0:00:15 > 0:00:19In July 2009, Russia's President, Dmitry Medvedev,
0:00:19 > 0:00:21a bit of a computer geek,
0:00:21 > 0:00:24posted a blog on the Kremlin website.
0:00:50 > 0:00:54But now, a new American president was in charge
0:00:54 > 0:00:57and he was coming to town.
0:00:57 > 0:00:59To get the President to go to Moscow
0:00:59 > 0:01:01in the first six months of his administration,
0:01:01 > 0:01:04was a major achievement.
0:01:04 > 0:01:08The most valuable commodity that we have is the President's time,
0:01:08 > 0:01:12and we fight over it vigorously, every single minute of his time.
0:01:12 > 0:01:16It was the President himself that finally intervened to say,
0:01:16 > 0:01:20"we're going to do this, we have to do it at this time, in this way."
0:01:20 > 0:01:25Obama was making a big investment in the Russian president.
0:01:25 > 0:01:28But was he talking to the right man?
0:01:53 > 0:01:57Every American president comes into office
0:01:57 > 0:02:00determined to change the world.
0:02:00 > 0:02:03But what Barack Obama proposed was unique.
0:02:04 > 0:02:08As the only nuclear power to have used a nuclear weapon,
0:02:08 > 0:02:12the United States has a moral responsibility to act.
0:02:12 > 0:02:17So today, I state clearly and with conviction,
0:02:17 > 0:02:21America's commitment to seek the peace and security
0:02:21 > 0:02:23of a world without nuclear weapons.
0:02:31 > 0:02:34I'm not naive.
0:02:34 > 0:02:36This goal will not be reached quickly,
0:02:36 > 0:02:39perhaps not in my lifetime.
0:02:39 > 0:02:42But now, we too must ignore the voices
0:02:42 > 0:02:46who tell us that the world cannot change.
0:02:46 > 0:02:48We have to insist, "Yes, we can."
0:02:54 > 0:02:57As soon as he became president,
0:02:57 > 0:03:00Barack Obama called in his National Security Adviser.
0:03:01 > 0:03:03We talked about Russia.
0:03:03 > 0:03:05He was unusually insistent
0:03:05 > 0:03:09on the issue of arms control and a nuclear threat.
0:03:09 > 0:03:11He said the two countries that ought to lead,
0:03:11 > 0:03:14are the two countries who have the biggest stockpile.
0:03:14 > 0:03:16And by example,
0:03:16 > 0:03:19we have to show the world that we really are interested
0:03:19 > 0:03:23in reducing and eliminating ultimately nuclear weapons.
0:03:29 > 0:03:33Convincing Russia was going to be difficult.
0:03:33 > 0:03:37Obama had inherited a military programme the Russians hated.
0:03:37 > 0:03:42It would put new anti-missile bases in Poland, on Russia's doorstep.
0:03:54 > 0:03:56The day Obama was elected,
0:03:56 > 0:04:00President Medvedev addressed the nation.
0:04:00 > 0:04:04He didn't congratulate America's new leader, he threatened him.
0:04:16 > 0:04:18But Obama wasn't interested in confrontation.
0:04:18 > 0:04:20This administration,
0:04:20 > 0:04:25my administration is seeking a reset of the relationship with Russia.
0:04:26 > 0:04:30Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, organised a press event
0:04:30 > 0:04:33at which she presented Russia's Foreign Minister
0:04:33 > 0:04:35with a symbolic reset button.
0:04:35 > 0:04:39We want to reset our relationship.
0:04:39 > 0:04:42- Let's do it together. - We will do it together.
0:04:47 > 0:04:48Thank you very much.
0:04:48 > 0:04:50You're very welcome.
0:04:50 > 0:04:54We worked hard to get the right Russian word, do you think we got it?
0:04:54 > 0:04:57- You got it wrong. - I got it wrong.
0:04:57 > 0:04:58It should be peresagruskaya.
0:05:00 > 0:05:04this says peregeruskaya, which means overcharge.
0:05:04 > 0:05:07We won't let you do that to us, I promise.
0:05:08 > 0:05:11Obama and his team had to do better.
0:05:12 > 0:05:16Secretly, he made a decision the Russians would love,
0:05:16 > 0:05:20to put on hold the plans to build missile defence bases in Europe.
0:05:20 > 0:05:23But how best to tell them?
0:05:23 > 0:05:25We were trying to think of a way you could drive home
0:05:25 > 0:05:30the seriousness of the Presidents and Secretary Clinton's interest,
0:05:30 > 0:05:33in trying to explore a fresh start in relations.
0:05:33 > 0:05:35And one way to do that,
0:05:35 > 0:05:37was to have a serious presidential letter
0:05:37 > 0:05:41and have it delivered by reasonably high officials.
0:05:41 > 0:05:43I though it was a silly idea.
0:05:43 > 0:05:46I live in the Silicon Valley, we don't deliver letters ever.
0:05:46 > 0:05:49There's no such thing as a paper letter anymore.
0:05:49 > 0:05:52Let alone you would fly across the other side of the earth
0:05:52 > 0:05:53to deliver it.
0:05:53 > 0:05:56I proposed we should send an e-mail.
0:05:58 > 0:06:01But Bill was right, I was wrong.
0:06:01 > 0:06:03The symbolism of the two of us coming together,
0:06:03 > 0:06:08to the resetting of the relationship, was very dramatic.
