Obama: ‘Return to adversarial spirit’ worsened Russia-US relationship

by Rebecca Savransky - 01/18/17 2:53 PM ET

Obama: “Return to an adversarial spirit that…existed during the Cold War" has made Russia-US relations difficult https://t.co/DPmdae7dRd

— MSNBC (@MSNBC) January 18, 2017

President Obama on Wednesday said he thinks it’s in the best interest of the U.S. and the world to have a “constructive relationship” with Russia.

“I think its fair to say that after President Putin came back into the presidency, that an escalating anti-America rhetoric and an approach to global affairs that seemed to be premised on the idea that whatever America is trying to do must be bad for Russia and so we want to counteract whatever they do,” Obama said during his final press conference as president.

“That return to an adversarial spirit that I think existed during the Cold War has made the relationship more difficult, and it was hammered home when Russia went into Crimea and portions of Ukraine.”

{mosads}Obama made clear the reason the U.S. imposed sanctions on Russia was because “the independence and sovereignty of a country, Ukraine, had been encroached upon, by force, by Russia.”

“I think it would probably best serve not only American interests but also the interests of preserving international norms,” he said, “if we made sure that we don’t confuse why these sanctions have been imposed with a whole set of other issues.”

Obama then pivoted to talking about nuclear issues.

He said if President-elect Donald Trump is able to restart talks with Russia, “there remains a lot of room for our two countries to reduce our stock piles.”

“Part of the reason we’ve been successful on our non-proliferation agenda and on our nuclear security agenda is because we were leading by example,” he said.

“I hope that continues.”

Obama added that it’s important for the U.S. to “stand up for the basic principle that big countries don’t go around and invade and bully smaller countries.”

The U.S. intelligence community concluded that Russia interfered in the U.S. election specifically to help Trump defeat Hillary Clinton.

Russia has denied any involvement in the election. Trump for months dismissed the conclusions, but acknowledged at a press conference last week that Russia was likely behind the hacks of Democratic groups that led to damaging leaks.

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