US-Russia row harmful to global security - expert

US-Russia relations have reached a new low since the end of the Cold War, which is a huge disappointment for those who recognize how tension between these two world powers undermine global security and stability, says Edward Lozansky, President of the American University in Moscow and co-organizer of an upcoming roundtable in Washington that aims to brainstorm a solution to the problem.

"Regrettably, this sad state of affairs is most harmful, not only to the US and Russia but to the world's security and stability in general. The current crisis in Ukraine, which many see as a result of a US-Russia geopolitical confrontation, underscores once again the urgent necessity for developing a new foreign policy agenda that will benefit both American and Russian long-term strategic interests," Edward Lozansky told RIA Novosti.

To address this concern, experts on relations between Russia and the United States are now going to meet on Monday in the US capital, where a panel of Russian and American pundits will brainstorm solutions to the growing tensions between the two powers and seek to resolve deadlocks on Ukraine, Syria and other bugbear issues.

"US-Russia relations are at their lowest point since the collapse of the Soviet Union," Lozansky said. "This is a huge disappointment for all those who were expecting the emergence of a mutually beneficial strategic partnership or even alliance of these two great nations once there was no dividing ideological differences between them."

Discussions at the Hart Senate Office Building will feature Sergei Kislyak, Russia's ambassador to the US, Jack Matlock, a former US ambassador to Moscow, Leonid Gozman, president of the Union of Right Forces, and other luminaries specializing in US-Russia relations.

Relations between Moscow and Russia turned sour following the February coup in Ukraine, which brought to power a US-backed government with strong nationalist support.

Fearing a rise in ethnic violence, the Russian-majority republic of Crimea voted to leave Ukraine and join Russia.

The March 16 referendum in Crimea was denounced as illegitimate by the authorities in Kiev and Washington, resulting in a series of US sanctions against Russian individuals and firms, as well as freezes on all major cooperation projects.

Read more: http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2014_06_15/US-Russia-row-harmful-to-global-security-expert-1248/