0:06:08 > 0:06:11Bill was somebody that they knew well.
0:06:11 > 0:06:15I, being the new guy with the new Obama team from the White House,
0:06:15 > 0:06:17that sent a very positive message.
0:06:43 > 0:06:46Three months before Obama's proposed trip to Moscow,
0:06:46 > 0:06:49the two new presidents met in London,
0:06:49 > 0:06:52where the leaders of 20 of the world's biggest economies gathered
0:06:52 > 0:06:54to tackle the global recession.
0:06:55 > 0:06:58It seemed like love at first sight.
0:07:27 > 0:07:29Out of the blue,
0:07:29 > 0:07:33President Medvedev proposed to expand the supply route
0:07:33 > 0:07:35for our forces in Afghanistan.
0:07:36 > 0:07:41And he suggested we expand it to allow for military flights
0:07:41 > 0:07:42through Russia.
0:07:42 > 0:07:45It was quite shocking. We didn't expect it.
0:07:45 > 0:07:48I took it to be that this is a sign
0:07:48 > 0:07:52of him trying also to reset the relationship.
0:07:54 > 0:07:56Let me just make a brief comment.
0:07:56 > 0:07:59Obama raised a problem the US and Russia
0:07:59 > 0:08:01had long been fighting over - Iran.
0:08:01 > 0:08:02President Obama said,
0:08:02 > 0:08:06"we have some great concerns about Iran's nuclear programme.
0:08:06 > 0:08:08"We believe there's evidence
0:08:08 > 0:08:13"that they are in fact seeking to weaponise nuclear capabilities
0:08:13 > 0:08:15"and we're concerned about it."
0:08:15 > 0:08:18President Medvedev said, off the cuff,
0:08:18 > 0:08:22I'm sure it wasn't in the speaking notes, but, off the cuff said,
0:08:22 > 0:08:28"well, you know, on Iran, you may have been more accurate than we."
0:08:28 > 0:08:32For American ears, it was astounding to hear.
0:08:32 > 0:08:34It was not Iran's nuclear capability,
0:08:34 > 0:08:37but their own, that was the main issue before them.
0:08:37 > 0:08:40The agreement which limited Russian and American nuclear weapons
0:08:40 > 0:08:43would expire in eight months.
0:08:43 > 0:08:46They had to set terms for its renewal.
0:08:46 > 0:08:50Medvedev wanted it to stop American missile defence in Eastern Europe.
0:09:04 > 0:09:06We were categorical
0:09:06 > 0:09:08that we're not going to have this conversation together.
0:09:08 > 0:09:11We can have a conversation about missile defence over here,
0:09:11 > 0:09:12but over here,
0:09:12 > 0:09:16we're going to talk about reducing offensive strategic weapons.
0:09:16 > 0:09:19That's what the negotiations had to be about.
0:09:19 > 0:09:21The Russians wanted to do it all together.
0:09:21 > 0:09:22We said, "no."
0:09:24 > 0:09:28Obama persuaded Medvedev they should instruct their officials
0:09:28 > 0:09:32to start work on a new agreement to cut nuclear weapons.
0:09:32 > 0:09:37In return, Obama promised talks on missile defence.
0:09:37 > 0:09:40But he was vague about whether the two negotiations would be linked.
0:09:44 > 0:09:48The next day, Medvedev explained his position.
0:10:31 > 0:10:33When Obama got to Moscow,
0:10:33 > 0:10:36he would face another negotiating partner
0:10:36 > 0:10:38who would be harder to charm.
0:10:38 > 0:10:40Okey-dokey.
0:10:42 > 0:10:46Prime Minister Putin still has a lot of sway in Russia.
0:10:46 > 0:10:50I think Putin has one foot in the old ways of doing business
0:10:50 > 0:10:52and one foot in the new
0:10:52 > 0:10:57and to the extent that we can provide him and the Russian people
0:10:57 > 0:11:01a sense that the US is not seeking an antagonistic relationship,
0:11:01 > 0:11:04we'll end up having a stronger partner.
0:11:04 > 0:11:09Obama knew Prime Ministers in Russia don't do foreign policy.
0:11:09 > 0:11:11But Putin was used to being in charge.
0:11:20 > 0:11:24Minister Lavrov is always correcting the translator.
0:11:26 > 0:11:29He's somebody with some excellent English skills.
0:11:34 > 0:11:37We have plenty of those.
0:11:38 > 0:11:40President Obama began the conversation
0:11:40 > 0:11:42with a very straightforward question
0:11:42 > 0:11:45about what Putin thought about the relationship,
0:11:45 > 0:11:47what had gone right, what had gone wrong.
0:11:47 > 0:11:49And characteristically,
0:11:49 > 0:11:52Prime Minister Putin responded at some length.
0:12:12 > 0:12:17Prime Minister Putin thought instead of working with the Russians,
0:12:17 > 0:12:19previous Presidents, and he said PRESIDENTS,
0:12:19 > 0:12:21not just President Bush, by the way.
0:12:21 > 0:12:25He talked about the bombing campaign in Serbia.
0:12:25 > 0:12:28President Clinton was President at the time.
0:12:28 > 0:12:31He said, "Instead of working with Russia, we dictated to them.
0:12:31 > 0:12:34"Well, we're going to do this, so it's our way or the highway."
0:12:44 > 0:12:49Putin said, "You young guys, I know your reset and all that.
