Mitt Romney & Barack Obama Officially Enter 2012 General Election Campaign Trail: Transcripts vs Tax Returns!

Mitt Romney's people wants ALL Transcripts of Pres. Obama's Meetings with Foreign Leaders released to the Public.

Pres. Obama's camp pushes back by demanding that ALL of Mitt Romney's Tax Returns be released dating back to the 1980's.

It looks as if the 2012 General Election Campaign Season has Officially begun.

Pres. Obama is going to Win, however this is a REAL Campaign. Romney & GOP leaders won't make it easy for Pres. Obama.

I also believe the GOP will take the U.S. Senate just as they did with the House back in 2010.

May the BEST, Most Qualified Presidential Candidate Win!


Team Romney Calls For All Transcripts Of Obama's Meetings With Foreign Leaders, Dems Hit Back

The Romney campaign suggested Friday that President Obama should release notes and transcripts from his meetings with world leaders to prove that he is not promising world leaders to change his position after November, in a statement to National Journal. Democrats responded that this request betray's Romney's foreign policy "naiveté."

The statement, from Romney spokeswoman Andrea Saul, came in response to a call from the Obama campaign that Romney release 30 years worth of tax returns. Team Obama claims that a policy that allowed Bain Capital employees to invest retirement money in companies bought by Bain through a special share class, raises "questions about Romney's manipulation of the tax laws." Saul's response brought the subject back to Obama with a reference to his "hot mic" incident with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev:

“The Obama campaign is playing politics, just as he’s doing in his conduct of foreign policy," Romney spokesperson Andrea Saul wrote. "Obama should release the notes and transcripts of all his meetings with world leaders so the American people can be satisfied that he’s not promising to sell out the country’s interests after the election is over.”

The DNC responded with a statement from Dr. Colin Kahl, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Middle East, stressing the problems with releasing sensitive information from these meetings:

Having been in many sensitive meetings with our allies around the world, the Romney campaign's comment shows a remarkable naiveté about foreign policy.

For example, does Governor Romney think we should release all the notes and transcripts of the President's conversations with our allies, such as the Israelis and Europeans, tipping our hand to Tehran about every last element of our strategy to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon?

Our friends around the world need to trust that they can speak with the President of the United States in confidence, and that these conversations will not be politicized during an election.

Such a dramatic and unprecedented step would undermine the ability of the United States to successfully conduct foreign policy at a time when our nation faces numerous challenges abroad, and suggesting it is just a reckless attempt to score cheap political points. It is yet another indication that Mitt Romney is not ready to be Commander-in-Chief.





Report: Obama Camp Calls For Romney Tax Returns


President Obama’s re-election campaign is calling on Mitt Romney to release his tax returns dating back to the 1980s, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Following a front-page Wall Street Journal article Thursday reporting that employees at Bain Capital, Romney’s former private-equity firm, were allowed to invest their retirement money in companies the firm acquired through a special share class, the Obama camp is seeking Romney’s old tax returns to see if they contain information about the investment arrangement.

Reports indicate that the deal could have increased the value of certain investments, which may have helped swell Romney’s retirement account. The candidate’s IRA was valued at between $20.7 million and $101.6 million as of August, according to his financial disclosures.

“Today’s report raises additional questions about Gov. Romney’s manipulation of the tax laws,” Ben LaBolt, an Obama spokesman, told The Journal, adding that Romney “may have engaged in questionable maneuvers to drive up the value of his IRA.”
Romney released his 2010 and preliminary 2011 tax returns earlier this year.

The Romney campaign pushed back Friday with their own request in an e-mail to National Journal: that Obama release the transcripts of all his meetings with world leaders.

“The Obama campaign is playing politics, just as he’s doing in his conduct of foreign policy," Romney spokesperson Andrea Saul wrote. "Obama should release the notes and transcripts of all his meetings with world leaders so the American people can be satisfied that he’s not promising to sell out the country’s interests after the election is over.”


Sources: CNN, National Journal, TPM, Wall Street Journal, Youtube

GOP Stops Cold Obama's START Concessions Treaty With Russia!

G.O.P. Opposition Dims Hope for Arms Treaty With Russia


President Obama’s hopes of ratifying a new arms control treaty with Russia by the end of the year appeared to come undone on Tuesday as the chief Senate Republican negotiator moved to block a vote on the pact, one of the White House’s top foreign policy goals, in the lame-duck session of Congress.

