President Obama said the following:

“My task was not to negotiate with the Russians,” President Obama “The Russians don’t make determinations about what our defense posture is.”

Why is President Obama making such a big deal about making this point? Why not cooporate with the Russian’s if possible?

President Obama said it is merely a bonus if the Russians are less paraniod about the USA. A new system will rely on a network of senors and interceptor missiles based on land, at sea and in the air. Many experts have stated that Obama’s decision may have in part been made in order to appease Russia and to gain Russian support on other important issues.
In the CBS interview taped Friday, Obama was pressed on why he did not seek anything in exchange from Russia.

President Obama’s reply:
“If the byproduct of it is that the Russians feel a little less paranoid and are now willing to work more effectively with us to deal with threats like ballistic missiles from Iran or nuclear development in Iran, you know, then that’s a bonus.”
Russia has already stated they will cancel a plan to deploy missiles near Poland since Obama decided to cancel the planned missle shield in Eastern Europe.

Russia’s Deputy Defense Minister Vladimir Popovkin said Obama’s move made the deployment of short-range missiles in the Kaliningrad region unnecessary, and he called the U.S. president’s decision a “victory of reason over ambitions.”

“Russia’s attitude and possible reaction played no part in my recommendation to the president on this issue,” Gates wrote in an essay in The New York Times. He said he would be surprised if Russia likes the replacement European missile defense plan much better than the old plan.

Russian President Dmitri Medvedev said Israeli officials have assured him that they are not planning a military strike against Iran.
The Russian leader says that an attack on Iran would create a humanitarian disaster, a vast number of refugees, and a desire by Iran to take its revenge on Israel and several other countries.

He says that although Russia does not have a defense agreement with Iran, it would not be indifferent to such an attack.
President Obama’s decision to cancel an antimissile defense system in Eastern Europe earned strong support from Russian leaders on Saturday. The question is whether Russia will do more to help prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin, who had repeatedly attacked the antimissile system as a grave danger to Russia’s security, called Mr. Obama’s decision “correct and brave.”

However neither Russian leader offered any immediate indication that Russia would make any specific concessions, especially on Iran, which has become a huge stumbling block in relations between the Russia and the USA. If Russia does not toughen its opposition to Iran’s nuclear program, President Obama may receive criticism that he yielded to Russian complaints on the antimissile plan but received little or nothing in return.

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