0:12:49 > 0:12:52"But I've been through this before and I know how this movie ends
0:12:52 > 0:12:53"and it doesn't end well."
0:12:53 > 0:12:56The meeting had been scheduled for an hour.
0:12:56 > 0:13:00Obama had yet to get a word in edgeways.
0:13:00 > 0:13:03At the end of the hour, the President suggested
0:13:03 > 0:13:05that we might want to extend our visit,
0:13:05 > 0:13:07so we could have more dialogue.
0:13:11 > 0:13:14Because I think it gave me important insights into the '90s
0:13:14 > 0:13:20and on into the last eight years.
0:13:20 > 0:13:22And the President pushed back.
0:13:22 > 0:13:25He said, "I'm different, this is a new time.
0:13:25 > 0:13:27"Whatever the past of the Cold War
0:13:27 > 0:13:30and whatever your experience in the 1990s,
0:13:30 > 0:13:33we're going to reset this relationship.
0:13:34 > 0:13:39Obama decided he would now deal only with President Medvedev.
0:13:39 > 0:13:40But his next step
0:13:40 > 0:13:42showed he had listened to both of Russia's leaders.
0:13:46 > 0:13:47As Commander-in-Chief,
0:13:47 > 0:13:50I ordered a comprehensive assessment
0:13:50 > 0:13:52of our missile defence programme in Europe.
0:13:52 > 0:13:57This new approach will provide capabilities sooner,
0:13:57 > 0:13:58build on proven systems,
0:13:58 > 0:14:02and offer greater defences against the threat of missile attack.
0:14:05 > 0:14:07Obama's new approach to missile defence
0:14:07 > 0:14:10seemed to address Russia's concerns.
0:14:12 > 0:14:16Now, their nuclear negotiators could forge ahead.
0:14:16 > 0:14:20They needed a deal before the current nuclear weapons agreement,
0:14:20 > 0:14:21the START Treaty, expired.
0:14:21 > 0:14:27If they failed, the right to monitor each other's arsenals would expire.
0:14:28 > 0:14:31We were worried about what would happen if we missed this deadline.
0:14:34 > 0:14:37I'll be brief. Today the Presidents met for the fourth time.
0:14:37 > 0:14:39I was put before the cameras.
0:14:42 > 0:14:43Questions?
0:14:44 > 0:14:49On START, the commitment is to have it in place by the end of December,
0:14:49 > 0:14:52but doesn't it expire in the beginning of December?
0:14:52 > 0:14:55Yes, it does expire on December 5th.
0:14:55 > 0:14:58And in parallel, we have a bridging agreement
0:14:58 > 0:15:02that we also are working with the Russians.
0:15:02 > 0:15:07I fully suspect we will be able to get that into place by December 5th.
0:15:07 > 0:15:10You're definitely not going to make the December 5th deadline?
0:15:12 > 0:15:14I don't know that for sure,
0:15:14 > 0:15:19but I do know we won't have a ratified treaty by December 5th.
0:15:19 > 0:15:23That has to go through our senate, their Duma, so that is for sure,
0:15:23 > 0:15:25we need a bridging agreement, no matter what.
0:15:25 > 0:15:28We were very nervous about it, to be honest.
0:15:28 > 0:15:31My political leadership was very nervous about it.
0:15:38 > 0:15:41In Geneva, the traditional home for arms talks,
0:15:41 > 0:15:44the negotiators had easily agreed to cut in half
0:15:44 > 0:15:47the number of nuclear missiles each side held.
0:15:50 > 0:15:53On the other part of the deal,
0:15:53 > 0:15:56how arms inspectors could verify that neither side was cheating,
0:15:56 > 0:15:59they were not quite there.
0:15:59 > 0:16:01The December 5th deadline loomed.
0:16:02 > 0:16:06We wanted to get the Treaty finished in time
0:16:06 > 0:16:09to be in place and signed by the Presidents.
0:16:09 > 0:16:12We could see that there were certain critical issues
0:16:12 > 0:16:13that had to be resolved.
0:16:30 > 0:16:32Anatoly said to me,
0:16:32 > 0:16:35"we need to go back to Moscow and talk to them,
0:16:35 > 0:16:38"but we think we've got the pieces falling into place now."
0:16:38 > 0:16:43I was able, that week, to give a pretty good message to Washington.
0:16:44 > 0:16:46It seemed like a triumph.
0:16:46 > 0:16:47In her secret cable,
0:16:47 > 0:16:51the US negotiator reported that her opposite number had
0:16:51 > 0:16:56"cabled Moscow and lobbied for the signing ceremony to be in Geneva."
0:16:56 > 0:16:59She had told him that President Obama
0:16:59 > 0:17:01was scheduled to be in Europe in 10 days' time.
0:17:06 > 0:17:10But the next day, Medvedev put the draft agreement
0:17:10 > 0:17:13before Russia's National Security Council.
0:17:13 > 0:17:17There, Putin and the top generals would pronounce.
0:17:17 > 0:17:20I got a telephone call from Anatoly on Saturday morning.
0:17:20 > 0:17:24He said, "I've just gotten new instructions in from Moscow."
0:17:47 > 0:17:51He said, "we need to have a special plenary meeting."
0:17:51 > 0:17:55And I said, "All right, Saturday afternoon? That's unusual."