The announcement by the senator, Jon Kyl of Arizona, the Republican point man on the issue, blindsided and angered the White House, which vowed to keep pressing for approval of the so-called New Start treaty. But the White House strategy had hinged entirely on winning over Mr. Kyl, and Democrats, who began scrambling for a backup plan, said they considered the chances of success slim.

Winning approval of the treaty will only become harder for the White House next year, when Democrats will have six fewer seats in the Senate, forcing the administration to rely on additional Republican votes to reach the 67 needed for ratification.

The treaty, which would force both countries to pare back nuclear arsenals and resume mutual inspections that lapsed last year for the first time since the cold war, is the centerpiece of two of Mr. Obama’s signature goals: restoring friendly relations with Russia and putting the world on a path toward eventually eliminating nuclear arms. A failure to ratify the treaty could freeze both efforts and, some analysts said, undermine Mr. Obama’s credibility on the world stage.

“Failure to pass the New Start treaty this year would endanger our national security,” Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., who has led negotiations with Mr. Kyl, said in a statement. It would mean “no verification regime to track Russia’s strategic nuclear arsenal,” Mr. Biden said, and would sour a relationship that has helped open a new supply route to troops in Afghanistan and increase pressure on Iran to halt its nuclear program.

“Given New Start’s Bi-partisan support and enormous importance to our national security, the time to act is now, and we will continue to seek its approval by the Senate before the end of the year,” Mr. Biden said.

Both parties had considered Mr. Kyl the make-or-break voice on the pact, with Senate Republicans essentially deputizing him to work out a deal that would secure tens of billions of dollars to modernize the nation’s nuclear weapons complex in exchange for approval of the treaty.

Over many months of negotiations, the administration committed to spending $80 billion to do that over the next 10 years, and on Friday offered to chip in $4.1 billion more over the next five years. As a gesture of commitment, the White House had made sure extra money for modernization was included in the stopgap spending resolution now keeping the government operating, even though almost no other program received an increase in money.

All told, White House officials counted 29 meetings, phone calls, briefings or letters involving Mr. Kyl or his staff. They said they thought they had given him everything he wanted, and were optimistic about completing a deal this week, only to learn about his decision on Tuesday from reporters.

Mr. Kyl said he informed the Senate Democratic leader that there was not enough time to resolve all the issues during the lame-duck session that opened this week. “When majority leader Harry Reid asked me if I thought the treaty could be considered in the lame-duck session, I replied I did not think so given the combination of other work Congress must do and the complex and unresolved issues related to Start and modernization,” Mr. Kyl said in a written statement.

Mr. Kyl declined a request to be interviewed. Asked if the senator’s statement was meant to close the door to a lame-duck vote, his spokesman, Ryan Patmintra said: “Correct. Given the pending legislative business and outstanding issues on the treaty and modernization, there doesn’t appear to be enough time.”

Some Democrats hoped there was still an opening. “I talked with Senator Kyl today, and I do not believe the door is closed to considering New Start during the lame-duck session,” said Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who has presided over most of the 18 hearings on the treaty and secured endorsements from prominent Republican national security figures.

Mr. Kerry plans to hold a news conference on Wednesday with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Senator Richard G. Lugar of Indiana, a Republican treaty supporter. Mr. Biden said the administration would still support the additional $4.1 billion it offered Mr. Kyl on Friday.

Since a treaty requires a two-thirds vote, the White House needs at least eight Republicans in the departing Senate and thought it had a dozen ready to vote yes if Mr. Kyl assented. Without him, though, they began melting away. Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee, who voted for the treaty in committee, said Tuesday he now questions whether it’s “even practical for the administration to rush passage of the Start treaty during this lame-duck session.”

A Democratic leadership aide who spoke on the condition of anonymity to be more candid said, “If the Republicans’ lead negotiator says we shouldn’t consider Start during a lame duck, I think we have to take him at face value. Having said that, we are going to try and get it ratified in the lame duck.”

The Kremlin did not respond to the development, but Russian officials have expressed fear that Republican victories in this month’s midterm elections would damage relations. “We don’t have confidence that the document will secure enough votes,” Konstantin I. Kosachev, chairman of a parliamentary foreign affairs committee, said earlier in the day, according to the Russian news media. “The problem is not that the document is bad. We are confronting the fact that Republicans refuse to ratify the treaty.”

Mr. Obama had assured President Dmitri A. Medvedev during a meeting just two days earlier that winning approval of the treaty was his “top priority” in foreign affairs for the lame-duck session. If he cannot, it may embolden hard-liners in Moscow who have been skeptical of the so-called effort to “reset” the relationship with Russia.

