When Presidents Putin and Trump meet in a few days from now in Hamburg, they should use a narrow window of opportunity to stop the freefall of the bilateral relationship and make progress at least in some of the following areas (as I suggested as early as in December 2016, prior to Trump’s inauguration). First, they should aim to work together against terrorism. Second, Putin and Trump should do their utmost to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons. Third, preventing an arms race in cyberspace should become their joint  priority. Fourth, Russia and the United Stated can work together on putting out the various conflagrations in the Middle East. Fifth and last (but not least), the two countries should put an end to their puerile exchange of sanctions and countersanctions, and begin revitalizing their trade, economic, and humanitarian cooperation. 

Am I trying to argue that the nuclear-weapon states should actually ramp up their nuclear arsenals? Absolutely not. To the contrary: I believe they already have more nuclear weapons than is genuinely necessary for national security purposes. The nuclear five should make responsible joint steps towards nuclear arms reductions. The United States and Russia should continue to lead the way by extending the New START treaty and developing joint measures - not necessarily in the treaty format – for deeper reductions in the second quarter of the 21^st century.

It will be a reset in US-Russian relations, no doubt now. Simply because US people voted for it. Don't take me wrong: Russia was the last thing they thought about when they went to vote. But the result is Cristal clear: There will be a reset in US dealing with the world. Unpredictable at times. Messy, quite frequently. But it will be a new, refreshing story, and it will affect Russia in this way.

I believe that the problems relating to chemical weapons, as we see today in Syria, could crop up in other parts of the world as well. Terrorists have demonstrated their interest in biological weapons in some parts of Africa. I think we should proceed to eliminate the gaps in international law and start drafting conventions for the suppression of acts of chemical and biological terrorism.

The 5^th Moscow Conference on International Security has come to an end. I cannot agree with those distinguished experts and media representatives who are saying that in the last five years the Conference has gone stale, because – unlike at the Munich conference – Western political and military leadership was absent. Everything is exactly the other way round.