MOSCOW , Russia -- President Obama arrived in Moscow on Monday for a summit with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev aimed at trying to `` reset '' the U.S.-Russian relationship . But he also may have a less publicized goal : figuring out who 's really in charge here . President Obama , right , and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev walk by an honor guard in Moscow on Monday . When Obama 's predecessor , George W. Bush , engaged in his first summit with his Russian counterpart , things took an odd turn . Bush said -- now infamously -- that he looked into then-President Vladimir Putin 's eyes and saw into his soul , and basically found he was a good guy that Americans could do business with . Oops . The Bush-Putin relationship ended up getting pretty chilly , which is why the new U.S. president is now trying to warm things up . Obama gets his first shot at literally looking into Putin 's eyes Tuesday , when he has a sitdown with the man who is now prime minister of Russia , a post that many international analysts believe allows Putin to continue to pull the strings behind the scenes . Obama 's outreach to Medvedev started sooner , their first meeting coming back in April at the G-20 summit in London , and it 's been bearing some fruit for Obama . Russia recently signed on to sanctions against North Korea , and this week both sides will officially announce that Russia has agreed to let U.S. military equipment headed for Afghanistan fly over Russian territory . Watch Obamas arrive in Russia » . Both sides are also hoping to announce significant cuts in nuclear arms , though there are still major hurdles to clear , such as Russian suspicions about U.S. plans for a missile defense shield in Eastern Europe . In an interview with The Associated Press late last week , Obama seemed to be trying to work through the sticking points by driving a bit of a wedge between Medvedev and Putin . `` The old Cold War approaches to U.S.-Russia relations is outdated and that it 's time to move forward in a different direction , '' said Obama . `` I think Medvedev understands that . I think Putin has one foot in the old ways of doing business and one foot in the new . '' Ouch . If he wants to accomplish some key goals in Moscow , such as winning Russian cooperation in dealing with Iran 's nuclear program , why would Obama fire a rhetorical shot like that at Putin -- if , in fact , he 's really in charge here ? It could be that Obama is trying to flex his muscles a bit for American domestic political consumption to show he 's not rolling over to Russia , amid Republican charges that he 's soft on foreign policy . It 's a move Putin knows well , having perfected the art of flexing his muscles at then-President Bush as a way of asserting Russian nationalism in recent years . Watch Russian students talk about Obama 's visit » . Whatever the intention of Obama 's words , the back and forth with Putin is a reminder of the high stakes here . Of course , the president 's second stop in Italy for the G-8 summit will be important too , with a packed agenda including Iran , the financial crisis , climate change and eradicating world poverty . The first African-American president 's third and final stop at the end of the week in Ghana will also get wide international attention . But it 's this first stop where Obama will get a big diplomatic test as he juggles , among many issues , who 's really in charge here .
President Obama meets with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Monday . The two leaders are expected to discuss the situation in Ukraine and other issues of mutual interest during their meeting. Obama seems to be driving a bit of a wedge between the two , says CNN 's Ed Henry . Moscow meetings will be a big diplomatic test for Obama , Henry says .