“Start was the linchpin on which a lot of the reset was built,” said Angela E. Stent, director of Russian studies at Georgetown University. “What impact, if any, will it have on Russia’s willingness to cooperate on Iran or on Afghanistan?”

Critics have said that such worries are overstated and that the Obama administration was too willing to curry favor with Moscow at the expense of American national security.

Baker Spring, an analyst at the conservative Heritage Foundation, said Mr. Kyl was simply acting to ensure that the nation’s nuclear program was adequately maintained. “I do not understand why the White House would label this obstructionism,” Mr. Spring said. “It appears to be stepping away from its previous acknowledgment regarding the need to improve the nuclear weapons complex.”

If the issue carries over to the new Senate, it could be months before it is taken up again, and its chances would be even more uncertain given the Republican gains in this month’s elections.

The treaty would restore mutual inspections and prohibit both countries from deploying more than 1,550 strategic warheads and 700 launchers each. The administration hoped to follow up this treaty with another more ambitious one to reduce tactical nuclear weapons and stored strategic weapons. It also hoped to follow up by reviving the never-ratified Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. And it envisioned negotiating another new treaty that would cut off new production of fissile material.

Even as the Start treaty appeared imperiled, the administration announced on Tuesday that this weekend it expected NATO to approve, at least in concept, a European missile defense system, aimed largely at defending against an attack launched from Iran, though the alliance’s leaders will not identify by name any country they are trying to defend against.

When Mr. Obama goes to a NATO summit meeting in Lisbon this week, Ivo Daalder, the United States ambassador to NATO, told reporters, one of the major issues will be whether the alliance is prepared to defend “against armed ballistic missiles coming towards NATO territory,” and he said that “alliance leaders will answer that question positively, we expect.”

But Turkey has balked at aspects of the plan, for fear of angering Iran. The declaration this coming weekend will leave unclear what form the missile defense system will take, and will also remain silent on the future of tactical nuclear weapons still based in Europe.





Kyl: Don't Consider START Treaty In Lame-Duck Session


A key Republican senator cast doubt Tuesday on the Obama administration's chances of passing the nuclear treaty with Russia during the lame-duck session of Congress.

Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Arizona, who is taking the lead for Republicans on negotiating with the administration on ratification of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START), said in a statement he told Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, that the accord should not be considered before January, when the newly elected Congress is seated.

"When Majority Leader Harry Reid asked me if I thought the treaty could be considered in the lame-duck session, I replied I did not think so given the combination of other work Congress must do and the complex and unresolved issues related to START and modernization," Kyl said.

"I appreciate the recent effort by the Administration to address some of the issues that we have raised and I look forward to continuing to work with Senator [John] Kerry, DOD, and DOE officials," he said, referring to the Massachusetts Democrat and the departments of defense and energy.

Alarmed Democrats were quick to respond, arguing that it would be dangerous to delay consideration of the treaty.

Vice President Joe Biden released a statement warning that "failure to pass the [new treaty] this year would endanger our national security. Without ratification of this treaty, we will have no Americans on the ground to inspect Russia's nuclear activities, no verification regime to track Russia's strategic nuclear arsenal, less cooperation between the two nations that account for 90 percent of the world's nuclear weapons, and no verified nuclear reductions."

Biden called the treaty "a fundamental part of our relationship with Russia, which has been critical to our ability to supply our troops in Afghanistan and to impose and enforce strong sanctions on the Iranian government."

The vice president said the administration will continue to seek Senate approval of the treaty before the end of the year.

Kerry said he had talked with Kyl and does "not believe the door is closed to considering [the treaty] during the lame duck session."

"Ratifying New START is not a political choice, it's a national security imperative," he declared.

The White House said it has been working to allay Kyl's concern, even sending three administration officials to meet with him last week and offering an additional $4.1 billion for modernization of the weapons program. Still, despite the outreach, the White House only learned of Kyl's opposition to taking up the vote during the lame-duck session "via the press," a senior administration official said. Hours later the White House issued the strongly worded statement from the vice president.

"The key point is that Senator Kyl has always asked for more funding to modernize the nuclear stockpile. An offer to do exactly that was made to Kyl in a three-hour briefing on Friday, in person," the official said. "Additionally, there has been an extraordinary amount of consultation with the Senate."

State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley also weighed in, saying that "we believe that we've answered all of their questions. We've addressed ... concerns that Sen. Kyl and others have expressed about ensuring that there is an effective modernization program as a companion to the New START treaty."

