SEOUL, March 27 (Itar-Tass) —— Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has called on all candidates for U.S. president to use common sense in their geopolitical statements.
Medvedev responded to U.S. republican candidate Mitt Romney’s recent pronouncements, where he called Russia the United States’ “number one geopolitical foe.”
According to the Russian president, the U.S.-backed idea for the European missile defense system is purely political. Commenting on reports saying the United States president had promised to have “more flexibility” after the elections, Medvedev stressed he is “in permanent discussion” with President Obama.
“There are no secrets here. No wonder some problems are difficult to resolve in a certain political situation: there can be a better time to solve such problems. The best time is a situation, when all political forces are stable,” Medvedev said. This was, in his words, what he talked about with Barack Obama the other day.
“There is nothing strange about it. We have never tried to hide anything, whether President Obama could speak about it in public or not in public. And when something is plucked out of the context, it gains in nuances giving rise to conspiracy things,” Medvedev said in comment on media reports about Obama’s pronouncements that were not meant for journalists.
According to the Russian president he himself was aware of a number of interpretations of these words. “No one wants aggravations, and in this context our dialogue with President Obama has been a model, because we have learnt to hear each other,” the Russian leader noted and described Obama as a “very convenient dialogue partner.” Obama, in Medvedev’s words, first “singles out political clich·s” and analyzes his opponent’s words and only then gives his assessments, like Medvedev himself does.
The Russian-US dialogue during Obama’s presidency differs from that before him, Medvedev noted. “It does not mean Obama stuck to any special positions, on the contrary, President Obama is a typical U.S. president who keeps to an absolutely pro-American position. We often disagreed with him but did it in a respectful manner, offering our arguments,” the Russian leader said.
“I hope the confidential dialogue with the United States will be continued, I would like it to be continued regardless of who takes the White House office. But the level of trust always depends on who is in office, including that of the U.S. president,” he added.
“I would recommend all the presidential candidates in the United States do at least two things: use common sense in wording their positions, and look at the calendar – now it is the year 2012 rather than mid-1970s. Whatever party he or she represents, he or she must be aware of current realities, only in this case he or she might hope for a victory,” the Russian leader said.
In an interview with CNN on Monday, Romney called Russia America’s “number one geopolitical foe.” The Republican front-runner was reacting to comments made by President Obama in South Korea on Monday, where he told his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev he would have more flexibility on missile defense after his reelection. Speaking to CNN, Romney said he found Obama's candid remarks “alarming” and “troubling”. “The agreement that the president put in place with regards to nuclear weapons is one which I find very, very troubling already. The decision to withdraw our missile defense sites from Poland put us in greater jeopardy,” Romney said. In his words, the “reset” in Russian-U.S. relations has “not worked out at all.”
“Russia is not a friendly character on the world stage,” he said. “This is without question our number one geopolitical foe. They fight every cause for the world’s worst actors.”