0:17:58 > 0:18:02At the plenary session, Anatoly said to me,
0:18:02 > 0:18:04"Well, here is what we've heard from Moscow."
0:18:04 > 0:18:07He read through what he had received back.
0:18:19 > 0:18:22I said, "Well, this is a step backwards."
0:18:22 > 0:18:24Anatoly said to me,
0:18:24 > 0:18:31"You are questioning what we heard from the Kremlin?"
0:18:58 > 0:19:00The 5th December deadline passed.
0:19:00 > 0:19:04There was no bridging agreement, so the two sides
0:19:04 > 0:19:07no longer had the right to inspect each other's nuclear sites.
0:19:11 > 0:19:14That month, the two presidents attended the global warming summit
0:19:14 > 0:19:15in Copenhagen.
0:19:46 > 0:19:49The nuclear negotiators were there too,
0:19:49 > 0:19:52to try to remove the sticking points that had made Moscow back away.
0:19:52 > 0:19:55The biggest sticking point was whether each side
0:19:55 > 0:19:58would have the right to inspect the other's missile bases.
0:20:12 > 0:20:13He was like,
0:20:13 > 0:20:15"We don't need all this verification.
0:20:15 > 0:20:18"The reset baby, why do we need that?"
0:20:18 > 0:20:21And my view was the opposite, that if we're fine,
0:20:21 > 0:20:22then what do you have to hide?
0:20:31 > 0:20:34And Anatoly just exploded in anger.
0:20:41 > 0:20:43Deadlock.
0:20:43 > 0:20:46The negotiators called their Presidents away
0:20:46 > 0:20:48from the climate change talks.
0:20:59 > 0:21:03Once the two presidents started talking, the obstacles melted away.
0:21:05 > 0:21:08The President put the onus back on Medvedev to say,
0:21:08 > 0:21:10what's the big deal here?
0:21:10 > 0:21:14And President Medvedev saw the logic of President Obama and said,
0:21:14 > 0:21:15"I agree."
0:21:15 > 0:21:19I'm confident that it will be completed in a timely fashion.
0:21:19 > 0:21:23I'd like to say Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
0:21:26 > 0:21:29Thank you, everybody.
0:21:36 > 0:21:40So, as soon as the New Year holidays were over,
0:21:40 > 0:21:44Obama sent a huge delegation to Moscow, led by America's top brass.
0:21:47 > 0:21:49They met in the centre of resistance,
0:21:49 > 0:21:51the Russian Ministry of Defence.
0:21:51 > 0:21:54We read through the talking points that we had
0:21:54 > 0:21:57and expected there'd be the beginning of a big debate going on.,
0:21:57 > 0:22:01General Makarov simply said, "We agree."
0:22:03 > 0:22:07The American delegation called President Obama to tell him
0:22:07 > 0:22:10that he was, at last, going to get his treaty.
0:22:10 > 0:22:13The President was very happy, it was clear to me,
0:22:13 > 0:22:16in talking to General Jones afterwards that,
0:22:16 > 0:22:18that he was happy that the President's happy.
0:22:18 > 0:22:22We're always happy when the President's happy.
0:22:22 > 0:22:25The next day, the American delegation flew home,
0:22:25 > 0:22:30except the chief negotiator, who met her counterpart one-on-one.
0:22:30 > 0:22:34She thought they had only minor details to sort out.
0:22:35 > 0:22:39I came in that day, and Anatoly said to me that missile defence
0:22:39 > 0:22:42was still a major issue for the Russian Federation.
0:22:55 > 0:22:58Putin and the generals feared that the US
0:22:58 > 0:23:00would so improve missile defence,
0:23:00 > 0:23:03that they could shoot down even Russia's sophisticated missiles.
0:23:21 > 0:23:24When I heard that, I was outraged and I was like,
0:23:24 > 0:23:25Hey, well wait a minute.
0:23:25 > 0:23:28We just flew half the US Government to Moscow,
0:23:28 > 0:23:30to finish negotiating this thing.
0:23:30 > 0:23:33We went through what the agenda was at the beginning
0:23:33 > 0:23:36and nobody raised a peep and suddenly this is now not done.
0:23:40 > 0:23:42There was only one way to break the deadlock.
0:24:07 > 0:24:11The President's over at his desk on the phone, with Medvedev,
0:24:11 > 0:24:14we're over at another phone in the Oval Office, listening.
0:24:14 > 0:24:18I have to say, for this phone call, we didn't quite understand
0:24:18 > 0:24:22what Medvedev thought this phone call was about.
0:24:22 > 0:24:24Because I speak Russian,
0:24:24 > 0:24:26I can hear the Russian before it's translated,
0:24:26 > 0:24:29and it was clear to me
0:24:29 > 0:24:32that Medvedev thought we'd agreed to something on missile defence
0:24:32 > 0:24:33that we had not agreed.
0:24:47 > 0:24:50Medvedev was asking for a new section in the treaty,
0:24:50 > 0:24:54to stop America improving its missile defence.
0:24:54 > 0:24:57That would be a huge problem in the US Senate.
0:24:57 > 0:25:00I jumped up and wrote a hand note to the President
0:25:00 > 0:25:03saying, "We cannot agree to what Medvedev was saying,
0:25:03 > 0:25:05"specifically about this linkage."
0:25:05 > 0:25:09Our President said, "Dmitry, I've...
