WASHINGTON - Russia's military offensive into Georgia has jolted the Bush administration's relationship with Moscow, senior officials said yesterday, forcing a wholesale reassessment of American dealings with Russia and jeopardizing talks on issues from halting Iran's nuclear ambitions to reducing strategic arsenals and cooperation on missile defenses.
The conflict punctuated a stark turnabout in the administration's view of Vladimir V. Putin, the president-turned-prime minister whom President Bush has repeatedly described as a trustworthy friend. Now Bush's aides complain that Russian officials have been misleading or at least evasive about Russia's intentions in Georgia.
Even as the conflict between Russia and Georgia appeared to ease yesterday, Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates said the Russian attack had forced a fundamental rethinking of the administration's effort to forge "an ongoing and long-term strategic dialogue with Russia."
"Russia's behavior over the past week has called into question the entire premise of that dialogue and has profound implications for our security relationship going forward, both bilaterally and with NATO," Gates said at the Pentagon.
"If Russia does not step back from its aggressive posture and actions in Georgia, the U.S.-Russian relationship could be adversely affected for years to come."
The unspoken new danger is that a cooling relationship could cost the administration any hope of working closely with Russia on some of its top priorities: controlling nuclear proliferation, countering terrorism and resolving the problems of the Middle East.
If Russia and the United States rarely acted as allies in Bush's presidency, they also rarely allowed disagreements to undermine what Bush considered one of his bedrock diplomatic relationships.
After their first meeting in 2001, Bush said famously that he had looked into the eyes of Putin and "got a sense of his soul."
Bush has pursued policies that Putin vigorously opposed, including supporting the independence of Kosovo from Serbia, a Russian ally; expanding NATO to include some former Soviet-bloc nations; and stationing elements of a missile defense system in Eastern Europe.
But the two worked closely together to battle terrorism. Administration officials said that Putin generally cooperated in efforts to curtail nuclear programs in Iran and North Korea.
