53% of Americans have an unfavorable view of Russia and 34% of Russians negatively assess the performance of the leadership of the United States.

On June 17, following the CSTO and SCO summits, Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev sacked the country's first civilian Defense Minister Daniyal Akhmetov.

About 20,000 people rallied outside the Georgian parliament in Tbilisi on Monday in the fifth consecutive day of protests, demanding the resignation of President Mikheil Saakashvili.

The first face-to-face talks between Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev were expected to shed light on what the notion of the “reset button” for US-Russian relationships promulgated by US Vice-President Joe Biden was really about.

Interview with Irakli Alasania, leader of the Alliance for Georgia.

The US-Georgia Charter is not a Mutual Defence Pact. But It Draws Red Line for Russia.

Deepening Georgia’s integration into Euro-Atlantic institutions is a mutual priority, and we plan to undertake a program of enhanced security cooperation intended to increase Georgian capabilities and to strengthen Georgia’s candidacy for NATO membership.

I fear that in the U.S., too few understand the political and psychological problems of the Russians after the collapse of the USSR, the phantom pains of millions, and the problems of a massive country whose capital is nearly as close to Washington as to Vladivostok.

Barack Obama's election may have prompted celebrations from Chicago to Nairobi. But in Tbilisi, it was disappointment that carried the day, with many Georgians ruefully contemplating what John McCain's defeat would mean for them.

DAVID LOSABERIDZE

The situation in Georgia will be one of the issues of the negotiations between Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and U.S. President Barack Obama which will be held on July 6 in Moscow.

MARIA YULIKOVA

US president Barack Obama will travel to Moscow in July this year for his second negotiations round with Russian president Dmitry Medvedev. The first meeting between the two leaders in London in April went well.

SERGEI MARKEDONOV

What does the current situation in Georgia mean for Russia? On the one hand, the confrontation between the government and the opposition is Georgia’s domestic affair. Whoever wins the struggle, no one would take a pro-Russian position.

MARIA YULIKOVA

On April 1, 2009 Baraсk Obama met with the Russian leader Dmitry Medvedev to establish agenda for the future bilateral cooperation. Although the presidents agreed on a number of critical issues, the human rights violations and lack of rule of law in Russia were obviously put aside.

ALEXANDER RONDELI

The U.S. will not throw away its allies including Georgia for the sake of "reset" of the relations with Russia.

ALEXANDER ISKANDARYAN

There are no new tendencies or changes in the U.S. policy towards the South Caucasus after the new U.S. Administration has been formed. Barack Obama has not worked out his South Caucasian policy yet. For the time being, the new U.S. authorities focus on overcoming the economic crisis.

ALEXANDER RONDELI

In the eyes of the U.S. Administration Saakashvili represents the guarantor of stability and further development. If Saakashvili slowly but steadily promotes democratization in the country, he has nothing to worry about.

VIKTOR KREMENIUK

The rivalry between Moscow and Washington regarding the post-Soviet space will be still urgent under President Obama, but it won’t be crucial as it was under the previous Administration. A certain compromise is possible to achieve.

ZAAL ANJAPARIDZE

It is difficult to forecast how diligently the Administration of President Barack Obama will follow the above-mentioned articles of the Charter. But there is a high probability (taking into consideration the increased tension in the Russia-U.S. relations) that Russia would consider the Charter as a challenge to its interests in South Caucasus.

SERGEI ROGOV

Barack Obama is an outstanding policy-maker. He was considered to be a classical marginal politician, who had nothing to do with the U.S. political establishment and who was not taken seriously. But he felt that the U.S. voters expected changes.

MARIA YULIKOVA

Two months of blaming rhetoric between Russia and the US leaders, prompted by the August Caucasus crisis, nearly annihilated all the diplomatic achievements in the relationships between the two countries of the current millennium, and caused frustration among the diplomats on both sides.

DMITRY TRENIN, ALEXEI ARBATOV

According to Russia’s President Dmitry Medvedev, the armed conflict between Georgia and Russia has changed the world. This may be an exaggeration, but in fact the war has changed the Russian foreign policy, it deeply influences Russia’s economy and Moscow's relations with the West and the New Independent States.

VIKTOR KREMENIUK

The Caucasian conflict indicates intense rivalry between the USA and Russia for the post-Soviet space. Russia still hopes to put an end to the expansion of the U.S. influence.