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| | ===Relations with the United States=== | | ===Relations with the United States=== |
| | [[File:Putin Alaska.PNG|right|300px|thumb|Putin laid flowers at a cemetery of [[Soviet]] [[WWII]] era pilots after the [[Alaska Summit]] with [[President Donald Trump]].]] | | [[File:Putin Alaska.PNG|right|300px|thumb|Putin laid flowers at a cemetery of [[Soviet]] [[WWII]] era pilots after the [[Alaska Summit]] with [[President Donald Trump]].]] |
| − | In 2016, Vladimir Putin said about the United States' openness, its amazing achievements and American ingenuity: "I like the creativity. Creativity when it comes to tackling your country's problems. They're openness. Openness and open-mindedness. Because it allows them to unleash the inner potential of their people. And because of that America has achieved such amazing results."<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6426OZFzcvM Preview: Vladimir Putin reveals what he admires about America], CBS News, 2016</ref> | + | In 2016, Vladimir Putin said about the United States' openness, its amazing achievements and American ingenuity: "I like the creativity. Creativity when it comes to tackling your country's problems. Their openness. Openness and open-mindedness. Because it allows them to unleash the inner potential of their people. And because of that, America has achieved such amazing results."<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6426OZFzcvM Preview: Vladimir Putin reveals what he admires about America], CBS News, 2016</ref> |
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| | ===Relations under George W. Bush=== | | ===Relations under George W. Bush=== |
| − | Initially relations between [[George W. Bush]] and Putin were good, with Putin lending support to Bush's war on global terror. Putin was restrained from giving much assistance outside the Russian Federation, being pre-occupied with the [[Islamist]] movements waging [[jihad]] inside his own borders. | + | Initially, relations between [[George W. Bush]] and Putin were good, with Putin lending support to Bush's war on global terror. Putin was restrained from giving much assistance outside the Russian Federation, being preoccupied with the [[Islamist]] movements waging [[jihad]] inside his own borders. |
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| | In Bush's late second term, Putin was concerned about jihadist infiltration from [[Turkey]] and [[Syria]] through the [[Republic of Georgia]],{{fact}} and intervened. Former members of the [[Warsaw Pact]], who were more supportive of the war on terror than even the US population, then asked for deployment of missile defense systems on their territories, which the [[Bush administration]] was inclined to favor as a reward for their help. Russia considered missile defense deployment on their borders overt acts of hostility. Barack Hussein Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton, in competition to outdo each other, condemned George W. Bush and [[Condoleezza Rice]] by sidling up to the Russians and Islamists whom the [[Democrat]]s portrayed as oppressed victims of a [[globalism|global]] [[neocon]] [[conspiracy]].{{fact}} | | In Bush's late second term, Putin was concerned about jihadist infiltration from [[Turkey]] and [[Syria]] through the [[Republic of Georgia]],{{fact}} and intervened. Former members of the [[Warsaw Pact]], who were more supportive of the war on terror than even the US population, then asked for deployment of missile defense systems on their territories, which the [[Bush administration]] was inclined to favor as a reward for their help. Russia considered missile defense deployment on their borders overt acts of hostility. Barack Hussein Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton, in competition to outdo each other, condemned George W. Bush and [[Condoleezza Rice]] by sidling up to the Russians and Islamists whom the [[Democrat]]s portrayed as oppressed victims of a [[globalism|global]] [[neocon]] [[conspiracy]].{{fact}} |
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| | ===Relations under Barack Obama=== | | ===Relations under Barack Obama=== |
| − | [[File:Targeted sanctions.jpg|right|300px|thumb|'''Targetted Sanctions:''' After the [[US]] illegal [[Maidan coup|coup in Ukraine]], Putin committed the unpardonable [[sin]] of embarrassing [[Barack Obama]] by thwarting [[NATO]] efforts to seize the Sevastopol Naval Base in [[Crimea]].]] | + | [[File:Targeted sanctions.jpg|right|300px|thumb|'''Targetted Sanctions:''' After the illegal [[Maidan coup|coup in Ukraine]], Putin committed the unpardonable [[sin]] of embarrassing [[Barack Obama]] by thwarting [[NATO]] efforts to seize the Sevastopol Naval Base in [[Crimea]].]] |
| | President [[Barack Obama]] and Secretary of State [[Hillary Clinton]] initially cozied up to Putin, charging the Bush administration was intent on reigniting the [[Cold War]]. However, once the [[Rosatom-Uranium One deal]] was completed and the [[Clinton Foundation]] pocketed millions of dollars from Putin cronies in donations and speaking fees, relations began to sour as the Obama administration could no longer ignore geopolitical realities. Putin had protested the Obama administration's illegal drone strikes, and the administration placed [[Magnitsky Act|sanctions on Russian leaders]] ostensibly in retaliation for the Crimean referendum.<ref>https://youtu.be/I-9aD45qxbE</ref> | | President [[Barack Obama]] and Secretary of State [[Hillary Clinton]] initially cozied up to Putin, charging the Bush administration was intent on reigniting the [[Cold War]]. However, once the [[Rosatom-Uranium One deal]] was completed and the [[Clinton Foundation]] pocketed millions of dollars from Putin cronies in donations and speaking fees, relations began to sour as the Obama administration could no longer ignore geopolitical realities. Putin had protested the Obama administration's illegal drone strikes, and the administration placed [[Magnitsky Act|sanctions on Russian leaders]] ostensibly in retaliation for the Crimean referendum.<ref>https://youtu.be/I-9aD45qxbE</ref> |
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| − | President Obama's decision to move an anti-missile defense system to [[Romania]] during the [[2016 US Presidential election]] only heightened tensions. Putin, who had repeatedly assailed the antimissile system as a grave danger to Russia's security, called Obama's decision dangerous. This coupled with Obama's implementation of sanctions rather than honoring the [[American foreign policy#1994 Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances|1994 Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances]] negotiated by the [[Clinton administration]], displaying it as an empty promise to guarantee Ukrainian independence, only further exposed the befuddlement and inability of the Obama administration to stand by US commitments and the weaknesses of NATO. | + | President Obama's decision to move an anti-missile defense system to [[Romania]] during the [[2016 US Presidential election]] only heightened tensions. Putin, who had repeatedly assailed the anti-missile system as a grave danger to Russia's security, called Obama's decision dangerous. This coupled with Obama's implementation of sanctions rather than honoring the [[American foreign policy#1994 Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances|1994 Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances]] negotiated by the [[Clinton administration]], displaying it as an empty promise to guarantee Ukrainian independence, only further exposed the befuddlement and inability of the Obama administration to stand by US commitments and the weaknesses of NATO. |
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| | In September 2013, Putin gave a speech stating the need to strengthen Russian culture with traditional values and the Orthodox Christian church. Also, he condemned Western nations and their godless pursuit of [[political correctness]] and [[homosexuality]].<ref>[http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/cdedfd64-214f-11e3-a92a-00144feab7de.html#axzz2jdyir54U Putin urges Russians to return to values of religion, FT.com, September 19, 2013]</ref> | | In September 2013, Putin gave a speech stating the need to strengthen Russian culture with traditional values and the Orthodox Christian church. Also, he condemned Western nations and their godless pursuit of [[political correctness]] and [[homosexuality]].<ref>[http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/cdedfd64-214f-11e3-a92a-00144feab7de.html#axzz2jdyir54U Putin urges Russians to return to values of religion, FT.com, September 19, 2013]</ref> |