0:25:09 > 0:25:14"I've told you at every turn that this treaty will not pass
0:25:14 > 0:25:18"if it's linked to missile defence, our missile defence.
0:25:18 > 0:25:21"And you have to believe me. You...
0:25:21 > 0:25:24"you just have to understand, this is not a technique
0:25:24 > 0:25:28"or a negotiating ploy, it's just, it is reality."
0:25:28 > 0:25:31And I think he said, "I have counted the votes,
0:25:31 > 0:25:36"and...it just simply is not something I can negotiate."
0:25:36 > 0:25:38The President then said, quite forcefully,
0:25:38 > 0:25:42"If this is going to be a red line for you,
0:25:42 > 0:25:44"then we'll call the negotiations off."
0:25:44 > 0:25:45It was that dramatic.
0:25:47 > 0:25:51After an hour and a half, the phone call ended in stalemate.
0:25:54 > 0:25:56The negotiators went back to work.
0:25:59 > 0:26:00They pushed hard, we said no.
0:26:00 > 0:26:03At that point we really were,
0:26:03 > 0:26:06I think, at the end of where we could go on this stuff.
0:26:18 > 0:26:23And, you know, they pushed and pushed and then decided, OK, we're done.
0:26:23 > 0:26:26BAND PLAYS INTRODUCTORY FLOURISH
0:26:31 > 0:26:34The two presidents signed the treaty,
0:26:34 > 0:26:37which cut the number of their nuclear missiles in half,
0:26:37 > 0:26:39warheads by a third,
0:26:39 > 0:26:43and set in place a system of inspections for the next decade.
0:26:46 > 0:26:50Obama's decision to deal only with Medvedev was paying off.
0:26:50 > 0:26:52APPLAUSE IN HALL
0:26:55 > 0:26:57And it looked as though the West
0:26:57 > 0:27:01had years more co-operation with him in prospect.
0:27:12 > 0:27:15But even before Medvedev became president,
0:27:15 > 0:27:18he and Vladimir Putin had struck a deal.
0:27:57 > 0:28:00Putin had offered the presidency to Medvedev for one term only.
0:28:00 > 0:28:04Before the next election, they would talk.
0:28:19 > 0:28:24The unexpected arrived just months after Medvedev took over.
0:28:24 > 0:28:26The price of oil, Russia's key export,
0:28:26 > 0:28:29fell from 138 a barrel to 34.
0:28:32 > 0:28:35The 2008 global financial crash had hit Russia.
0:29:04 > 0:29:09Medvedev's advisors suggested they dip into Russia's reserve fund,
0:29:09 > 0:29:12earned by years of oil profits,
0:29:12 > 0:29:14to keep the economy afloat.
0:29:16 > 0:29:22In 2008-9, the state spent about 200 billion to stave off disaster.
0:29:22 > 0:29:26But five times as much, over a trillion dollars,
0:29:26 > 0:29:29was wiped off the Russian stock exchange.
0:29:29 > 0:29:31Thousands of businesses collapsed.
0:29:31 > 0:29:34ANGRY SHOUTING
0:29:50 > 0:29:54The global recession revealed that Russia's economic success
0:29:54 > 0:29:56had been more the result of high oil prices
0:29:56 > 0:29:59than eight years of Putin's presidency.
0:29:59 > 0:30:03Hardest hit were the old Soviet-era one-factory towns.
0:30:06 > 0:30:08Pikalyovo, outside St Petersburg,
0:30:08 > 0:30:11depended entirely on a vast cement works.
0:30:12 > 0:30:15The owners received a government bailout,
0:30:15 > 0:30:18but three months later, the factory was still shut.
0:30:21 > 0:30:26In June, the townspeople blockaded one of Russia's key motorways.
0:30:42 > 0:30:44Vladimir Putin strode into town.
0:30:54 > 0:30:59Unlike Medvedev, Putin confronted the factory owners.
0:31:32 > 0:31:37He demanded the owners, including billionaire Oleg Deripaska,
0:31:37 > 0:31:40sign an undertaking to restart the factories.
0:32:10 > 0:32:11Classic Putin.
0:32:11 > 0:32:14But if a country as big as Russia
0:32:14 > 0:32:17needed a personal visit from the boss
0:32:17 > 0:32:20to get one factory back to work, then it was in serious trouble.
0:32:43 > 0:32:48But President Medvedev was not convinced that structural changes were impossible.
0:32:48 > 0:32:53When Putin was president, oil money poured into Russia,
0:32:53 > 0:32:56but he failed to use it to modernise the economy.
0:33:23 > 0:33:25Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev.
0:33:25 > 0:33:28FANFARE PLAYS
0:33:29 > 0:33:33Medvedev chose his second annual speech to the national leadership
0:33:33 > 0:33:37to set out his vision of where he wanted Russia to go.
0:33:37 > 0:33:40And it didn't sound like Putin's Russia.
0:34:05 > 0:34:07APPLAUSE
0:34:12 > 0:34:15Medvedev's goal was a Russia
0:34:15 > 0:34:17in which its world-class education system,
0:34:17 > 0:34:22scientists and engineers would create a dynamic, high-tech country.
0:34:25 > 0:34:28And that required, he said, genuine democracy
0:34:28 > 0:34:30and equal justice under the law.
0:34:34 > 0:34:37These changes would unravel Putin's system of top-down control.
0:35:01 > 0:35:04Medvedev was signalling it was time for a change.
