Obama Calls Donald Trump’s Admiration of Putin ‘Unprecedented’
On Tuesday, in a press conference with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, President of the USA, Barack Obama, called Donald Trump’s profound admiration of Russian President Vladimir Putin ‘unprecedented.’
"Mr. Trump's continued flattery of Mr. Putin and the degree to which he appears to model many of his policies and approaches to politics on Mr. Putin is unprecedented in American politics," Obama said.
Obama went on to express his concerns over the Republican Party’s changed policy towards Russia.
"Mr. Trump rarely surprises me these days," Obama stated. "I am much more surprised and troubled by the fact that you have Republican officials — who historically have been adamantly anti-Russian and in fact have attacked me for even engaging them diplomatically — now supporting, and in some cases echoing, his positions. It's quite a reversal."
Obama also stressed Russia’s undemocratic and aggressive acts in Ukraine and Georgia. He said that when he became president, Russia had already invaded the territory of Georgia and created frozen conflicts there. Russia’s new President had taken a more constructive track and showed more respect, despite having different values, and tried to find ways for mutual cooperation.
“We initiated a new START treaty; we assisted Russia with respect to its ascension to the WTO. We worked on some common international challenges together, and when the previous president was replaced with Mr. Putin, I met with him and we discussed, again, ways in which we could constructively work together,” Obama said.
During the press-conference Obama outlined the political importance of Russia, but also stressed the importance of maintaining international rules and democratic values.
“Russia is a large, important country with a military that is second only to ours and has to be a part of the solution on the world stage rather than part of the problem," Obama said. “But their behavior has undermined international norms and international rules in ways that we have to call them out on. And anybody who occupies this office should feel the same way because these are values that we fought for and we protected.”
Natia Liperteliani