U.S. President Barack Obama, right, shakes hands with his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev during their meeting at Winfield House in London, Wednesday, April 1, 2009. (AP Photo/ RIA Novosti, Vladimir Rodionov, Presidential Press Service)Preparing For Trip To Russia, Obama Praises Putin’s Protégé, At Putin’s Expense -- New York Times
MOSCOW — President Obama said Thursday that Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin of Russia still had “one foot” in the cold war and needed to move on, a provocative assessment for an American leader just days before traveling here for the first time since taking office.
Mr. Obama distinguished Mr. Putin from President Dmitri A. Medvedev, his hand-picked successor, who was elected last year and is the object of much speculation, given the unusual power-sharing arrangement here. Unlike Mr. Putin, Mr. Obama said, Mr. Medvedev recognizes that it is time for the two cold war antagonists to put the past behind them.
“It’s important that even as we move forward with President Medvedev that Putin understand that the old cold war approaches to U.S.-Russian relations is outdated — that it’s time to move forward in a different direction,” Mr. Obama said in an interview with The Associated Press.
“I think Medvedev understands that,” he said. “I think Putin has one foot in the old ways of doing business and one foot in the new.”
Read more ....
More News On The Upcoming U.S. - Russia Summit
Lose the Cold War attitude, Obama tells Putin -- Times Online
Barack Obama: Putin has one foot in the past -- The Guardian
Spokesman: Obama wrong about Putin -- The Hindu
Obama Should Walk in the Woods With Putin -- Moscow Times
No Russia-U.S. arms deal yet - sources -- Reuters
Top Medvedev Advisor: US, Russia to Sign Framework Arms Document -- Voice Of America
US, Russia to sign framework on missile treaty: Kremlin -- Yahoo News/AFP
US-Russia report on scrapping nuclear weapons to be unveiled -- The Guardian
US and Russia square up over missile shield -- Financial Times
Obama to Press Kremlin on Energy -- Moscow Times
Russia hopes Obama visit restores trust - Kremlin -- Reuters
Russia allows U.S. weapons shipments to Afghanistan -- CNN
U.S. and Russia: The Talk Starts Here -- Time Magazine
My Comment: President Obama's public remarks and harsh judgment on Russian Prime Minister Putin is not going to go well in Russia. There was nothing to be gained by personalizing PM Putin, and as a result there is going to be heated discussions on this behind closed doors.
But will these talks be successful .... to a limited degree yes .... but expect no big surprises.
Considering that Obama seldom (if ever) resorts to name-calling when dealing with rivals, I suspect the tough rhetoric is designed to accomplish specific goals during the Russia trip.
ReplyDeleteBmoses, Thanks for your comment.
ReplyDeleteYou are not thinking like a Russian (I am a Russian Canadian, with more than his fill of Russian politics and diplomacy from my relatives back home in Russia).
U.S. Russian disagreements have always existed .... but on a policy and diplomatic level, rarely on a personal level.
Prime Minister Putin and his colleagues in the government will not openly criticize President Obama (not until after the conference) .... the Russian Press has been quiet, and it is the Indian paper "The Hindu" that was used (today) as a vehicle to rebuke President Obama.
The Russian Government will stay quiet, size up President Obama for what he is, and pursue what is important to them.
As to "Obama seldom (if ever) resorts to name-calling when dealing with rivals" .... hmmmm .... maybe the press coverage is different up here in Canada, but from my vantage point he and his allies were not shy to use Chicago style knuckle politics to get what they want .... and name calling was the least of what was done.