Vladimir Putin's reelection as president raises concerns over domestic reforms and relations with Washington. Russia's future will be determined by Putin's handling of opponents and whether opposition forces can build a viable political force, says CFR's Stephen Sestanovich.

The mass protests in Russia challenging the parliamentary vote reflect increasing hostility to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and have the potential to change Russian politics in a fundamental way, says CFR's Stephen Sestanovich.

The sharp drop in support for the ruling United Russia party in parliamentary elections reflects growing public discontent with Vladimir Putin's decision to seek the presidency again next year, says analyst Maria Lipman.

Russia's accession to the WTO can boost U.S. exports to the country, but the U.S. Congress will have to graduate Russia from Cold War-era trade legislation, says CFR's Stephen Sestanovich.

The potential return of Vladimir Putin to Russia's presidency is viewed by many in the country as "a step backwards," says CFR's Stephen Sestanovich, and could reignite a more acerbic tone with Washington.

At their meeting in Deauville May 25, Russian President Medvedev and U.S. President Obama remained stalled on missile defense cooperation and Russia's bid to join the WTO, says CFR's Stephen Sestanovich.

Russia's parliament ratified the New START treaty, but Russian domestic issues like terrorism, as well as U.S. and Russian presidential elections in 2012, make it unlikely that any further accords will be negotiated for a while, says CFR's Micah Zenko.

Mikhail Khodorkovsky's sentencing to another prison term was a foregone conclusion, underscoring both the continued power of President Putin and Khodorkovsky's arrogance in trying to thwart him, says Russia expert Marshall Goldman.

The NATO summit in Lisbon today occurs in a climate of warmer U.S.-Russia relations, with Russia seeking ways to cooperate with the alliance on missile defense and Afghanistan, says CFR expert Stephen Sestanovich.

Although the Obama administration's dealings with Moscow and Beijing have been handled adroitly, its management of the war in Afghanistan and threats in the Middle East have been less successful, says CFR President Richard Haass.

CFR's Stephen Sestanovich says Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's meetings in Silicon Valley represent the most interesting development of his U.S. trip, which culminates with a Washington summit where a host of issues will be discussed, including the new START treaty.

With this week's signing of the follow-on to START and next week's nuclear summit in Washington, President Obama hopes to advance his agenda to reduce the number and spread of nuclear weapons, but proliferation expert Henry Sokolski says the White House faces a gamut of obstacles.

With hopes high that strategic nuclear arms talks are wrapping up, Russia's position on new UN sanctions on Iran will likely figure prominently in U.S. Secretary of State Clinton's trip to Moscow this week, says CFR's Stephen Sestanovich.

CFR nuclear arms expert Charles D. Ferguson says with an important nuclear arms control deadline approaching, the U.S.-Russia talks remain complicated by missile defense and verification issues.

CFR's Stephen R. Sestanovich says the Obama administration believes it has put relations with Russia on "a more practical" basis but convergence remains elusive on how to address Iran's nuclear program.

CFR's top arms control expert, Charles D. Ferguson, says "nothing revolutionary" was agreed to on arms control issues at the U.S.-Russia summit, despite a pledge to cut nuclear arsenals down from current levels.

CFR's top Russia expert, Stephen Sestanovich, says there is a potential for some hard bargaining to take place over arms control at the July 6-8 summit of U.S. and Russian leaders.

Pavel Felgenhauer, an independent defense analyst in Moscow, is pessimistic about a Russia-U.S. rapprochement in part because of enduring concerns about U.S. missile defense system plans.

S. Frederick Starr, a longtime expert on the Caucasus and Central Asia, says Russia is using a "carrot and stick" approach to attempt to force the United States out of a crucial air base in Kyrgyzstan, showing its determination to reclaim its traditional influence in the so-called near abroad.

Jeffrey Mankoff, an expert on Russia, says the dispute that led Russia to cut off natural gas to Ukraine has its origins in differences over pricing as well as Ukraine's interest in closer ties with the West.