Moscow Makes Nice--For Now.(International Edition; DIPLOMACY)(United States and Russia foreign relations)

Byline: Owen Matthews

To judge from the mating signals coming from both sides, you'd think a major thaw in U.S.-Russia relations was imminent. Barack Obama backpedaled on his predecessor's vow to put a missile defense system near the Russian border, and Vice President Joe Biden recently called for "pushing the reset button" in dealings with Moscow, which had also been strained by America's support of NATO expansion into Georgia and Ukraine. For his part, in a possible sign of good will, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev agreed to suspend efforts to place Iskander short-range missiles in the Russian Baltic enclave of Kaliningrad.

Why the sudden turnaround? The main reason is that Washington, along with the European Union, wants Russia's help on Iran. They see Russia as a vital player in preventing Tehran from getting nuclear weapons. "It is up to Russia to decide which face it wants to show," French President Nicolas Sarkozy said earlier this month. "If it wants to be a global player, it should help us with Iran."

The Kremlin certainly knows that it's in its interest to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, and recently it has made steps in that direction. Last year Russia voted for United Nations sanctions and has been putting pressure on Iran in less visible ways. A Russian state-controlled company, Atomstroiexport, has been building Iran's first civilian nuclear-power plant at Bushehr since 1995. But work has now slowed to a crawl, as have deliveries of ...