Russia: Barack Obama

Barack Obama: Political relations between Russia and the United States have been steadily fraying. Although the immediate explanation for Obamas cancellation is connected to Russia granting temporary asylum to Edward Snowden, a former National Security Agency contractor wanted on espionage charges, the roots of this crisis run much deeper. In fact, while the two countries have always held divergent views on many issues, since the fall of the Soviet Union they have never been at such odds as they are today. , according to Winnipeg Free Press. It seems that business as usual trying to engage Putin whenever and wherever possible in desperate pursuit of solutions to international concerns, such as the Syrian crisis and Afghanistan transit routes became too difficult to sustain. The U.S. tactics of appeasement engaging with Russia through the "reset" in relations between the two nations have clearly reached their limit. Not only has this approach borne little fruit, but it has also resulted in long-term collateral damage to other essential causes, including the deterioration of political and civil liberties in Russia. As a former prime minister of Russia, I was pleased to see that President Barack Obama decided Wednesday to cancel his bilateral meeting with Vladimir Putin when he travels to St. Petersburg next month for the Group of 20 economic summit. Obama now has the opportunity to reinforce this strong message by speaking out during his visit against Russian officials who have engaged in electoral fraud, malicious propaganda and the oppression of civil activists. These differences go well beyond current bilateral affairs and involve Russias violation of universal values of human rights, freedoms and democratic principles that both countries have committed to supporting. These include the aggressive assault by Russian authorities on independent nongovernmental organizations and civil activists; politically motivated harassment of ordinary citizens who participated in peaceful protests against the government; and such unthinkable proceedings as a posthumous trial for whistleblower Sergei Magnitsky, who was tortured to death in a Russian jail. No longer can the United States and Russias other democratic partners tolerate such actions. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.