Don't Believe the Spin.(American-Russian relations)

Visiting Moscow a few weeks ago, Secretary of State Colin Powell started off a working meeting with a champagne toast. His counterpart, Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, joined in. Have the United States and Russia reconciled their bitter differences over Iraq? That's certainly the line being pushed by diplomatic spinmeisters in Washington and Moscow. Russia recently backed U.S. efforts to lift sanctions against Iraq in the U.N. Security Council. The Bushies returned the favor by telling anyone who would listen that Vladimir Putin remains far more popular in the White House than either of his friends from France and Germany. Then came last weekend's chummy encounter in St. Petersburg, followed by more schmoozing in Evian.

Whoa. For all the nice noises, the much-touted "strategic partnership" between Washington and Moscow has suffered serious damage. Gone are the cozy days of yore, when George W. Bush and "Vladimir" looked into each other's eyes and spoke of religion. If the war in Iraq did anything, it was to inject a new realism into U.S.-Russian relations--and underscore the deep differences that will almost certainly continue to divide them.

Part of this new sobriety is personal. For George Bush, personal relationships count heavily. The U.S. president has been disappointed by Putin's failure to act like a pal during the Iraq crisis. "If you're my buddy, and I'm facing the greatest decision of my life, I want you to be there when things get tough," says Russia expert Michael McFaul at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "But Putin has a different view. As near as I can tell, he's never used the word 'friend' to describe his dealings with Bush."

Even more important is the new sense of how profoundly the two countries' national interests diverge. Officials on both sides try to dismiss the Iraq rift as a "misunderstanding." One senior U.S. diplomat speaks of Moscow having been "caught out," even "hijacked" by France and Germany in opposing the war. In fact, it was a disagreement of fundamental principle. Russians still insist that the United Nations should be the main forum for deciding issues of war and peace. The Bush administration continues to argue its right to unilateral force in ...