Embassy of the United States Moscow, Russia

Obama-Medvedev Commission

Secretary Clinton and Foreign Minister Lavrov. Secretary Clinton's visit to Moscow, March 18-19,2010

The Obama-Medvedev Commission, officially known as the U.S.-Russia Bilateral Presidential Commission, was announced on July 6, 2009 by President of the United States Barack Obama and President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev during President Obama's visit to Moscow, as a way to improve communication and cooperation between the governments of Russia and the United States. The two Presidents announced that the work of the Commission would be coordinated by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

Mission Statement

The purpose of the Commission is "identifying areas of cooperation and pursuing joint projects and actions that strengthen strategic stability, international security, economic well-being, and the development of ties between the Russian and American people....the foundation for the work of the commission is based on the core principles of friendship, cooperation, openness, and predictability, and we are resolved to address disagreements openly and honestly in a spirit of mutual respect and acknowledgement of each other's perspective."

Basic Facts

Composition of the Commission

Commission Co-Chairs: President Obama and President Medvedev

• Mission Statement of the Commission

Commission Coordinators: Secretary Clinton and Foreign Minister Lavrov

Secretary Clinton and Foreign Minister Lavrov. Secretary Clinton's visit to Moscow, March 18-19,2010

• March 18-19, 2010: Secretary Clinton Travels to Moscow
• Photos
• Oct. 13-14, 2009: Commission Co-Coordinator Meeting - Secretary Clinton, Under Secretary Burns, Special Envoy Morningstar and Under Secretary Tauscher travelled to Moscow for the first co-chair meeting of the Commission
• Dec. 14-18, 2009: Russian Ambassador Eduard Malayan traveled to Washington to discuss the Commission's progress
• Dec. 31, 2009: Joint Statement by the U.S. - Russia Bilateral Presidential Commission Coordinators on Commission Progress

Working Groups

Policy Steering Group: Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Burns and Deputy Foreign Minister Ryabkov

• Sept. 21, 2009: Policy Steering Group – Under Secretary of State Burns and Deputy Foreign Minister Ryabkov met in Washington
• Nov. 15-16, 2009: Policy Steering Group - Ambassador Holbrooke travelled to Moscow to discuss cooperation on Afghanistan, counter narcotics and counter terrorism
• Jan. 13-18, 2010: Policy Steering Group – Undersecretary of State William Burns traveled to Moscow for Steering Group meetings
• Undersecretary Burns met with his counterparts in Moscow as part of the Steering Group of the Presidential Bilateral Commission.  They discussed ways to move the Commission from the setup stage to one that would show more results. For more details of U/S Burns trip to Moscow, read his interview with Gazeta.ru in Russian or a complete transcript of the discussion in English.

Nuclear Energy and Nuclear Security

Deputy Secretary of Energy Poneman and RosAtom Director General Kiriyenko

• Sept. 28-29, 2009: RosAtom Director General Kiriyenko met Energy Secretary Chu and Deputy Energy Secretary Poneman in Washington. Mr. Kiriyenko also visited Y-12 and Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
• Nov. 16-20, 2009: Team of technical experts traveled to Moscow to discuss a draft charter on the proposed 60-Day Study on civil nuclear cooperation 

Arms Control and International Security

Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Tauscher and Deputy Foreign Minister Ryabkov

• Sept. 4, 2009: Under Secretary of State Tauscher and Deputy Foreign Minister Ryabkov met in London
• Oct. 12, 2009: Meeting in Moscow between Under Secretary of State Tauscher and Deputy Foreign Minister Ryabkov
• Dec. 7, 2009: Under Secretary of State met with Deputy Foreign Minister Ryabkov to discuss arms control issues in Moscow
• Dec. 22, 2009: Joint Threat Assessment talks held in Washington

Counterterrorism

State Counter-Terrorism Coordinator Benjamin and Special Representative for Cooperation on Counterterrorism Safonov

• Nov. 18, 2009:  U.S. Counterterrorism Coordinator Benjamin met with Deputy Foreign Minister Safonov in Berlin

Counter Narcotics

Office of National Drug Control Policy Director Kerlikowske and Federal Drug Enforcement Service Director Ivanov

• Sept. 24, 2009: FSKN Head Ivanov traveled to Washington to meet with Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) Director Kerlikowske
• Nov. 10, 2009: DEA Assistant Administrator Placido met with FSKN Director Ivanov to discuss intelligence sharing
• Nov. 15-18, 2009: Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury Smart, traveled to Moscow to discuss terror financing in conjunction with counter narcotics
• Nov. 31-Dec. 2, 2009: Counter Narcotics Working Group– FinCen delegation traveled to Moscow and met with Rosfinmonitoring
• Feb. 3-4, 2010: Counter Narcotics Working Group - Full working group meeting in Moscow
• Feb. 04, 2010: Joint Statement by Co-Chairmen of the U.S.-Russia Bilateral Presidential Commission's Drug Trafficking Working Group 
• Feb. 04, 2010: Joint Statement Signing Photos

