Vice President Joseph Biden Jr. essentially completed his Russia visit designed to keep the Russia-US "reset" --a term that Biden himself coined --humming away. The trick in this visit was how the vice president was going to massage the "2 track" administration approach to relations with Moscow.
One track is mutually beneficial relations in terms of trade and Afghanistan; the 2nd track is an attempt to show that America has not turned its back on human rights issues in Russia. In his address to the Skolkovo business school in an area that Russian President Dmitry Medvedev wants to turn into a Russian version of Silicon Valley, the American vice president praised growing commercial ties between the two countries. However, he but also told his audience that "investors are looking for assurances that the legal system treats them fairly and acts on their concerns swiftly." In other words, if you really want to help business ties, then combat corruption and arbitrariness.
The United States will work in support of Russia's application to the World Trade Organization that Biden called "the most important item on our agenda". To enter the WTO, one needs the unanimous approval of the existing members and this includes Georgia that seeks to turn the situation to its advantage and pressure Russia on its support for separatist regions. Biden also pledged administration support for lifting the trade restrictions originally imposed as part of the Jackson-Vanik Amendment back in 1973, during Soviet times.
The Russians also brought good will gestures to the meeting by letting Biden preside over the signing of a $2 billion aircraft contract to Boeing on the part of the Russian national carrier Aeroflot. Another Russian gift -although one could call it enlightened self-interest - was an agreement on military transits to Afghanistan via Russia. Up to now, transit was permitted only for "non-lethal" commodities such as food and fuel. Now the agreement is expanded to cover armored vehicles that also can be shipped back to Europe via Central Asia and Russia. The United States and NATO are doing Russia a service by tying down Muslim extremists in Afghanistan, who otherwise could be infiltrating Russia's Muslim areas.
In Biden's meeting with Vladimir Putin's Russian, Medvedev, the Prime Minister suggested that Russia and the United States mutually waive visa requirements. In this case, the United States would leapfrog Europe in its relations with Russia: "this would be an historic step in the development of international relations this would put to rest all the old stereotypes."
Biden was careful to soothe Russian pride by bringing along his granddaughter Finnegan to see the Bolshoi in Moscow. He also emphasized Russia's status as a great power. When problems arise, Biden observed, countries turn either to Washington or Moscow, and "others do not exist." Although one of the Russian expectations is that America will help modernize the Russian economy, Biden lavished praise on existing Russian technology.
"The head of one of Russia's Corporations said that American businesses go to Russia because here there is a large market…but by our estimates the Chinese market is 7 times larger and the other reason to go to Russia is because there you find the best engineering." He then slightly spoiled it by saying that "thanks to your titanium, our airplanes fly, which you then purchase." This of course drove home the stereotype that the Russian economy basically furnishes raw materials and purchases finished products. The vice president, who is known for his occasional gaffes, also referred to both Dmitry Medvedev and Vladimir Putin as president, a mistake that may have been Freudian.
To show that the United States had not neglected the 2nd track, Biden met at the US ambassador's residence with members of Russian "civil society", including some opposition personalities who were photographed with the vice president and were given a few minutes to present their case.