0:35:21 > 0:35:23A human rights lawyer and a young journalist
0:35:23 > 0:35:25who worked for Novaya Gazeta,
0:35:25 > 0:35:29the leading opposition newspaper, were shot by nationalist skinheads.
0:35:50 > 0:35:56Three years earlier, Russia's most famous crusading journalist,
0:35:56 > 0:35:59who worked for the same paper, was also murdered.
0:36:16 > 0:36:19But a few days after the funerals,
0:36:19 > 0:36:22the editor was called to the Kremlin.
0:37:08 > 0:37:14Medvedev found that having to divide domestic policy with Prime Minister Putin,
0:37:14 > 0:37:17he could do little to make Russia more democratic.
0:37:17 > 0:37:20On foreign policy, though,
0:37:20 > 0:37:23the President had shown he was in charge.
0:37:24 > 0:37:28One of his biggest challenges was Russia's neighbour, Iran,
0:37:28 > 0:37:30an important client for Russian arms.
0:37:31 > 0:37:35Iran's nuclear ambitions brought Russia into conflict with America.
0:37:37 > 0:37:41It had begun back in 2006, when Putin was President.
0:37:51 > 0:37:56I told Sergey Lavrov that if the Iranians got a nuclear weapon,
0:37:56 > 0:37:59the first place they might use it is the Caucasus.
0:37:59 > 0:38:01They'd caused all kinds of trouble there.
0:38:01 > 0:38:05How in the world could they see an Iran with a nuclear weapon?
0:38:05 > 0:38:10And sanctions would give us one way to do this without war.
0:38:30 > 0:38:33Three years later, during the UN General Assembly,
0:38:33 > 0:38:36the Americans saw a way to break the impasse.
0:38:38 > 0:38:42They had discovered a secret nuclear processing facility
0:38:42 > 0:38:44hidden in Iran's mountains.
0:38:44 > 0:38:48They hoped this would convince Russia of the need for sanctions.
0:38:50 > 0:38:53We now had enough evidence to conclusively show them
0:38:53 > 0:38:57graphically what the Iranians were up to.
0:39:01 > 0:39:05Then I showed him a few of the overhead photos.
0:39:09 > 0:39:12And he reacted in a way that I would have reacted
0:39:12 > 0:39:16had I been on the receiving end of very troubling information.
0:39:23 > 0:39:24He was shaking his head,
0:39:24 > 0:39:28and Mike McFaul translated the words he was using
0:39:28 > 0:39:31which just means bad, really bad.
0:39:37 > 0:39:41When the presidents joined them, the Americans knew they'd won.
0:39:41 > 0:39:44As we were standing, one of the Russians said,
0:39:44 > 0:39:45"Why didn't you tell me?"
0:39:45 > 0:39:49I said, "We thought you knew! These are your guys, not ours."
0:39:49 > 0:39:54If Iran does not respond to the international community
0:39:54 > 0:39:57that it's meeting its commitments,
0:39:57 > 0:39:59and is not developing nuclear weapons,
0:39:59 > 0:40:04then we will have to take additional actions.
0:40:19 > 0:40:23For the first time, Russia accepted the need for stringent sanctions.
0:40:24 > 0:40:26Obama pushed for more.
0:40:26 > 0:40:30He wanted Medvedev to cancel a billion-dollar arms sale to Iran.
0:40:32 > 0:40:35It's not a small thing for the Russians to, in essence,
0:40:35 > 0:40:37return an 800 million down-payment.
0:40:37 > 0:40:41It wasn't just, you know, "I'll give you a billion for a billion." It was to say,
0:40:41 > 0:40:44"Dmitry, you and I can be partners in a geopolitical way
0:40:44 > 0:40:49"that will be more valuable to you over the long run
0:40:49 > 0:40:52"than your relationship with Iran."
0:40:54 > 0:40:59In June 2010, Russia voted for new UN sanctions.
0:41:08 > 0:41:12Medvedev cancelled the billion-dollar arms deal.
0:41:14 > 0:41:17Now he set out to redeem some of the credit he had earned.
0:41:20 > 0:41:24He was seeking Obama's help to advance his pet project -
0:41:24 > 0:41:30a Russian Silicon Valley called Skolkovo, just outside Moscow.
0:41:34 > 0:41:38I recently extended an invitation to President Medvedev to visit
0:41:38 > 0:41:41the United States in late June.
0:41:41 > 0:41:45And one of the things we hope he's going to be able to do
0:41:45 > 0:41:49is not just visit Washington, but also to travel, for example, to Silicon Valley.
0:42:16 > 0:42:19Thousands of Russians had come to America
0:42:19 > 0:42:22in search of the capitalist dream.
0:42:22 > 0:42:25This young woman was seeking contacts on Wall Street.
0:42:40 > 0:42:45Anna Chapman, a Russian immigrant, was a budding businesswoman.
0:42:45 > 0:42:49She was also one of ten spies Russia had planted in the US years earlier.
0:42:52 > 0:42:55The FBI was watching their every move.
0:42:57 > 0:43:00They learned that some suspects were planning to leave the country.
0:43:00 > 0:43:04It was five days before Medvedev's visit.
0:43:05 > 0:43:08The President convened the National Security Council -
0:43:08 > 0:43:10no-one wanted a spy scandal.
0:43:11 > 0:43:14Talk about relics from another time.