Crowley promised that the administration will continue to engage Kyl and others "in good faith."

The White House is offering to spend $4 billion more over five years for nuclear weapons modernization, in an effort to win over Kyl and other holdout Republicans who have questioned whether the Obama administration will provide enough money for modernization of the nuclear force remaining after the proposed START cuts the number of deployed warheads to 1,550.


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Sources: CNN, MSNBC, NY Times, Youtube, Google Maps

10 Alleged Russian Spies Arrested, Held Until July 1st

Feds Arrest 10 Accused Of Being Russian Spies


Less than a week after Russian President Dmitry Medvedev visited the United States, the Justice Department announced Monday that 10 people were arrested on charges of being Russian agents involved in a long-term mission in the country. Another suspect was still being sought.

Five of the arrested suspects appeared in a New York courtroom Monday. Four of the five, including a longtime U.S.-based columnist for the Spanish-language "El Diario" newspaper, were advised of their rights and ordered held due to flight risk, with their next hearing scheduled for July 1.

The other defendant, identified in a court document as Anna Chapman, was denied bail, and her next hearing was scheduled for July 27.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Farbiarz said search warrants in the case were being executed "across the country." He called the initial criminal complaint "the tip of the iceberg."

"These people are trained together," Farbiarz said of the defendants. "At the core of this is deception."

Separate hearings for the other detained suspects were expected later Monday in other states.

A Russian Embassy spokesman said Monday that he was unaware of the reports of the arrests, and said he is seeking more information from Russian officials.

The suspects were "trained Russian intelligence operatives," a Justice Department spokesman said, and information from court documents alleged they were part of a mission to plant "deep-cover" agents in the United States.

The Justice Department said the 10 people arrested and another person not yet in custody were supposed to recruit intelligence agents, but were not directly involved in obtaining U.S. secrets themselves. All were charged with acting as agents of a foreign government, and nine also were charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering.

The charges include conspiracy to act as an agent of a foreign government without notifying the U.S. attorney general, a crime that carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison, the Justice Department said. Conspiracy to commit money laundering has a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

The case resulted from a "multiyear investigation" conducted by the FBI, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York and the Justice Department's National Security Division, according to a Justice Department statement. The 11 suspects were charged in two separate criminal complaints.

Last week, President Barack Obama and Medvedev spoke of strengthened ties between the former Cold War foes after their meeting at the White House. However, court documents and Justice Department officials described a Russian intelligence operation straight out of a 1950s spy novel.

According to the court documents, some of the suspects adopted phony identities, including those of dead Americans, and posed as married couples. The suspects engaged in secret communications including exchanges of bags, money drops and use of invisible ink, as well as more modern touches such as private wireless computer networks between specific laptops, the documents said.

A decrypted message from Moscow to two of the suspects said they were sent to the United States for "long-term service," one of the documents said.

"Your education, bank accounts, car, house, etc. -- all these serve one goal: fulfill your main mission, i.e., to search and develop ties in policymaking circles in U.S. and send intels (intelligence reports)," the document said.

The Russian operation was believed to date back to the 1990s, the court document said. It added that the FBI conducted extensive electronic surveillance of the suspects for years, including secretly recording and videotaping them and surreptitiously entering residences to take photographs and copy documents.

One of the suspects is Vicky Pelaez, a columnist for "El Diario" for more than 20 years covering politics, immigration and other issues, her lawyer confirmed. Pelaez is married to Juan Lazaro, another of the suspects arrested Monday, and the couple resided in Yonkers, a New York suburb.

Pelaez, Lazaro, Chapman and two other suspects -- identified as Richard Murphy and Cynthia Murphy -- appeared in the New York courtroom. The other suspects were identified in court documents as Donald Howard Heathfield, Tracey Lee Ann Foley, Michael Zottoli, Patricia Mills and Mikhail Semenko. Another suspect, Christopher R. Metsos, was still being sought.

Semenko and Chapman allegedly conducted the private wireless computer links to communicate with a Russian government official, one court document alleged. In one instance, Chapman was in a bookshop and the Russian government official drove by in a van to make the wireless connection, the document said.

Another document described alleged efforts to secretly get money to the suspects to fund their clandestine activities, including money drops involving exchanged bags in public places and other subterfuge.

In one incident, Metsos, the suspect still at large, received money from a Russian agent and buried it in a park in northern Virginia, the document said. Mills and Zottoli later showed up at the park to dig up the money, the document said.


