Wednesday, May 09, 2012

Reset



From Foreign Policy:
A senior administration official told The Cable that Putin's ongoing formation of the new Russian government was the main reason he will not be coming to the United States. 
"Putin will not attend the G-8," the official told The Cable. "He has to finalize the cabinet in the new Russian government. However he will meet with the president on the margins of the G-20 summit in mid-June." 
Also, the domestic optics would bad for Putin if he goes to the United States as his first overseas trip as president. Putin criticized the U.S. government throughout the campaign and accused Secretary of State Hillary Clinton of fomenting unrest inside Russia during the election campaign. 
For the administration, Putin's absence cuts both ways. Medvedev is seen in Washington as more amenable to working with the U.S. government than Putin and has good relationships with Obama administration officials. But Putin's decision to not attend delays what would have been his first meeting with Obama as president and removes a chance for the two leaders to promote an image of cooperation in the wake of tensions between Washington and Moscow that surrounded the Russian elections.
All of Obama's apologies, all his groveling, bowing, and diminution of America have not bought him any friends he can count on in crunch time.

4 comments:

  1. MAYBE PUTIN KNOWS SOMETHING BAD IS GONNA HAPPEN IN CHICAGO AND HE DOESN'T WANNA BE THERE?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hmmm. I had not thought of that possibility. But, it would seem likely, given our current atmosphere.

    OWS is a collusion of SEIU, Trumka, Chicago, Obamabots, and ANONYMOUS.

    Anonymous is an evil organization which has openly declared war on the United States Government.

    And, that is who Obama is working with.

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  3. I'm surprised at how little attention has been given to Anonymous by those in the media, and the blogosphere, including me.

    ReplyDelete