Russian Senator Pleased With Washington Summit's Immediate Outcomes

Mikhail Margelov, in charge of the international affairs committee of the Federation Council, or the upper parliamentary house, has given a positive assessment to the Washington summit's immediate results. The initiatives and joint statements being adopted in Washington had been more or less exactly forecast, which is "by all means a positive thing, since it is predictability and stability, not sensations, that Russo-American relations need the most," according to the senator. Presidents Vladimir Putin and George Bush of Russia and the US stated the intention to carry on dialogue on strategic stability, particularly to revise its concept with regard to a new level of mutual trust, said Margelov. The senator pointed to the fact that it was probably the first time the two countries confirmed in documents that they no longer regard each other as sources of mutual threats. That was a far-reaching statement a logical continuation of which must, among other things, be revision of Russia's relations with NATO, considering the USA's role in the alliance, said Margelov. Until recently, it was a threat allegedly posed by the East that NATO gave as a basic reason behind its eastward expansion, said the Russian senator.