President Obama warned President-elect Trump on Thursday against pursuing “deals” with Russia out of political expediency.
“My hope is that the president-elect coming in takes a similarly constructive approach, finding areas where we can cooperate with Russia where our values and interests align, but that the president-elect is also willing to stand up to Russia where they are deviating from our values and international norms,” Obama said Thursday in Berlin after a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
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“And I don’t expect that the president-elect will follow exactly our blueprint or our approach, but my hope is is that he does not simply take a realpolitik approach and suggest that, you know, ‘If we just cut some deals with Russia, even if it hurts people or even if it violates international norms … that we just do whatever is convenient at the time,'” Obama said.
The president said he has always viewed Russia as a “military superpower” whose economic success should be celebrated.
But he noted he has always remained “realistic in recognizing that there are some significant differences in how Russia views the world and how we view the world.”
Russia became a top focus of the presidential election after Hillary Clinton accused Trump of harboring a dangerous affection for its president, Vladimir Putin. She said Putin had attempted to swing the election to Trump by launching a series of cyberattacks on her campaign and the Democratic National Committee.
Trump argued he was better suited to deal with Putin and suggested the U.S. should strive to better its relations with Russia.
