What does Obama think of Putin?

What does Obama think of Putin?

Barack Obama said about his attitude to Vladimir Putin and Recep Erdogan in an interview with The Atlantic magazine. According to Obama, "Putin is scrupulously polite, very frank.  Meetings are very businesslike. The Russian leader never keeps the US President waiting two hours like he does a bunch of these other folks."

Obama said that Putin "is constantly interested in being seen as our peer and as working with us, because he's not completely stupid. He understands that Russia's overall position in the world is significantly diminished". Obama also spoke about situation in Ukraine. He is sure that Moscow may dominate in Ukraine militarily. As for Russia the situation in the region is one of its key interests, unlike for the US.

Obama believes that Moscow "was much more powerful when Ukraine looked like an independent country but was a kleptocracy that one could pull the strings on".

As for Erdogan, Obama does not consider the Turkish President to be a "sort of moderate Muslim leader who would bridge the divide between East and West" any more. Now head of the White House sees him as "a failure and an authoritarian, one who refuses to use his enormous army to bring stability to Syria". All in all, Obama is not content with leaders in the Middle East. He believes there is a need of "a few smart autocrats" in the region.

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Author`s name Dmitry Sudakov
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