Critics have pounded President Barack Obama for being upstaged by the Russian President Vladimir Putin, but Russia’s economy is plunging into a recession and Obama’s got more to back up his tack on the world stage.
Obama pointed to the result of his sanctions tactic in Russia as proof he’s got a successful strategy, in an interview with CNN’s Candy Crowley airing Sunday.
“There was a spate of stories about how he is the chess master and outmaneuvering the West and outmaneuvering Mr. Obama and this and that and the other. And right now, he’s presiding over the collapse of his currency, a major financial crisis and a huge economic contraction,” Obama said. “That doesn’t sound like somebody who has rolled me or the United States of America.”
Obama added that the U.S. has been “very firm” with countries that counter U.S. interests or violate international law.
He also rejected the “knee-jerk” foreign policy view that “shooting first and thinking about it second projects strength.”
“I disagree with that,” he said.