MOSCOW — President Obama said Thursday that Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin of Russia still had “one foot” in the cold war and needed to move on, a provocative assessment for an American leader just days before traveling here for the first time since taking office.
Mr. Obama distinguished Mr. Putin from President Dmitri A. Medvedev, his hand-picked successor, who was elected last year and is the object of much speculation, given the unusual power-sharing arrangement here. Unlike Mr. Putin, Mr. Obama said, Mr. Medvedev recognizes that it is time for the two cold war antagonists to put the past behind them.
“It’s important that even as we move forward with President Medvedev that Putin understand that the old cold war approaches to U.S.-Russian relations is outdated — that it’s time to move forward in a different direction,” Mr. Obama said in an interview with The Associated Press.
“I think Medvedev understands that,” he said. “I think Putin has one foot in the old ways of doing business and one foot in the new.”
Mr. Obama will leave Washington on Sunday for a weeklong trip to Russia, Italy and Ghana. He plans about eight or nine hours of meetings with Mr. Medvedev, but also plans to sit down with Mr. Putin for about 90 minutes, according to American officials. In the interview, Mr. Obama said he wanted to talk with Mr. Putin because he “still has a lot of sway.”
Mr. Obama’s distinction between the two Russian leaders reflects an American strategy to build up Mr. Medvedev as a possible counterweight to Mr. Putin, who is generally believed to still be the pre-eminent power in Russia.
Mr. Medvedev struck a more diplomatic note on Thursday in a video posted on the Kremlin Web site, saying he hoped that Mr. Obama “will sense here our real interest in improving relations” after a period of tension.
“The new administration headed by President Obama is showing its willingness to change the situation and build more effective, reliable and ultimately more modern relations,” Mr. Medvedev said.
“We are ready to play our part.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/03/world/europe/03moscow.html?ref=europe
