Russian President Vladimir Putin is calling for the U.S. to improve its relationship with his country.
Speaking in a Fourth of July message to Americans, Putin said the countries have a history of working together to solve “the most difficult international problems to the benefit of both our nations and all humankind,” and should look more to that model going forward.
President Obama has had a tumultuous relationship with Putin, particularly since the latter annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in 2014. The move came even after Hillary Clinton, shortly after being sworn in as secretary of state in 2009, presented Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov with a red button symbolizing a “reset” between the countries.
The Democratic presidential candidate has since come under fire from congressional Republicans who say she should never have sought to be as friendly with Russian leaders. The point has been accentuated, they say, by the fact of Russia hacking institutions like the Pentagon and the White House, and by its military intervention in Syria, which contravenes administration policies in the country.
Republican presidential contender Donald Trump has nonetheless taken a more favorable tone towards Putin, saying in a foreign policy address in April that he supported “an easing of tensions and improved relations with Russia.” Putin has reciprocated the outreach, calling Trump “a [bright] person, talented without a doubt.”
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Clinton has taken a more antagonistic view. “My relationship with him, it’s, um, it’s interesting,” she said during a Democratic presidential debate in January. “I know that he’s someone that you have to continuously stand up to because, like many bullies, he is somebody who will take as much as he possibly can unless you do.”
“We need to get the Europeans to be more willing to stand up,” she added. “We’ve got to be more united in preventing Putin from taking a more aggressive stance in Europe and the Middle East.”