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Sources: CNN, Google Maps

World Leaders, Polish Citizens Mourn Lech Kaczynski's Death

World leaders Pay Tribute To Polish Leader


World leaders, agencies and officials mourned the death of Polish president Lech Kaczynski who was killed in a plane crash early Saturday.

U.S. President Barack Obama: "Today, I called Polish Prime Minister Tusk to express Michelle's and my deepest condolences to the people of Poland on the tragic deaths this morning of President Lech Kaczynski, First Lady Maria Kaczynski, and all who were traveling with them to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Katyn massacre.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the Kaczynski family, the loved ones of those killed in this tragic plane crash, and the Polish nation. Today's loss is devastating to Poland, to the United States, and to the world. President Kaczynski was a distinguished statesman who played a key role in the Solidarity movement, and he was widely admired in the United States as a leader dedicated to advancing freedom and human dignity."

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev: The Russian president offered his condolences to Polish Parliament Speaker Bronislaw Komorowski during a telephone conversation with him, Interfax reported.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown: "I was shocked and saddened at the death of Polish President Lech Kaczynski and his wife Maria. President Kaczynski was one of the defining actors in Poland's modern political history.

"From his role in the Solidarity movement to his long and distinguished career in public service -- including as Justice Minister, Mayor of Warsaw, and most recently as President of Poland -- he will mourned across the world and remembered as a passionate patriot and democrat. My thoughts are with his family and countrymen at this most difficult of times."

French President Nicolas Sarkozy: The president said he learned of Kaczynski's death with "great emotion and a deep sadness" and expressed his sympathy to the families of the president and other victims.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton: "Like the country he led, President Kaczynski was one of America's most valued and trusted allies. He was well known in the United States as a champion for democracy against an oppressive regime, a man whose journey took him from the Gdansk Shipyards to the presidency of a free people.

"President Kaczynski was an unstinting advocate for freedom and human rights not just in Poland, but around the world."

Former President George W. Bush: "President Kaczynski was a strong defender of freedom and a friend to the United States. Laura and I have fond memories of our visits with the President and Maria. On this sad day, we send our heartfelt condolences to people of Poland, and especially to the families of all those lost in this tragic accident."

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: "We share in the profound grief of the Polish people over the loss of President Kaczynski, his wife and all of the members of the Polish delegation. I knew President Kaczynski as a Polish patriot, as a great friend of Israel and as a leader who was very active on behalf of his people and for advancing peace and prosperity in the world."

Kanat Saudabayev: chairman of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe: "I offer my deepest condolences to the Polish people and to the families of those killed in this tragic accident. Our hearts go out to you in this difficult time."

Afghan President Hamid Karzai: "The Polish president was a good ally and friend of Afghanistan in fighting against terrorists. The president expressed condolences on behalf of the Afghan people to the friend, families, soldiers and the Polish people."

British Queen Elizabeth II: "It is with the deepest sorrow that I have learnt of the death of President Lech Kaczynski and First Lady Madame Kaczynska. On this sad occasion.

"I recall President Kaczynski's long and distinguished public service and his role in the Solidarity movement. The deaths of many other of Poland's leading figures, including former President in Exile Kaczorowski, only serve to deepen this tragedy."

Clarence House (Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla): "The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall are shocked and deeply upset by the tragic death of Polish President Lech Kaczynski, Madame Kaczynski and many others at Smolensk airport this morning. As guests of The President and his wife only a few weeks ago, Their Royal Highnesses experienced at first hand their generous hospitality during what was a very memorable and enjoyable visit to Poland."

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle: "We are deeply affected by the death of the Polish President and his wife, and probably members of the government. We are in deep compassion with the family members and all victims of this catastrophe. We are shocked by this news and full of sorrow. We mourn with the Polish people, our neighbours. We are losing personalities on which Europe could build, when it needed to.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon: "On behalf of the United Nations, the Secretary-General expresses his deep and heartfelt condolences to the people and Government of Poland and to the families of those who perished. The Secretary-General said President Kaczynski had served his country and people with distinction and conviction, and was deservedly respected internationally. That he died en route to an event marking a new level of reconciliation between Poland and Russia is particularly poignant."

The U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley: "This is a horrible tragedy for Poland. We extend to the people of Poland our deepest condolences."


