The prospects of Russian-U.S. relations depend on the mutual trust of the two countries, a Russian scholar told Xinhua in an interview ahead of U.S. President Barack Obama's visit to Moscow.

Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev talks to Italian journalists at the presidential residence Barvikha outside Moscow, July 3, 2009. [Xinhua/Reuters, File Photo]

It is vital for Obama and his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev to establish mutual trust and respect at next week's summit, Viktor Kremeniuk, deputy director of the Institute of the United States and Canada of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said.

"The formation of a relationship of mutual trust will be favorable for future cooperation and lay a sound foundation for resetting bilateral ties," he noted.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko said on Thursday that high on the summit's agenda would be a new strategic arms reduction treaty which will replace an old one, the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START I).

"The two presidents will sum up the results of the work that had been done and will give instructions to further efforts," the diplomat told a briefing.

The START I, signed in 1991 between the United States and the former Soviet Union, is due to expire in December.

"There is no issue more important than a new strategic arms cut treaty," Kremeniuk explained. The heads of state will have to reach an agreement on major data and benchmarks if they hope to work out a replacement for START I by the end of this year.

Problems concerning a new nuclear weapons reduction deal are quite complex, the scholar said.

On the one hand, NATO's military power is far beyond that of Russia, which is trying to fill the gap by building its nuclear stockpiles. Therefore,

Moscow would not like to impose too many restrictions in this regard, he said.

On the other hand, incumbent U.S. President Obama has so far not given up his predecessor's plan to deploy missile defense facilities in eastern Europe. Russia, though it has no plan to station a missile defense system, intends to accumulate more nuclear warheads and delivery vehicles in response. A new START treaty, in Russia's view, will certainly be counterproductive, the scholar noted.

Another priority for the United States is the Afghanistan issue. The shift of a strategic focus from Iraq to Afghanistan by the U.S. administration requires aid from Russia, Kremeniuk said.

The presidents are also eager to know the stance the other side will take once Iran conducts nuclear tests, he added.

The Kremlin and the White House remain at odds over Ukraine and Georgia's bid to join NATO, Kremeniuk said. Russia counts on the United States to believe it's wrong to give the two former Soviet republics NATO membership. The United States agrees that the two nations might not join the military bloc right now, but insists that the process should never cease in the long term, he said.

The United States used to "play tricks" on Russia, Kremeniuk said, recalling that NATO expanded eastward just months after Russia agreed to retreat from Eastern Europe in 1994 and bombed Serbians in Bosnia-Herzegovina in August 1995.

Russia hopes that the United States will be ready to carry out cooperation in a candid way, he said, adding that Obama needs to show his sincerity in order to relieve Russia's concerns.

Obama is to arrive in Moscow on Monday for an official visit, during which he will hold talks with Medvedev and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

Medvedev and Obama will sign a framework document, which will outline benchmarks for further work on an agreement to replace the START I, Russian presidential aide Sergei Prikhodko said on Friday.

The Kremlin official said Russia's firm position on unbreakable ties between strategic offensive and defensive weapons remained in effect and should be reflected in the new treaty.

(Xinhua News Agency July 6, 2009)