NOVO-OGARYOVO, September 11 (RIA Novosti) - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has a favorable impression of U.S. President Barack Obama and his administration, a leading U.S. academic said Friday.
The Russian premier met on Friday with Timothy Colton, Director of Harvard University's Davis Center, and other international scholars and academics from the Valdai Discussion Club.
Colton, author of an acclaimed biography on former Russian leader Boris Yeltsin, said Putin thought the new U.S. administration was genuinely interested in improving ties with Russia. However, he reiterated that it was too early to pass judgment and noted that actions have to follow words.
In particular, Moscow and Washington have to resolve arms issues. Russia has said it hopes to hold before December at least five rounds of talks with the United States on a new arms reduction deal to replace the existing START-1 treaty.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Obama agreed in July in Moscow on the outline of a final deal to replace the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START-1), which expires on December 5.
"The Obama administration is assertively going to meet Russia halfway. And it is clear that Russia is reacting positively, but cautiously," a leading German academic told RIA Novosti.
"I think it has become extremely clear that the premier, although he is not responsible for foreign policy, relates totally positively to the Obama administration. But this means that all the grudges of the past must be forgotten. Everyone, including Putin...believes this will come off," Professor Dr. Hans-Henning Schroeder said.
Colton also said that Putin's statements regarding Iran were "a pretty familiar restatement of the Russian position."
Iran has been under pressure to halt uranium enrichment, needed both for electricity generation and weapons production. Tehran has repeatedly rejected the demands, insisting it is pursuing a purely civilian program.
Putin said that Iran cannot be deprived of the right to develop a nuclear program, but said the project should not present a threat to the world community. In this case, he said, talks could be held on the issue, and Russia is ready to help find solutions for the Islamic Republic.
Colton added that compared to last year, when the Valdai Discussion Club met with Putin immediately after the South Ossetia war between Russia and Georgia, the premier was "more content, more at ease and in a certain way more assertive."