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Sources: CNN, The Daily Beast, Google Maps

Russia Agrees With U.S. To Possible Sanctions Against Iran

Russia Open To Possible Iran Sanctions, Move Comes After Obama's Missile Plan

A unified U.S.-Russian stance on sanctions against Iran would put added pressure on Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to yield some ground on his nation's nuclear program.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev opened the door Wednesday to backing potential sanctions as a reward for President Barack Obama's decision to scale back a U.S. missile shield in Eastern Europe.

While U.S. and Russian officials denied a flat-out quid pro quo, Medvedev told the U.N. General Assembly that Obama's pivot on a missile defense plan long loathed by Moscow "deserves a positive response." Obama himself has said his missile decision may have spurred Russian good will as a "bonus."

"We believe we need to help Iran to take a right decision," Medvedev said after the two leaders met on the sidelines of the U.N. assembly.

Ahmadinejad has taken a softer tone on many matters since arriving in New York for the U.N. meetings, emphasizing his interest in improving relations with the United States and expressing an openness to include nuclear matters on the negotiations agenda.

He has given no sign, however, that his country is willing to bargain away its nuclear program, which he insists is for peaceful purposes only. In an interview Wednesday with The Washington Post and Newsweek, he said he would be willing to have Iranian nuclear scientists meet with experts from the U.S. and other countries.

In his speech to the General Assembly on Wednesday night, Ahmadinejad made no explicit reference to nuclear matters or prospective sanctions.

Obama's chief Russia adviser, Mike McFaul, told reporters after the meeting with Medvedev that there was no deal with Moscow on missile defense and Iran. Pressed further, he said: "Is it the case that it changes the climate? That's true, of course. But it's not cause-and-effect."

A member of the Russian delegation, speaking on condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the Russians, said Moscow's final position on the question of imposing further sanctions would be determined, to a large extent, by Medvedev's consultations here.

The U.S. and Russia are among six countries that will hold talks in Europe next week with Iran over its nuclear ambitions. Obama wants to reserve the possibility of pursuing tougher sanctions if those meetings lead to no restraint by Iran in the weeks ahead. Russia, which has strong economic ties with Tehran, has stood in the way of stronger action against Iran in the past.

In remarks to reporters with Medvedev at his side, Obama said both agree that negotiations with Iran are still the best approach.

"We also both agree that if Iran does not respond to serious negotiations and resolve this issue in a way that assures the international community that it's meeting its commitments, and is not developing nuclear weapons, then we will have to take additional actions and that sanctions, serious additional sanctions, remain a possibility," Obama said.

Medvedev told reporters that the intent is to move Iran in the right direction and to ensure that it does not obtain nuclear weapons.

"Sanctions rarely lead to productive results but in some cases are inevitable," he said through an interpreter.

Medvedev also mentioned that his government welcomed Obama's decision last week to scrap a Bush administration plan for a missile defense system to be based in Poland and the Czech Republic. He gave no indication that his remark about the sanctions on Iran was a diplomatic payoff for Obama's missile defense move.

In his address to the U.N. General Assembly earlier Wednesday, Obama stuck to his two-pronged approach to Iran – acknowledging its right to the peaceful use of nuclear energy while warning of unspecified penalties if it veers onto the weapons path.

"We must insist that the future not belong to fear," he said.



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Pres. Obama Secures Russian Nuclear Deal But Not Much More...Cold War Still In Effect?

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(President Obama expresses hope for a resetting of relations between the two countries. His Full Speech.)

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MOSCOW - For two days, President Barack Obama pressed the reset button with Russia.

The results: He ended up getting the expected agreement on deep cuts in nuclear arsenals, but he is leaving Moscow with few assurances of Kremlin help in solving other issues key to his foreign policy agenda.

He is also leaving behind a spark he hopes will blaze to life and thaw U.S. relations with a former superpower with a chip on its shoulder. But his two days of summitry produced no unexpected breakthroughs.

Throughout the meetings and speeches, Obama stayed on message: The United States and Russia have too many overlapping interests to move through the coming decades at odds. The time for confrontational Cold War thinking is well-past. America wants Russia to be "strong, peaceful and prosperous."

He told the graduating class at Moscow's New Economic School that the United States and Russia were not "destined to be antagonists," but he predicted — nevertheless — hard bargaining as the two nations work to overcome a long history of estrangement.

"It is difficult to forge a lasting partnership between former adversaries. But I believe on the fundamental issues that will shape this century, Americans and Russians share common interests that form a basis for cooperation," he said.

No give:

On several issues key to Obama foreign policy, the Russians were unbending, at least for now.