Business Development and Economic Relations

Secretary of Commerce Locke and Minister of Economic Development Nabiullina

• Oct. 14-16, 2010: First meeting of the Business Development and Economic Relations working group led by Deputy Minister of Economic Development Slepnev and Commerce Under Secretary Michelle O’Neil in Washington
• Jan. 26, 2010: Co-Chairs met in Boston
• Feb. 1, 2010:  Aaron Brickman, Invest America, USDOC, traveled to Moscow to discuss cooperation related to investment promotion
• April 26-27: Zulfiya Kadeeva of Kazan and Radik Musin of Yekaterinburg attended the Presidential Entrepreneurship Summit in Washington, DC.  For more information about the Summit, visit http://www.entrepreneurship.gov/summit.

Energy

Secretary of Energy Chu and Minister of Energy Shmatko

• Sept. 21-22, 2009:  Department of Energy Deputy Assistant Secretary Jon Elkind traveled to Moscow to prep for the first meeting of the Energy and Environment Working Group
• Oct. 14-15, 2009: Department of Energy Secretary Chu and Minister of Energy Shmatko met on margins of International Energy Association meeting in Paris to sign a Memorandum of Understanding on Energy Cooperation
• Dec. 9-11, 2009: Under Secretary for Science Koonin met with Academician Laverov of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Washington to sign a Basic Sciences Cooperation Agreement

Environment

Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs Otero and Deputy Minister of Natural Resources Naidenov 

• Dec. 7, 2009: USAID Signed an Agreement with U.S. Forest Service and Russian Federal Forest Agency to Protect World's Largest Forests

Agriculture

Secretary of Agriculture Vilsack and Minister of Agriculture Skrynnik

• Dec 7, 2009:  Annual U.S. – Russia Forest Service Working Group Meeting held in Washington
• Dec. 14, 2009: Digital video conference between Deputy Agriculture Minister Korolyov and Foreign Agricultural Service Administrator Michener

Science and Technology

Director, Office of Science and Technology Policy Holdren and Minister of Education and Science Fursenko

• Oct.25-30, 2009: First full meeting in Moscow hosted by Minister Furnesko and attended by Office of Science and Technology Policy Chief John Holdren
• Jan. 7-8, 2010: Education and Science Minister Fursenko visited Washington and had meetings with Dept. of Education, Office of Science and Technology Policy and Department of State

Space Cooperation

NASA Administrator Bolden and Roscosmos Head Perminov

• Oct. 2, 2009: Roscosmos Chief Anatoliy Perminov met with NASA head Charles Bolden in Moscow to discuss Russian-U.S. space cooperation.

Health

Secretary of Health and Human Services Sebelius and Minister of Health Golikova

• Nov. 30, 2009: U.S. National Institutes of Health and Russian Academy of Medical Sciences signed a Statement of Intent on scientific cooperation in Moscow.
• Dec. 1, 2009: Dr. Glass, NIH’s Associate Director of International Research and Director of the Fogarty International Center, and Dr. Gallin, Director of NIH’s Clinical Center, met with Deputy Minister of Health Skvortsova in Moscow
• Dec. 14, 2009: Ambassador Beyrle met with Deputy Health Minister Skvortsova in Moscow
• Feb. 4. 2010: Director for the Russian Institute of Nutrition visited Washington and discussed collaboration with NIH Nutrition Committee

Cooperation in Prevention and Handling of Emergency Situations

FEMA Administrator Fugate and Emergency Situations Ministry Head Shoygu

• Sept. 24, 2009: Digital Video Conference between the Federal Emergency Management Agency and EMERCOM to plan for March 2010 tabletop exercise in Moscow to help two Russian urban search and rescue teams prepare for UN certification
• Dec. 7-11, 2009: A U.S. delegation traveled to Moscow to prepare for a May 2010 tabletop exercise on urban search and rescue
• Dec. 11, 2009: Working meetings were held between FEMA Administrator Fugate and Deputy Minster Tsalikov in Washington
• Dec. 16-17, 2009:  NATO-Russia Council Ad Hoc Working Group on Civil Emergency Planning held a Planning Meeting for a tabletop exercise to improve the ability of nations to respond to natural disasters 

Civil Society

Special Assistant to the President McFaul and Presidential Administration First Deputy Chief of Staff Surkov

• Oct. 14, 2009: First meeting between National Security Council Senior Director McFaul and Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration Surkov in Moscow
• Jan. 27, 2010: First full meeting of the working group and private sector participants in Washington
• Feb. 16-23, 2010: Innovation Delegation – Private Sector Technology Delegation traveled to Moscow
• March 22, 2010: Statement by National Security Council Spokesman Mike Hammer on the U.S.-Russia Innovation Dialogue Video Conference

Education, Sports and Cultural Exchanges

Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs McHale and Special Presidential Representative for International Culture Cooperation Shvydkoy

