I agree with Dmitri Trenin

Great op-ed by Dmitri Trenin in the Moscow Times. In it, he argues that the friendship between Putin and Bush "simulated not stimulated" a real strategic partnership. Trenin urges Obama to not neglect Russia in his administration's foreign policy agenda and offers a suggestion on how to handle Ukraine and other former bloc nation's who aspire towards membership in the European community.

The Euro-Atlantic security architecture is your next priority. In April, you will come to Europe to celebrate NATO's 60th anniversary. As such events go, there is always a temptation to praise the past successes. You need to move beyond that and recognize that Euro-Atlantic security will remain an unfinished business until Russia and its neighbors, including Ukraine and Georgia, are fully integrated within it. The idea that expanding NATO membership while excluding Russia is obviously not working. Seizing upon President Dmitry Medvedev's initiative of a European security treaty offers a chance to start discussing the hard issue so far avoided.

This is anything but a philosophical discussion. Anyone who has an interest in keeping Ukraine intact should support its tortuous but realistic efforts toward accession to the European Union, not on a crash course for NATO. But more important, you will be challenged to come up with a formula for a meaningful Euro-Atlantic alliance that includes Russia. The Kremlin muses about a Helsinki II. Give them an Obama I.

I think the overall point is that seeing someone's soul and a deep, personal friendship tend to get lost in the bureaucratic shuffle inherent in governing.