0:43:14 > 0:43:19They hadn't really done any real damage, but they were clearly here
0:43:19 > 0:43:24under other pretences than what they presented themselves to be.
0:43:24 > 0:43:27The President wanted to handle this in a way that was professional
0:43:27 > 0:43:30and did not feel like it was the Cold War.
0:43:30 > 0:43:32It was a delicate moment.
0:43:32 > 0:43:36The President asked the FBI if they could wait
0:43:36 > 0:43:38until Medvedev had left the country.
0:43:42 > 0:43:45Meanwhile, the Russian entourage was given a crash course
0:43:45 > 0:43:51at some of the world's most successful companies, where ideas could flourish openly
0:43:51 > 0:43:55and businesses did not need to bribe friends in high places.
0:44:32 > 0:44:37Next stop - Washington.
0:44:37 > 0:44:40Here, he addressed his next agenda item -
0:44:40 > 0:44:42Russia joining the World Trade Organisation -
0:44:42 > 0:44:44the WTO.
0:44:46 > 0:44:49Medvedev hoped that once Russia was in the WTO
0:44:49 > 0:44:53and obeying its rules, foreigners would feel safe and start investing.
0:45:08 > 0:45:14But Russian membership in the WTO was blocked by a billion dollars' worth of chicken.
0:45:16 > 0:45:21Russia had been America's largest export market for chicken.
0:45:21 > 0:45:22Then Russia banned it.
0:45:25 > 0:45:28Half a million American voters work in the poultry industry
0:45:28 > 0:45:31so Obama wanted the ban lifted.
0:45:31 > 0:45:35The Russians, in return, wanted all the other trade issues settled
0:45:35 > 0:45:37within three months.
0:45:53 > 0:45:58The President weighed in and said, "I want to get this done by then.
0:45:58 > 0:46:02"I agree with, you know, the President of Russia here.
0:46:02 > 0:46:04"We're... I'm hungry.
0:46:04 > 0:46:07"Dmitry and I are going to go have a burger. You guys sit here
0:46:07 > 0:46:10"and you get this done."
0:46:10 > 0:46:13- You can leave your jacket in the car.- Is it safe?
0:46:13 > 0:46:17It's safe. It's OK. Nobody is going to steal it.
0:46:17 > 0:46:20Hi, guys! APPLAUSE
0:46:20 > 0:46:23We're going to turn him on to a real American burger.
0:46:23 > 0:46:28- Barack, can I assist you? - No, these are on me.
0:46:30 > 0:46:32While the presidents chomped on burgers,
0:46:32 > 0:46:35the problem of chicken exports and the other trade issues
0:46:35 > 0:46:39were left to those close aides who couldn't get out of it.
0:46:41 > 0:46:44Well, it was interesting cos a lot of people left!
0:46:44 > 0:46:46It was like, "Hey, wait a minute!"
0:46:46 > 0:46:49Secretary Clinton left to host Minister Lavrov for lunch
0:46:49 > 0:46:54and General Jones, I remember, was part of that delegation
0:46:54 > 0:46:57and some of us were left like, "Who's going to do this?"
0:47:13 > 0:47:16By the time they drove up in the limousine...
0:47:16 > 0:47:19And I saw them out of the corner of my eye, and we walked over
0:47:19 > 0:47:26to the computer in his office - in the little office in front of the Oval Office -
0:47:26 > 0:47:28and we typed it up as he walked in the doors.
0:47:31 > 0:47:37Good afternoon, everybody. Please be seated.
0:47:37 > 0:47:41We just concluded some excellent discussions -
0:47:41 > 0:47:46discussions that would have been unlikely just 17 months ago.
0:47:46 > 0:47:51Sometimes it's odd when you're sitting in historic meetings
0:47:51 > 0:47:55with your Russian counterpart to spend time talking about chicken.
0:47:55 > 0:47:58THEY LAUGH
0:47:58 > 0:48:03But our ability to get resolved a trade dispute, was, I think,
0:48:03 > 0:48:07an indication of the seriousness with which President Medvedev
0:48:07 > 0:48:10and his team take all of these trade and commercial issues.
0:48:10 > 0:48:12Thank you very much, everybody.
0:48:12 > 0:48:15Medvedev went home with a new trade agreement
0:48:15 > 0:48:18and American backing to join the World Trade Organisation.
0:48:20 > 0:48:23Two days later, in a New York coffee shop,
0:48:23 > 0:48:27Anna Chapman met a man she thought was a fellow Russian agent.
0:48:27 > 0:48:30He was really an undercover FBI man.
0:48:32 > 0:48:35The Americans were springing their trap.
0:48:35 > 0:48:40I had to call the National Security Advisor and tell him
0:48:40 > 0:48:43that we were in the process of arresting...
0:48:43 > 0:48:45I think it was ten people.
0:48:57 > 0:49:03They took it well. They didn't try to deny anything.
0:49:08 > 0:49:11We were able to not only send them back, but also recover
0:49:11 > 0:49:16some people that were, in fact, confined in Russia that now are free.
0:49:18 > 0:49:22The spies were welcomed back to Russia as heroes.
0:49:22 > 0:49:26Putin's United Russia party cheered on Anna Chapman,
0:49:26 > 0:49:28who basked in her new celebrity.
0:49:30 > 0:49:31CHEERING
0:49:36 > 0:49:39The campaign season was beginning.
0:49:44 > 0:49:47Elections were due in March 2012.