• Sept. 29, 2009: Under Secretary of State McHale and Russian Presidential Special Envoy for International Cultural Cooperation Mikhail Shvydkoy met in Washington.
• Nov. 21-25, 2009: Vladivostok celebrated the 75th anniversary of the Ford-Brezhnev summit in Vladivostok.  The executive director of the Gerald Ford Foundation, Joe Calvaruso, gave numerous presentations at universities and other venues in Vladivostok.
• Dec. 6-10, 2009: Under Secretary of State Judith McHale led a large public/private sector delegation to Moscow.
• Joint Statement
• Press Release
• Video: McHale-Shvydkoy Press Conference
• Jan. 6,15/March 12/April 8, 2010: Two mezzotint exhibits featuring American artists toured cities in the Urals, including Yekaterinburg on January 6, Irbit on January 15, Novouralsk on March 12, and Perm on April 8.
• Jan. 20, 2010: Presidential Bilateral Commission Sponsors a Series of Concerts in Russia. Press Release.
• Jan. 21-23/April 12-15, 2010: English Language Conferences featuring the English Language Office of the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, the Public Affairs Officer from the U.S. Consulate General in Yekaterinburg and the English Language Fellow from Yekaterinburg were held in Khanty-Mansiysk in  January and in Tobolsk/Tyumen in April.
• Jan. 24-Feb. 5, 2010: Hip-Hop Poet Gina Loring held workshops on poetry at the Ural State University in Yekaterinburg, perfomed at various venues, and gave several media interviews on hip-hop culture.
• Feb. 19, 2010: Vladivostok hosted its first ever bluegrass music band. Ryan Cavanaugh (banjo), Mike Bub (bass), Scott Simontacchi (mandolin), and Bob Grant (guitar) shared their spirited bluegrass music on the stage of Primorye Regional Philharmonic Hall.
• Feb. 23, 2010: The U.S. Consulate General in St. Petersburg, together with its Russian partners, launched the first of two film festivals designed to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the first Hollywood film.
• Feb. 24, 2010: A digital video conference with Russell Lewis, Chief Historian of the Chicago History Museum, on the “City Beautiful” architectural movement was held at the U.S. Consulate General in Yekaterinburg
• Feb. 25-27, 2010: An English Language Conference was held in Blagoveschensk. The US Consulate team headed by Consul General Tom Armbruster visited the city to participate in an international conference organized by Blagoveshchensk State Pedagogic University in honor of the 50th anniversary of the Department of Foreign Languages.
• Feb., 2010: Ballet Diplomacy - Bolshoi and Mariinsky Dancers Tour U.S.
• March 1, 2010: A digital video conference on “Rehabilitation of Veterans” was held with the Washington DC Veterans Affairs Medical Center at the U.S. Consulate General in Yekaterinburg.
• March 4, 2010: U.S. Hands Over to Russia an Artifact Stolen from State Hermitage
• March 11, 2010: A digital video conference on “Industrial Transformation” was held at the Urals State University in Yekaterinburg with John Thompson, Director of the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MassMoCA).
• March 30, 2010: a photo exhibition entitled “New York: the City that Never Sleeps,” featuring the photos of Walter Rosemblum and a cast of international photographers opened at the Metenkov Photography Gallery in Yekaterinburg.
• April 22-23, 2010: The U.S. Navy’s NAVEUR “Alliance” Band played at Yekaterinburg’s Jazz Transit Festival and joined the Russian Border Guard band for a second concert night
• April 24-28, 2010: The TranXMission Latin American dance group from Puerto Rico performed at Yekaterinburg’s 13th International Children’s Festival and at other venues in the city.
• April 27, 2010: Digital video conference with Wall Street Journal music and drama critic Terry Teachout on Louis Armstrong was held for university music students. Terry Teachout spoke from New York to over 30 jazz enthusiasts, teachers, students, musicians at the US Consulate General in Vladivostok on the musical legacy of Louis Armstrong.
• May 7-11, 2010: U.S. 7th Fleet Band “Far East Edition” arrived in Vladivostok aboard the USS Blue Ridge to celebrate the 65th anniversary of Victory Day. They gave seven performances at various venues in Vladivostok.
• May 15-29, 2010: A group of young Russian basketball players are in Washington, D.C. for a Sports Visitor program sposored by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. The 10 boys and 12 girls, ages 13-15, and 4 coaches are participating in the first sports exchange carried out as a result of the U.S.-Russia Bilateral Presidential Commission’s Education, Culture, Sports and Media Working Group.

Military to Military

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mullen and Chief of the General Staff General Makarov

• Nov. 29-Oct. 1, 2009:  Ambassador Vershbow met with Mr. Alexander Gorbunov, Acting Head of the Ministry of Defense Main Directorate of International Military Cooperation (GUMVS) in Moscow
• Dec. 14-18, 2009: Joint Staff Executive Steering Committee meeting held in Washington
• Jan. 22-23, 2010:  Mullen and Makarov met on START and military cooperation issues in Moscow

Other Initiatives

• U.S.-Russia Innovation Dialogue

• Deliverables for the U.S.-Russia Dialogue