_While they agreed to join the U.S. in reassessing the threat from Iran's nuclear ambitions, there was no hoped-for Kremlin offer of direct intervention with Tehran. The Russians make significant profits from arms sales to Iran and the construction a nuclear complex for electricity generation.

_On the flash point issue of Georgia, where the Russian army crushed the tiny country's military a year ago, the Kremlin rejected U.S. complaints about Russian insistence that breakaway Abkhazia and South Ossetia remain free of Georgian control. Moscow, meantime, remained angry over U.S. refusal to back away from support for Georgia's hopes to join NATO.

After his breakfast meeting with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, Obama told Fox News Channel "on areas where we disagree, like Georgia, I don't anticipate a meeting of the minds anytime soon."

_Nor did there appear to have been progress in the dispute over arms control. While preparing a START I replacement treaty that would cut nuclear arsenals by about one-third, Moscow and Washington remained fundamentally at odds over U.S. plans for creating a missile defense system in Eastern Europe. U.S. officials discount Russian complaints about American intentions. But Moscow was still saying the two issues must be linked or a final agreement on cutting nuclear warheads and delivery systems could be in jeopardy. Washington insists missile defense is designed to protect U.S. allies against a potential nuclear attack by Iran. The Russians say such a system would put them at a disadvantage by unbalancing offensive nuclear parity.

Matters of substance:

The two sides did agree to far greater cooperation on Afghanistan, where Obama is bolstering U.S. troop strength in the fight against Taliban militants and other al-Qaida allied groups. Part of the deal will allow the U.S. to fly, without transit charges, American troops, weapons and other lethal war materiel across Russian territory. Such U.S. overflights had been limited to non-lethal supplies for the U.S.-led NATO force in Afghanistan, a country from which Russia withdrew in defeat 20 years ago after a decade-long occupation.

Negotiators also prepared a series of side agreements and established a commission nominally headed by Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. It is designed to quicken the pace of U.S.-Russian engagement across a whole range of issues important to both countries.

In a briefing on the last day of the Obama visit, his top adviser on Russian affairs, Michael McFaul, dared reporters to find a past U.S.-Soviet summit where the two sides had dealt with so many matters of substance.

"We hit all of the dimensions of the U.S.-Russian relationship. ... That's a good start to what now begins the harder process of building this relationship in a more sustained way," McFaul said.

'KGB remains the same'
Obama also joined two so-called parallel summits Tuesday afternoon, one of business leaders, the other of civil society organizations. Later he met privately with political opposition figures who are under near constant pressure in Russia's atmosphere of contracting democratic protections and press freedom.

Among the group was former world chess champion Garry Kasparov, who said Obama appeared to have held his own in his talks with Russia's leaders.

"This government is not ready for a dialogue. This government has the mentality of street hoodlums. I think that after looking into Obama's eyes Putin understood that this guy won't stand any jokes."

Outside the luxury hotel where Obama met with opposition leaders, a young man held up a sign that said: "Everything changes. The KGB remains the same." The sign was ripped from his hands by police and he slipped away. Putin is a former KGB officer, as are many of the officials serving in his government.

Wednesday morning Obama heads to a G-8 summit in Italy. While there he will meet Pope Benedict XVI, before moving on to Ghana where he plans to deliver what the White House describes as a major foreign policy speech.


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The Obamas Arrive In Russia...Will This Be The End of "Cold War Politics?"

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(President Obama has arrived for a high-stakes meeting in Moscow. Will President Obama be able to "warm up" U.S. Foreign Relations with Russia? NBC's Savannah Guthrie reports.)

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(President Obama tells Media that Putin's ideology of "Cold War Politics" is outdated.)

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MOSCOW - President Barack Obama opened his first Moscow summit with confidence on Monday, predicting "extraordinary progress" out of meetings set to test his diplomatic skills on important priorities such as nuclear arsenal reductions and the fight in Afghanistan.

"The United States and Russia have more in common than they have differences," Obama said he sat down in an ornate Kremlin room with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. "If we work hard in these next few days ... we can make extraordinary progress that will benefit the people of both countries."

With both men eager to reset damaged relations, Obama's host launched the high-stakes summit with similar good will.


"We'll have a full-fledged discussion of our relations between our two countries, closing some of the pages of the past and opening some of the pages of the future," Medvedev said, through a translator. "It is my hope that it will be possible to tackle successfully" a range of problems from the economy to security and energy and the environment.

