MOSCOW, Russia – U.S. President Barack Obama is heading for Moscow for this week's summit with Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev. Discussions on arms talks, Iran, the Mideast and North Korea will all be on the agenda. Summit watchers also believe there could be the emergence of new issues including climate change and energy efficiency.

A wooden doll depicts the leaders of Russia and the United States ahead of this week’s summit.

What's more, the Obama administration says it has bigger plans for the relationship with Russia: it wants to go beyond government-to-government ties.

Touching on one of the president's bedrock themes, Obama administration officials say they want to establish a multi-faceted relationship with different parts of Russian society, Running concurrently with the summit will be what they are calling a "parallel business summit" and a "parallel civil society summit."

Some Russia experts think the Kremlin is not happy about this - but it hasn't tried to limit those meetings. Some U.S. officials aren't completely ruling out the possibility that Medvedev might show up at the sessions along with Obama.

Obama will also give an interview to the opposition newspaper "Novaya Gazeta," the publication for which murdered Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya worked. And he will meet with opposition politicians, including Gary Kasparov and Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov.

But don't look for Obama to take a page from Bush and rake Russia over the coals for its human rights record. Obama, aides say, is intent on explaining what American's interests are, not in preaching to Russia about what it should do. Experts say he's more likely to talk about human rights issues both countries face, like illegal migration and civil rights in the context of terrorism.

U.S.-Russian relations slid toward the abyss during President George W. Bush's second term over issues such as Iran, independence for Kosovo, the Russian assault on the former Soviet republic of Georgia and the missile defense system.

Critics complained there was no longer a structure to manage the relationship, similar to the Clinton-era Gore-Chernomyrdin commission. Now, Russia and the U.S. are expected to announce what’s being called a "joint intergovernmental commission," headed by Clinton and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Russia expert Robert Legvold says, to be effective, this commission must be led by people "with a direct ear to the presidents” and with the "authority to crack heads."

 Former Russian President Vladimir Putin is now Prime Minister and protocol does not require a meeting with him - but Tuesday morning Obama and his wife Michelle will drive out to Putin's residence for breakfast. Most Russian and U.S. experts believe it is Putin still who calls the shots in Russia’s domestic and foreign policy. Russians call it "tandem" leadership.

Just before the summit Obama took a swipe at Putin, telling the Associated Press the Prime Minister has "one foot in the old ways of doing business and one foot in the new." Putin, well-known for his expert moves in political judo, replied: "We don't know how to stand so awkwardly with our legs apart... We stand solidly on our own two feet and always look into the future."

In the media, we often like to evaluate summit success on "who out-manoeuvred whom" or who was tougher, who didn't "cave." But the biggest threat to success at this summit is not likely to be the political arm-wrestling between the two leaders. That’s all part of the game.

The real threat could be the forces behind the scenes, some in the United States, many more in Moscow, who feel threatened by improving relations, who are more comfortable with confrontation, who see any "win" by the other side as a defeat for their own – what politicians call the "zero-sum" mentality.