the Iranian nuclear problem, the work of the International Support Group for Syria was launched, and a ceasefire was put into effect in that country.
The intensity of discussions on arms control and non-proliferation was sharply reduced by Washington in 2014, along with the curtailment of contacts between the military. At the same time, the implementation of the Treaty on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms, signed on April 8, 2010 in Prague, continues (entered into force on February 5, 2011, valid for 10 years with the possibility of extension). One of the most problematic issues in the military-political sphere is the deployment of US missile defense. The dialogue on it was suspended by the Americans, who do not want to take into account Russian concerns, even before the events in Ukraine.
In the past few years, the dynamics of inter-parliamentary relations has significantly decreased due to the negative attitude towards cooperation with Russian parliamentarians on the part of members of Congress. After the Americans imposed sanctions against a number of representatives of the Federal Assembly, only sporadic contacts have taken place.
In the context of an unfavorable economic situation and sanctions, there is a decrease in bilateral trade. According to the Federal Customs Service of the Russian Federation, the foreign trade turnover between Russia and the United States in 2016 amounted to $20,276.8 million (in 2015 - $20,909.9 million), including Russian exports - $9,353.6 million (in 2015 - 9456.4 million dollars) and imports - 10923.2 million dollars (in 2015 - 11453.5 million dollars).
In 2016, the United States ranked fifth in terms of the share of Russian trade turnover, 10th in terms of the share in Russian exports, and third in terms of the share in Russian imports.
In the structure of Russia's exports to the United States in 2016, the main share of deliveries fell on the following types of goods: mineral products (35.60% of Russia's total exports to the United States); metals and products from them (29.24%); products of the chemical industry (17.31%); precious metals and stones (6.32%); machinery, equipment and vehicles (5.08%); wood and pulp and paper products (1.63%).
Russian imports from the USA in 2016 were represented by the following groups of goods: machinery, equipment and vehicles (43.38% of Russia's total imports from the USA); products of the chemical industry (16.31%); food products and agricultural raw materials (4.34%); metals and products from them (4.18%); textiles and footwear (1.09%).
In the sphere of bilateral relations, there are several dozens of intergovernmental and interdepartmental agreements on various issues, including transport, emergency response, etc. In September 2012, the visa facilitation agreement came into force. Russia raises the question of further liberalization of the regime of mutual trips.
In the field of cultural ties, Russian performers of classical music, theater and ballet are touring the United States with great success. Significant efforts are being made to preserve and promote the Russian cultural and historical heritage in the United States, including a museum on the site of the Fort Ross fortress in California.
The material was prepared on the basis of information from RIA Novosti and open sources
U.S.-Russian relations are "going downhill very quickly," according to CNN. This is evidenced by the decision of the Americans to terminate cooperation with the Russian Federation on Syria, as well as Moscow's plans to withdraw from the plutonium disposition agreement, said Jill Dougherty, a public policy specialist at the Woodrow Wilson Center. In her opinion, the relationship is possibly the worst in at least a few years.
To better understand what caused the breakdown of relations between the United States and Russia and in what direction the situation will develop, we will talk with Jill Dougherty, a public policy specialist at the Woodrow Wilson Center and former CNN Moscow bureau chief. She's in touch with us from Washington. Jill, good to see you. How would you comment on this situation? The United States stopped bilateral negotiations with Russia. What consequences can this have?
JILL DOHERTY, Public Policy Specialist at the Woodrow Wilson Center: Well, that in itself is a big step. And, of course, the US says it went for it because of Russian involvement in the bombing of Aleppo, but don't forget that another thing happened today that is even more worrying in a way.
I mean that Russia, and specifically President Putin, announced the possibility of passing a law that would withdraw Russia from the plutonium disposition agreement. And plutonium, as we know, is used in the creation of nuclear weapons. They probably overestimated their capabilities by agreeing that each side would get rid of 34 tons of plutonium. But what is happening now is a step backwards.
President Putin says relations have gotten so bad that Russia now wants to withdraw from the nuclear weapons deal. In these respects, nuclear weapons are a rather dangerous political issue. This is a very serious step. And they[Russian] make it clear that they are sending the US a signal. It turns out that the American decision on Syria and the Russian decision on plutonium indicate that these relations are very quickly moving downhill.
However, the question also arises, in what direction will the situation develop further? You said it's moving downhill fast enough. It looks like the situation will only get worse in the future.
JILL DOHERTY: One of the problems is that... Let's look at the rhetoric. I looked at it recently. The US says the move was not easy for them. Russia says this is a last resort. Let's take a look at the Russian rhetoric, which is more troubling at the moment. They[Russian] they say that the strategic situation in relations between Russia and the United States has changed dramatically. Moreover, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that the United States was threatening terrorist attacks on Russian cities.
These are very harsh statements. And then President Putin, in fact, said: we can give in on this issue, but you must reduce your troops in NATO to the level of 2000, you must lift the sanctions imposed because of Ukraine, pay Russia compensation for the economic damage caused by these sanctions, and you must repeal the Magnitsky law. These are very serious steps that the US is unlikely to take.
