Dmitry Medvedev

This is no grand reinvention, just a subtle aggregation of small, surprising gestures. Still, recent conciliatory signals from Moscow are enough to make analysts believe that Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's Russia, the cash-rich, oil-soaked country that railed against the West while shutting down political opposition at home, is groping for new footing under heavy fiscal pressure.

President Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev agreed Wednesday to open negotiations on a treaty that could slash their nuclear arsenals by a third, part of what they described as a step "to move beyond Cold War mentalities" in relations between Washington and Moscow. The agreement to undertake significant arms control talks emerged from the first face-to-face meeting between the two leaders, and included a promise by Obama to visit the Russian capital this summer to pursue the talks.