One such "mine" has been overshadowing Russian-American relations for more than 30 years. It is the notorious Jackson-Vanik Amendment. Few now remember that it was introduced by the U.S. Congress to punish the Soviet leadership for preventing Jews from reuniting with their relatives in Israel or simply leaving for their "historical homeland." The amendment forbade countries and companies cooperating with American firms to sell high-tech equipment and machine tools to the Soviet Union.

The Soviet Union is no more. Jews and members of other ethnicities are free to travel anywhere, settle outside Russia or return to it at will ... but Jackson-Vanik is still there. Neither Democratic President Bill Clinton nor Republican President George W. Bush has been able to repeal it. President Obama is unlikely to do so either, although he has promised to do just that.

Last summer U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her counterparts from Poland and the Czech Republic signed an agreement on deploying elements of an American strategic missile shield: 10 interceptor missiles at Wicko Morskie between the towns of Ustka and Darlowo on the Baltic coast in Poland and an X-radar in Brdy, not far from Prague.

These moves are also casting a shadow on relations between Moscow and Washington, though the United States insists that the missiles in Eastern Europe are targeted against rogue nations, among which it includes Iran. Russia is nonetheless convinced that the missiles are intended to reduce the counter-force potential of Russia's strategic forces in the European part of the country.

One more legacy being left by Bush is concerned with the extension of START-1, a strategic arms reduction treaty that expires in December 2009. For the eight years that the 43rd U.S. president has been in office, his team has never found time to sit down with its Russian counterparts to decide what to do with the treaty. Was it to be continued or forgotten like yesterday's dream? And although U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who may keep his post under the new president, says a team of negotiators should be created in the remaining time to discuss START-1, no interest can be seen in the current administration. If and when a new team will do so is anybody's guess, and in the meantime control over offensive arms is being derailed.

The Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty, signed by Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2002, is an example. No mechanism currently exists for its fulfillment and verification. A commission that was to have been established for this purpose is not in existence.

So the new Obama administration will have its work cut out for it. Many mines have been planted on the path to cooperation with Russia that must be defused, assuming, of course, that Obama shows interest in defusing them. The departing team, aside from a declared wish to establish a strategic partnership with Moscow, has done practically nothing to promote cooperation; perhaps it only created additional complications for the relief crew.

(Nikita Petrov is a Russian military analyst. This article is reprinted by permission of RIA Novosti. The opinions expressed in this article are the author's and do not necessarily represent those of RIA Novosti.)

-- (United Press International's "Outside View" commentaries are written by outside contributors who specialize in a variety of important issues. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of United Press International. In the interests of creating an open forum, original submissions are invited.)

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