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WORLD> America
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New leaders unlikely to ease US-Russian tensions
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-05-17 23:47 Even if the next US president were looking to improve relations, the new administration may find it hard to change course on issues that have kept tensions simmering. McCain is an ardent supporter of Bush administration plans to install a radar system in the Czech Republic and missile interceptors in Poland to defend against missiles targeting the West. While the two Democrats have expressed skepticism about costs of the proposed project, they may be bound by agreements the administration is trying to lock up with the two NATO allies. Like Bush, all three candidates have supported the former Soviet republic Georgia's hopes for joining NATO, which Russia opposes. Two years ago, McCain and Clinton both nominated Georgia's pro-Western President Mikhail Saakashvili, an ardent antagonist of Moscow, for the Nobel Peace Prize. Tensions over Georgia have increased in recent weeks as Russia moved toward recognizing two breakaway territories, Abkhazia and South Ossetia, that have sought independence since separatist wars in the 1990s. Putin signaled that his move to step up ties with the territories was related to Western recognition of the Balkan province Kosovo's independence from Serbia over Russian objections. |
