President Obama arrived in Moscow Monday for a summit with Russian leaders aimed at reaching an agreement to cut stockpiles of nuclear warheads, but also expected to touch upon the war in Afghanistan, Iran\u2019s nuclear ambitions, terrorism and the jousting for influence in other post-Soviet countries.<\/p>\n
The summit comes less than a year after the conflict in Georgia caused the worst tensions between the United States and Russia since the end of the cold war. Since taking office in January, Mr. Obama has called for a \u201creset\u201d\u009d in relations, and the summit will offer the most telling evidence so far about how difficult it will be for him to achieve this goal.<\/p>\n
Russia\u2019s president, Dmitri A. Medvedev, said over the weekend that he was \u201cmoderately optimistic\u201d\u009d about the possibility of success at the summit, noting that under President George W. Bush, relations between the two countries had significantly worsened.<\/p>\n