WASHINGTON, August 4 (RIA Novosti) – US President Barack Obama said in an interview with The Economist that he does not regret the “reset” in relations with Russia.
“I don’t feel let down. We had a very productive relationship with President Medvedev. We got a lot of things done that we needed to get done,” Obama said, responding to the question whether he thinks that Russian President Vladimir Putin “let him down” taking into account current tensions between the two countries.
“Russia I think has always had a Janus-like quality, both looking east and west,” US leader noted.
President Obama added that the policy of Vladimir Putin “in the short term can be politically popular at home” but “very troublesome abroad.”
The United States also believe that Russia presents “regional challenges” but is ready “to make sure that they don’t escalate.”
The relations between Russia and the United States have been strained over the ongoing political crisis in Ukraine. Washington did not acknowledge Crimea’s reunification with Russia following a referendum in March and accused Moscow of destabilizing the situation in the southeast of Ukraine, which Russia has repeatedly denied. The United States and the European Union also imposed three rounds of economic sanctions against Russian officials and entities, which Moscow called counterproductive. Last week Obama and Putin had a telephone conversation, in which both leaders agreed that sanctions do not serve the interests of neither Russia nor the United States.
