Russia is a military superpower with influence all around the world, US President Barack Obama said at a joint news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin.
"My principal approach to Russia has been constant since I first came into office. Russia is an important country. It is a military superpower. It has influence in the region and it has influence around the world. And in order for us to solve many big problems around the world, it is in our interest to work with Russia and obtain their cooperation," the Time cited him as saying.
"I think we should all hope for a Russia that is successful, where its people are employed and the economy is growing and they are having good relationships with their neighbors," he stressed, adding that "on issues like Ukraine, on issues like Syria", they’ve had very significant differences.
Merkel also said that German has an interest in seeing the relationship with Russia be a good one. "But this mustn’t keep us from wherever we feel there are very grave differences of opinion to raise them with them," she noted.
Obama expressed hope that the president-elect Trump will take a similarly constructive approach, finding areas where the US can cooperate with Russia. "But that the president-elect also is willing to stand up to Russia where they are deviating from our values and international norms," Obama added.
Obama also noted that there has been very clear proof that Russia has engaged in cyber attacks and this isn’t new.
The director of the Roosevelt Fund of Study of the US at Moscow State University, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Yuri Rogulyov, speaking with a correspondent of Vestnik Kavkaza, noted that we should not attach too much importance to these Obama's words. "Russia has been called a lot of things during Obama's presidency: from words like "Russian economy is left in tatters, it produces nothing and nobody supports it" to these words about the military superpower. To some extent, this can be considered a return to reality, because indeed Russia is the only country which can destroy the United States," he said.
Therefore, these statements could be described as belated recognition of Russia's role. "However, we see that this is a tour of the resigning president, therefore, I think that he tried to defend himself, that the Americans recognize the importance of Russia and its role in Europe and around the world, that they allegedly tried to improve relations with Moscow, but it did not work," Yuri Rogulev drew attention.
In fact, Obama got the relations with Russia into a dead end. "Certain contacts continue, but these ties have become too unsuccessful. At first, diplomats try to reach an agreement, then everything breaks down. It turns out that the relations are in a dead end," the director of the Roosevelt Fund of Study of the US at Moscow State University concluded.
A member of the European Research Centre of the International Relations Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladimir Olenchenko, explained that Obama's words can be interpreted as a kind of apology. "We remember that some time ago he called Russia a regional country, however, such mood swings raise doubts about the US president's true relation towards Russia," the expert noted.
Although, according to Olenchenko, the United States were convinced for a long time that Russia is weakened and poses no significance in the military term. "But our actions in Syria have shown that this view is mistaken," the member of the European Research Centre of the International Relations Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences said.
"It is somewhat coerced confession, but it is important, because Obama said it while summing up his activities, indirectly recognizing the infidelity of his policy towards Russia. However, while in Europe, the US President is going to meet with the leaders of Germany, France, Italy and the UK, and he will raise the issue of the extension of sanctions, so his policy is dual here," he pointed out.
Commenting on the current state of the Russian-US relations, the expert said that in fact this state was fixed during Vladimir Putin's telephone conversation with Trump. "According to it, the main task is to normalize bilateral relations, make them constructive and coordinate such crisis areas as Syria and the fight against terrorism. The formulation of this task suggests that these problems have arisen during Obama's presidency," Vladimir Olenchenko concluded.