So I'm not entirely sure which direction the situation is going to take, but I think Russia is doing its best right now to show that it's angry. And the US also feels that Russia is blackmailing and harming them with its actions in Syria without honoring its end of the bargain. So-I will repeat again -the relationship is possibly the worst it has been in at least a few years.
Material provided by CNN International.
Translated by RT.
Frankfurt football club "Eintracht" announced the identification of one of the players of the coronavirus.
Political scientist Alexander Asafov commented on RT media reports that the United States is exploring the possibility of imposing new sanctions on Russia as one of the levers to influence the oil market in order to stabilize prices.
The National Basketball Association (NBA) has banned players from practicing anywhere outside their home.
During the week, reconnaissance near the borders of Russia was carried out by 22 foreign reconnaissance aircraft and four reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). This is evidenced by the infographic data of the newspaper of the Armed Forces of Russia "Red Star".
The National Basketball Association (NBA) has ordered clubs to close their training facilities due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Denver Nuggets of the National Basketball Association (NBA) have announced a case of coronavirus infection in the team.
Analysts of the Rabota.ru service found out how many Russian workers were transferred to remote work due to the spread of the coronavirus. The results of the survey are at the disposal of RT.
FC Barcelona forward and captain Lionel Messi has taken part in the Stay at Home challenge, the essence of which is to urge people not to go out during the coronavirus pandemic.
The Montenegrin side approved three flights of Aeroflot and Pobeda airlines for the export of Russian citizens on March 20. This was reported by the Russian Embassy.
The Russian defender of the Czech “Mlada Boleslav” Alexey Tataev told how he trains during the quarantine in the country.
The Russian defender of the Czech "Mlada Boleslav" Alexei Tataev told how the country is experiencing the introduction of quarantine due to the spread of coronavirus.
The US State Department urged citizens of the country to immediately return home or be prepared to stay abroad indefinitely.
Forward of Krasnodar and the Russian national football team Ari commented on the situation with his interview with the Brazilian media, in which he spoke about the situation with the coronavirus in Russia.
The United States is exploring the possibility of introducing new sanctions against Russia as one of the levers to influence the oil market in order to stabilize prices. This is reported by The Wall Street Journal, citing sources.
The press service of the Kazan volleyball club "Zenit" reported that the result of the test for the presence of coronavirus in the French team player Erwin Ngapeth is still unknown.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that the country will be under a full quarantine for at least a week - residents must stay at home, otherwise they could be fined.
The Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey League (NHL) do not intend to publish the name of the team player who has contracted the coronavirus.
Economist, lecturer at the RANEPA under the President of Russia Vladislav Ginko commented on the situation with oil prices.
The number of people infected with coronavirus infection COVID-19 in Germany exceeded 15 thousand, 44 people died, N-TV channel reports.
No cases of coronavirus infection were detected among the players of the Lokomotiv Kuban basketball club.
Professor of the Financial University under the Government of Russia Alexander Safonov appreciated the transition to remote work in Russia.
The Cannes International Film Festival, taking place in the south of France, was canceled in May 2020 due to the situation with the spread of the coronavirus infection COVID-19.
An expert of the National Energy Security Fund, a lecturer at the Financial University under the Government of Russia, Stanislav Mitrakhovich, commented in an interview with RT on the accelerating growth in world oil prices.
The French player of the Kazan volleyball club "Zenith" Erwin Ngapeth contracted the coronavirus.
The Russian Center for the Reconciliation of Warring Parties in Syria reported that two Turkish soldiers were killed in a collision with terrorists near the M4 highway in Syria.
The Russian defender of the Czech "Mlada Boleslav" Alexei Tataev spoke about the panic in the country amid the introduction of quarantine due to the spread of coronavirus.
Russian football player of the Czech club "Mlada Boleslav" Alexei Tataev spoke about the situation with coronavirus in the country and the introduction of quarantine.
The number of people infected with the coronavirus infection COVID-19 in France increased by almost 2 thousand per day and reached 10,995. This was announced by the head of the General Directorate of Health of the country, Jerome Salomon.
A woman infected with the COVID-19 coronavirus infection died in Ivano-Frankivsk, the press service of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine reported. This is the third death from the novel coronavirus in the country.
Italian runner Edoardo Melloni spoke about his symptoms of coronavirus.
Igor Zaitsev, the father of the Russian defender of the National Hockey League (NHL) Ottawa Senators club Nikita Zaitsev, denied the information that his son had contracted the coronavirus.
World oil prices have accelerated growth, according to trading data.
The reserves accumulated by Russia will be enough to fulfill all obligations in the conditions of low oil prices for at least six years, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said in an interview with the Rossiya 1 TV channel.
The Automobile Club of Monaco, the organizer of the Formula 1 Grand Prix, has announced the complete cancellation of the 2020 race.
