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Tensions High, U.S. Security Chief Meets With Putin As U.S. Seeks Security Pact, Obama Is Set to Meet Putin
(about 5 hours later)
MOSCOW — With the Kremlin bristling over an American effort to punish Russian citizens accused of violating human rights, President Obama’s national security adviser, Thomas E. Donilon, met here on Monday with President Vladimir V. Putin and other top officials. MOSCOW — President Obama has accepted an invitation to meet with President Vladimir V. Putin ahead of a Group of 20 conference in Russia this fall, officials here said Monday — signaling a new opportunity to ease tensions even as the Kremlin continues to bristle over an American effort to punish Russian citizens accused of violating human rights.
The purpose of Mr. Donilon’s visit was to push for more cuts in the two nations’ nuclear weapons stockpiles and for expanded cooperation in containing the threat of a missile strike from Iran or North Korea. But it seemed that the timing could hardly have been more awkward. The announcement of a “bilateral summit” meeting in Russia in September, and of the planned meeting between the two presidents on the sidelines of a Group of 8 meeting in Northern Ireland in mid-June, came as Mr. Obama’s national security adviser, Tom Donilon, met in Moscow on Monday with Mr. Putin and other top officials to push for renewed cooperation on security issues.
The visit came three days after the Obama administration barred more than two dozen Russians from traveling to the United States or maintaining assets in the country because of alleged human rights abuses. Although the step, required under a law approved in December, was widely expected, it nonetheless drew outrage and swift retaliation from Russia, which published its own list of Americans who will face similar sanctions. In a series of meetings, first at the Russian Foreign Ministry and then at the Kremlin, Mr. Donilon pushed for more cuts in the two nations’ nuclear weapons stockpiles, for expanded cooperation in containing the threat of a missile strike from Iran or North Korea, and for stronger economic ties, Russian and American officials said. Mr. Donilon also delivered a letter to Mr. Putin from Mr. Obama that addressed many of those topics.
Mr. Donilon’s appearance in Moscow despite the diplomatic contretemps sent a loud signal that the White House was ready to look past the recent souring of relations to work with the Kremlin to achieve progress on nuclear weapons. Mr. Obama cited his desire for weapons reductions in his State of the Union speech in February, and his administration has made it clear that it views nuclear nonproliferation as an issue that will be part of the president’s legacy. In numerous ways, the timing of Mr. Donilon’s visit could hardly have been more awkward — just three days after the Obama administration banned more than two dozen Russians from traveling to the United States or maintaining assets there, because of purported human rights abuses. Although the step, required under a law approved in December, was widely expected, it still drew outrage and swift retaliation from Russia, which published its own list of Americans to face similar sanctions.
Mr. Donilon met on Monday with his Russian counterpart, Nikolai P. Patrushev, the general secretary of the Russian Security Council, and with Yuri Ushakov, a senior adviser to Mr. Putin and a former ambassador to the United States. Mr. Putin dropped in to the meetings for several minutes, and several other senior officials also took part, including a Russian deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, and the American ambassador in Moscow, Michael A. McFaul. Officials said that Russian displeasure was made clear at each of Mr. Donilon’s four meetings, but that given the context, the overall outcome seemed rather positive and that his appearance in Moscow despite the simmering diplomatic contretemps also sent a loud signal that the White House was ready to get down to business with the Kremlin, and to look past the recent sour tone of their relations.
Russian news agencies reported that Mr. Donilon had taken a letter to Mr. Putin from Mr. Obama, and White House officials confirmed that but declined to discuss the letter’s contents. “National Security Adviser Donilon came here with some very concrete proposals about security and economic issues that we think are of common interest to Russia and the United States,” said a senior administration official who attended the meetings but was not allowed to speak publicly because of the sensitivity of the discussions. “From our perspective the reaction was constructive, especially given the context and the timing.” The official said the agreement for two meetings between the presidents “set in place kind of a work plan.”
There seemed to be at least some willingness on both sides to increase official cooperation. Officials said the two presidents would meet in mid-June on the sidelines of a summit meeting of the Group of 8 industrialized nations in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, and again in September when the Group of 20 meets in St. Petersburg, Russia. Ties between the United States and Russia have taken one bad turn after another over the past year, beginning with a wave of anti-Americanism during Mr. Putin’s presidential campaign in early 2012. After that came legislation and other steps to curb American and otherinfluences here, including restrictions on nongovernmental organizations.
A spokeswoman for the National Security Council, Caitlin Hayden, said in a brief statement on Monday that the discussions in Moscow “were comprehensive and constructive.” Russian fury over the American law aimed at punishing human rights abuses also led to legislation barring Americans from adopting Russian children.
Still, Russian officials made clear to Mr. Donilon their displeasure over the sanctions against the Russian citizens. The White House developed the list to comply with a law named for Sergei L. Magnitsky, a Russian lawyer who was jailed while investigating accusations of government tax fraud and later died in prison. Despite these differences, the Obama administration has sought Russia’s help on security issues related to Syria, Iran and North Korea, and Mr. Obama cited his desire to achieve further nuclear weapons reductions in his State of the Union speech. His administration has made clear that it views nuclear nonproliferation as a “legacy” issue.
The Russian government is calling its retaliatory measure the “Guantánamo list” in an effort to draw attention to alleged human rights abuses by the American government at the detention center there. Mr. Donilon started his day by meeting with the Russian foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, then went to the Kremlin where he saw his Russian counterpart, Nikolai P. Patrushev, the general secretary of the Russian Security Council. About an hour into that session, Mr. Putin dropped in and stayed for about 45 minutes.
Foreign Minister Sergey V. Lavrov, who met with Mr. Donilon on Monday morning, said Russia had raised the matter with Americans at the highest levels, including with Secretary of State John Kerry. The White House confirmed that Mr. Donilon had delivered a letter from Mr. Obama but officials would not discuss its contents. Mr. Donilon later met with Yuri Ushakov, a senior adviser to Mr. Putin on foreign policy and a former ambassador to the United States. Other officials who took part, included a Russian deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, and the American ambassador in Moscow, Michael A. McFaul, as well as Rose Gottemoeller, an assistant secretary of state.
“John Kerry and Tom Donilon said that the Obama administration understands this serious irritating effect, to put it lightly, of these things on the relations,” Mr. Lavrov said, adding that he hoped steps would be taken to reduce tensions. “We will judge by deeds, not by words.” Mr. Ushakov told the Interfax news agency that Mr. Donilon’s visit and the letter from Mr. Obama had sent “positive signals.” Mr. Ushakov said the letter from Mr. Obama “covers military-political problems, among them missile defense and nuclear arsenals.” He added, “the Putin-Donilon conversation had a rather positive nature, same as the messages sent by the Obama administration.”
There was also some acknowledgment that the Obama administration imposed sanctions on far fewer Russians than some members of Congress and human rights advocates had hoped for. The newspaper Izvestia wrote in an editorial, “We must give it to President Obama: the list published by the Americans differs greatly from what was promised by Senator Ben Cardin, the author of the Magnitsky Act.” Samuel Charap, a Russia expert at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in Washington, said the announcement of the meetings between the two presidents was important because it sent a signal to officials at all levels that they could engage. He said this was particularly important given the Kremlin’s decidedly anti-American posture in recent months.
Relations between Russia and the United States have taken a sharp turn for the worse over the last year and a half, beginning with a wave of anti-Americanism that preceded Mr. Putin’s return to the presidency last May. “To have that green light issued jointly in a very public way,” Mr. Charap said, “This is a step forward.”

Mark Landler contributed reporting from Washington.

Mark Landler contributed reporting from Washington.