Earlier today, diplomatic relations between the United States and Russia suffered a substantial blow, when President Obama pulled out a of planned bilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in September.
As Mark reported, it is "the most dramatic effect so far on U.S.-Russian relations in the wake of Russia's decision to grant 'NSA leaker' Edward Snowden temporary asylum."
But, if you look at history, the U.S. and Russia have been here before. It goes back to 1893, when the U.S. Senate approved a controversial treaty in which both countries promised to turn over "persons guilty of attempts on the life of a ruler." That extradition treaty is now long forgotten and the U.S. and Russia have no formal agreement. When the U.S. issued an extradition request for Snowden, Russia made that clear and also complained that the U.S. hasn't been friendly when Moscow has made requests. It's complicated, and the U.S. processes hundreds — and in the early 2000s, thousands — of refugee applications from Russians a year. It grants some, rejects others.
We found three different high-profile cases in which Russia demanded an extradition that we think help explain the complexity of U.S.-Russia relations:
Ilyas Akhmadov, Chechen Rebel Leader:
In 2002, Akhmadov applied for asylum in the United States. As a 2005 Washington Post Magazine profile of him notes, the Chechen rebel leader had run out of places to hide, so he sought refuge in the U.S., where he had cultivated a network of allies, including high-ranking American officials.
The Russians deemed him a terrorist "charged with organizing terrorist training camps and leading 2,000 armed insurgents ... in the 1999 Dagestani incursion."
The Post continues:
"In response to Akhmadov's asylum application, Russia demanded his immediate extradition in 2003. Suddenly an immigration case that likely would have been resolved with one or two hearings in Boston was being kicked up to Washington, where it would languish for two years. Fortunately for Akhmadov, another benefactor, Max Kampelman, a former chief arms negotiator for Ronald Reagan and a counselor to the State Department, arranged for the white-shoe legal firm of Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver and Jacobson to represent him free of charge. Douglas Baruch, a partner, landed the case. 'The evidence against [Akhmadov] was obviously fabricated, in a very slipshod and amateurish manner,' says Baruch. Leonard Shapiro, the immigration judge handling Akhmadov's hearing, apparently felt the same way, dismissing the charges for lack of evidence. (In an almost identical case in Britain, where Chechen envoy Akhmed Zakayev was accused by Russian authorities of 13 counts of murder and hostage-taking, a judge also dismissed the allegations. 'I am satisfied,' ruled British Judge Timothy Workman, 'that it is more likely than not that the motivation of the government of the Russian Federation was and is to exclude Mr. Zakayev from continuing to take part in the peace process and to discredit him as a moderate.') 'My concern,' Baruch recalls, 'was that the delay in the final decision was for political reasons, for the Bush administration not to offend the Russians.' "