Has The Global Financial Meltdown Forced A Truce In US-Russia Political Tift?

Recently Russia indirectly confronted the US by partly invading Georgia, a staunch US ally.

Not contended with its recent political-military victory, Russia appears to have been flexing its military muscles by parading its warships in the Mediterranean aside from its recent military exercise with Venezuela a formidable political foe of the US.

Courtesy of Timesonline

It has also been capitalizing at US social-economic-financial pressures at home by expanding its influence outside its region. In short, the Putin led Russia have been rebuilding up on the scale of its old “Soviet Union” networks. A possible revival of the former US-Soviet “Cold war” looks likely at work. Or so it seems.

Now we read that the US and Russia are having unannounced highly confidential top level military meeting at Finland (Hat tip: Charleston Voice).

According to Turkish Daily News, ``A U.S. Embassy official says American and Russian military leaders are meeting for unannounced talks in Finland, the highest-level military meeting between the two countries since Russia's war with U.S. ally Georgia in August.

``U.S. Embassy spokesman Kim Hargan says the participants include Adm. Michael G. Mullen, the chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Gen. Nikolai Makarov, who was appointed the Russian Armed Forces' Chief of General Staff in June.

``Hargan declined to give any details on Tuesday's talks, which had not been previously announced in Finland.

``The Finnish Defense Ministry said the head of the Finnish defense forces, Admiral Juhani Kaskeala organized the meeting at an isolated manor house outside Helsinki. It gave no other details.”

Of course, such a meeting could mean anything and is subject to anyone’s interpretation or speculation. But considering how Russia has felt the brunt of the financial meltdown, to see its stocks collapse, its currency slammed and its bonds toast, while its main source of export revenues-oil and energy-getting walloped, maybe such a meeting puts on hold the political showboating of both camps.

Perhaps misery loves company.