Key U.S. lawmaker calls for new approach to Russia

By Susan Cornwell

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States must fix its relationship with Russia partly because it needs a partner in Moscow to help deal with Iran, the chairman of the House of Representatives foreign policy committee said on Wednesday.

In an interview with Reuters, Rep. Howard Berman also embraced a priority of his Senate counterpart, Sen. John Kerry, to increase non-military U.S. aid to Pakistan as part of a strategy to help stabilize that country.

Berman discussed his agenda for the House Foreign Affairs Committee in the new Congress, where Democrats increased their majority in November's elections and are looking forward to fellow Democrat Barack Obama taking over in the White House next week.

A key goal of Berman's is to beef up U.S. diplomacy and foreign aid, which he said had been eroded and militarized in recent years.

The California congressman called for a fresh U.S. approach to Russia, where he said the Bush administration had "stovepiped" -- or kept separate -- different, sometimes conflicting issues without deciding what was most important.

For example, the Bush administration had sought Moscow's cooperation on pressing Iran not to develop nuclear weapons -- but simultaneously angered Moscow by pushing to deploy a missile defense system near Russia's borders to shoot down any missiles fired by Iran.

"To what extent is one (U.S. policy) offsetting the other?" Berman asked. "What is our priority?"

"To have an effective strategy on Iran, we are going to need Russia as a partner," Berman told Reuters. "I do think we need some fundamental course corrections here, and I think the new administration shares that view."