The first U.S.-Russia summit since the early part of the George W. Bush presidency presents a challenge for Obama — with Russia's wary public, a two-headed leadership and lingering hard feelings. Much of the world will watch signs of Obama's relationship with Russia's two leaders, Medvedev and his mentor, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

The foundation set now could affect how much cooperation Obama gets in areas in which the United States needs help from Russia — chiefly pressuring Iran and North Korea to give up their nuclear weapons ambitions, but also in tackling terrorism, global warming and the economy.

In search of early results:

Both sides are talking of improving their ties and wanting to show some early results.

Agreements negotiated ahead of time give Obama something to take home before the summit even got under way, including another step toward the world's two largest nuclear powers reducing their arsenals and agreement from Russia to let the United States use its territory and air space to move arms into Afghanistan for the forces fighting extremists there.

Other side agreements meant to sweeten the talks included a new joint commission to try to account for missing service members of both countries dating back to World War II. Four working groups will look into missing military personnel from World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Cold War and Soviet military personnel still missing from Moscow's 10-year occupation of Afghanistan.

The White House also said the two countries have agreed to cooperate in the fields of public health and medical research, an arrangement intended to range across public health issues from infectious diseases to promotion of healthy lifestyles to improving global health.

Stuck on missile defense
Yet, the two sides remain in a stalemate over the U.S. pursuit of a missile-defense system in Europe. Obama's administration is reviewing the efficacy of plan, which Bush had pushed hard.

U.S. leaders have expressed hope of getting Russian cooperation on missile defense. But both sides have also shown signs of hardening their positions ahead of the summit.

The basic problem is unchanged:

The United States contends the program is designed to protect U.S. allies in Europe from a potential nuclear attack by Iran, but the Russians see it as a first step toward a system that could weaken their offensive nuclear strike potential.

"We're going to have to work our way through that," Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, told "Fox News Sunday."

Obama's distinctive Air Force One jetliner touched down with drizzly gray skies blanketing Moscow. He continued down a formal reception line on the airport tarmac, introducing his wife, Michelle, and their two daughters to the Russian officials waiting to greet them.

The entourage then headed directly to a wreath-laying ceremony at Russia's Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, brilliant sun breaking over the city's center as they drove in. The president walked slowly behind three high-stepping Russian soldiers, then straightened the wreath's ribbon where they placed it in front of the eternal flame and stood alone briefly.

The summit starts a weeklong trip for Obama that also features G-8 meetings and a visit with the pope in Italy, and a speech in Ghana.

Room for improvement:

Obama's mission in Moscow is two-pronged, divided over two days. Building ties and signing security and cultural deals with the leadership comes first. He will also devote a significant amount of time to leaders of Russia's civil society to help those relationships, too.

There is plenty of room for improvement. Obama, who has enjoyed adoring crowds in travels across Europe so far, will face a skeptical Russian population, polling out Sunday shows.

Only 23 percent of Russians have confidence in Obama to do the right thing in international affairs, according to the University of Maryland's WorldPublicOpinion.org. Just 15 percent of the Russians polled said the United States is playing a positive role in the world; most said the United States abuses it power and makes Russia do what the United States wants.

"I would like there to be real change, not just talk," said Valentina Titova, a 60-year-old retired economist strolling not far from the Kremlin. "I would like to see America meddle less in other countries. They think they're so superior to others, they put themselves on a pedestal."

Aiming to change attitudes, Obama will outline his vision for U.S.-Russian relations at a speech at the New Economic School. It is unclear how many people will see it. Russian leaders control the television outlets.

The dominant theme of the summit is security, and Obama and Medvedev are set to announce progress toward renewing a strategic arms reduction pact that expires in December. The eventual deal could cut warheads from more than 2,000 each to as low as 1,500 apiece.

"At the moment I think we are all moderately optimistic, both the Russian side and the American side, so far as I know," Medvedev said ahead of Obama's arrival in an interview with Italian news outlets.

As Obama told a Russian-language news channel in the days before the summit: "America respects Russia. We want to build relations where we deal as equals."

Heightened stakes:

Yet he also caused a stir in Russia by telling The Associated Press last week that Putin has to learn that "the old Cold War approaches to U.S.-Russian relations is outdated." That only elevated the stakes of Obama's first meeting with Putin, which is set for Tuesday.

Russia and the United States have been allies and adversaries. Obama inherited more of the latter, with relations having tanked in 2008 over Russia's war with neighboring Georgia.

Obama got off to a solid start, though, with Medvedev during an April meeting in London.




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