Obama and Medvedev Summit: Burgers, Chicken, Trade and Twitter

We'll call it the Hamburger Summit. Proclaiming a new era of U.S.-Russian cooperation -- a "Reset" relationship, as the White House would have it -- President Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev rolled up their sleeves at Ray's Hell Burger in Arlington, Va., on Thursday to chow down on cheeseburgers and fries, though the talk did drift into significantly meatier subjects (pun intended). Among them, Medvedev and Obama discussed Russia's entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO), continued cooperation on arms reduction, nuclear proliferation, Iran sanctions, and the war in Afghanistan. And, also Twitter.

In a press conference later, Obama announced that Medvedev had agreed to lift the nearly 6-month-old Russian ban on American poultry exports -- a boon to U.S. chicken producers, who made $800 million in Russian sales last year. Instituted by Prime Minister Vladmir Putin in January, the Russian government cited American use of chlorine as a disinfectant for chickens -- banned by Russia and the European Union -- as cause for the ban. Some U.S. industry groups saw the measure as a way to help Russia's domestic poultry industry by dampening competition, as well as a diplomatic tool for Russia to show its displeasure with the U.S. on certain touchy subjects, including the war in Georgia.

The poultry ban has been a key hindrance to Russia's acceptance into the WTO, and Obama cited the end of the dispute as an "indication of the seriousness" Medvedev is taking on trade issues. He went on to announce that "Russia belonged in the WTO" and that he was "confident" that Russia was "90-95 percent of the way there" on WTO acceptance. Medvedev said he hoped to settle any outstanding issues regarding WTO entry by Sept. 30.

The two also discussed the war in Afghanistan, though Medvedev did not volunteer his thoughts on the recent departure of top U.S. commander Gen. Stanley McChrystal. Questioned later as to whether McChrystal's departure would change U.S. strategy in the region, Obama reiterated that the general's resignation reflected a "change of personnel and not one of policy." The president cited the potential drawdown of American troops in July 2011, saying, "We did not say that starting July 2011, suddenly there would be no troops from the United States or allied countries in Afghanistan. We didn't say we'd be switching off the lights and closing the door behind us. What we said is we'd begin a transition phase in which the Afghan government is taking on more and more responsibility."

Medvedev recounted his trip on Wednesday to Silicon Valley, Calif., as part of his Initiative on Innovation, saying, "It's very good that our [Russian] companies settle in the Silicon Valley...We should learn how to work and we should not swagger saying that we are clever enough." In a statement released by the White House late Thursday, both presidents pledged to "begin new and dedicated efforts to promote collaboration in the areas of development of civil technologies, open standards, and innovation and technology policy." On Friday, the two leaders are expected to meet again in Canada, at the G8/G-20 Summit.

Though the two presidents "agreed to disagree" on the issue of Georgian independence, good vibes seemed to be flowing for much of their day-long conversation. As proof, Obama noted that Medvedev had (finally!) signed up for his first Twitter account and joked, "I have one as well, so we may be able to finally throw away those 'red phones' that have been sitting around for so long."