0:49:47 > 0:49:53The BBC asked the President's closest advisor who would be the candidate - Putin or Medvedev.
0:49:54 > 0:50:01They didn't take the final decision yet. But again, from what
0:50:01 > 0:50:06I heard from President Medvedev, he has not excluded the possibility
0:50:06 > 0:50:09that he will go for elections, and certainly he wants to do that.
0:50:11 > 0:50:16Putin had made Medvedev president in 2007 on the understanding
0:50:16 > 0:50:19that one of them would stand in 2012. But which?
0:50:20 > 0:50:23They continued to say they were close allies,
0:50:23 > 0:50:26so they could only compete at photo-ops.
0:50:27 > 0:50:30CAMERA SHUTTERS WHIRR
0:50:30 > 0:50:32MUSIC: "Blueberry Hill"
0:50:32 > 0:50:35# For you were my thrill... #
0:50:37 > 0:50:40For Putin, these stunts came naturally.
0:50:40 > 0:50:43He was consistently 5 to 10% ahead in the polls.
0:50:46 > 0:50:50Medvedev could never beat Putin at such games.
0:50:51 > 0:50:57What Medvedev could do was tackle the corruption that flourished under Putin.
0:50:59 > 0:51:04In his first two years, Medvedev fired 63% of the Kremlin's bureaucrats
0:51:04 > 0:51:07and 40% of the country's governors.
0:51:26 > 0:51:30Then he fired Yuri Luzhkov, Moscow mayor for almost two decades,
0:51:30 > 0:51:33whose wife had become the richest woman in Russia.
0:51:36 > 0:51:41Within a month, his poll ratings - for the first time - drew almost level with Putin's.
0:51:43 > 0:51:46Even the liberal media were impressed.
0:52:03 > 0:52:07CROWD CHANTS:
0:52:10 > 0:52:15A trial in Moscow would be the decisive test of Medvedev's power
0:52:15 > 0:52:18to stand up to Putin on the rule of law.
0:52:19 > 0:52:22Oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky had been jailed for fraud
0:52:22 > 0:52:25after challenging Putin.
0:52:25 > 0:52:27As he came to the end of his sentence,
0:52:27 > 0:52:29the state charged him with new crimes.
0:52:32 > 0:52:36In November, Medvedev and Obama met, one on one.
0:52:36 > 0:52:42They're both trained in the legal profession. They've talked about Khodorkovsky and what might happen
0:52:42 > 0:52:46and what would be the reaction to a second verdict in his case.
0:52:46 > 0:52:51What has happened to him is a symbol of all the things
0:52:51 > 0:52:54that are wrong in terms of Russia's commitment to the rule of law.
0:52:55 > 0:52:58At their meeting, Medvedev promised that Khodorkovsky would get
0:52:58 > 0:53:02a fair trial, free from political interference.
0:53:02 > 0:53:05But on the day the verdict was to be delivered,
0:53:05 > 0:53:07the judge postponed his ruling.
0:53:07 > 0:53:12The next day, Putin held his annual press conference and was asked about the case.
0:53:12 > 0:53:17To many, his answer sounded like an instruction to the court.
0:54:46 > 0:54:50THEY CHANT IN RUSSIAN
0:54:50 > 0:54:53Khodorkovsky was given seven more years in prison.
0:55:16 > 0:55:20The public lost patience with Medvedev's inability to stand up to Putin.
0:55:22 > 0:55:26Then, at the end of September, the ruling United Russia party
0:55:26 > 0:55:28held its annual conference.
0:56:01 > 0:56:04Putin assumed he would move back to the Kremlin as President.
0:56:04 > 0:56:07Medvedev would be his Prime Minister.
0:56:07 > 0:56:10Everyone took it granted that their machine would ensure
0:56:10 > 0:56:12the voters rubber-stamped the deal.
0:56:16 > 0:56:20The first sign it would not be so easy came two months later.
0:56:20 > 0:56:23Putin joined 20,000 fight fans at a title bout.
0:56:25 > 0:56:30This mainly male, working class crowd were his usual supporters.
0:56:30 > 0:56:33CROWD BOOS
0:56:40 > 0:56:43State TV quickly edited out the boos,
0:56:43 > 0:56:45but by then the video was on the internet.
0:56:45 > 0:56:48Millions of Russians logged on.
0:56:52 > 0:56:55In December, the protests moved to the streets.
0:57:00 > 0:57:02The ruling party had been declared
0:57:02 > 0:57:05winners in parliamentary elections.
0:57:05 > 0:57:09Well-documented accusations of fraud were brushed aside.
0:57:12 > 0:57:15The protesters wore white ribbons.
0:57:15 > 0:57:17Putin tried to laugh it off.
0:57:42 > 0:57:47Vladimir Putin had first become president at the turn of the millennium,
0:57:47 > 0:57:50when Russia was still recovering from the collapse of Communism.
0:57:56 > 0:58:00Russia and the United States should work together.
0:58:01 > 0:58:04He repaired much of the damage,
0:58:04 > 0:58:07but undermined democracy and the rule of law.
0:58:15 > 0:58:18The West learned to tread carefully around him.
0:58:20 > 0:58:22I mean, since when does Russia own a piece of Georgia?
0:58:22 > 0:58:25GUNFIRE
0:58:30 > 0:58:34He could now remain in office until 2024.
0:59:02 > 0:59:04Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd