By Sputnik
Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin might not always see eye to eye on some issues, including the best ways to resolve the Ukrainian civil war and the Syrian conflict, but the US president views the Russian leader as a business partner, who is open to working with American leadership to tackle major challenges.
“The truth is, actually, Putin, in all of our meetings, is scrupulously polite, very frank. Our meetings are very businesslike,” Obama told the Atlantic. “He never keeps me waiting two hours like he does a bunch of these other folks.”
Contrary to what some Americans may think, Putin views Russia’s relations with the US as important, Obama added.
Putin, the US president suggested, 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’s comments appear to be meant to dispel a misconception that Russia is not interested in cooperating with the United States when it comes to major global challenges. After all, recent history shows that this view is not grounded in reality.
Russia has long championed a joint approach to tackling global challenges based on international law as evidenced by Moscow’s contribution to reaching a comprehensive deal with Iran on its nuclear efforts, the Paris agreement on climate change or the counterterrorism operation in Syria.In Syria, Moscow leads a multinational coalition aimed at defeating Daesh and other terrorist groups, who are trying to remove Bashar al-Assad from power and turn the war-torn country into an Islamic caliphate. The operation has been authorized by Damascus. In late February, Moscow and Washington brokered a ceasefire that could pave the way to a stable peace process.
