Next stop: Moscow

Obama will have to walk a fine line.

“For some reason, Russia is the only place on Earth where American leaders tend to mention these things,” Nikonov said. “If he wants to annoy Medvedev and Putin then he may bring it up.”

“[The Obama administration] understands that American interference or American attempts to put all those human rights and democracy questions on the agenda will not change anything in Russia,” said Lukyanov. “It is very calculated and pragmatic. They know what they need from Russia. It’s not much, but it’s something.”

That something will likely include attempts at cooperation over nuclear programs in North Korea as well as Iran, where the issue has been further complicated by the country’s post-election turmoil.

“Iran is a neighbor with which Russia should not ruin relations without serious reason,” Pavlovsky said. “If Russia follows mechanically behind America it will ruin relations with Iran.”

For now, Moscow is waiting with bated breath. Obama is due to meet both Medvedev and Putin, as well as to give a commencement speech at Moscow’s New Economic School.

Many predict Obama and Medvedev, who first met at the G20 meeting in London earlier this year, will at least be able to get along on a personal level, both being young lawyers.

“They will get along, without the sentimental religiosity of Bush, without this talk of soul and eyes, but because both Obama and Medvedev are cold intellectuals. They will understand each other and find a common language,” Pavlovsky said.

Former president George W. Bush famously said he expected good relations with Russia because upon meeting then-President Putin, he stared into his eyes and saw his soul.

How Putin will respond to Obama is anbody’s guess, and the relationship between those two men is arguably more important, considering that Putin remains the country’s preeminent power.

Obama’s comments to AP on Thursday could also indicate a new U.S. push to bolster Medvedev, believed to be more liberal, at the expense of Putin.

“[The visit] is symbolic, but in the current situation that means it’s also significant,” Lukyanov said. “It’s important to demonstrate that the U.S. and Russia are able to talk and compromise. But that’s not a framework for future relations, and so far there is no understanding — neither in Russia nor in the U.S. — about our mutual interests in 5, 10, 20 years to come.”

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