The Cold War may be officially over, but it could very well be gearing up again between Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin.
Yesterday, President Obama gave Russian leader Vladimir Putin the proverbial “cold shoulder” by canceling their summit meeting, which was scheduled for next month in Moscow. The once promising relationship between the 2 former adversaries has soured, and Mr. Obama concluded that the 2 sides have grown so distant that there was no longer any point in sitting down with the Russian president. Interestingly, it was the first time in several decades that an American leader called off such a meeting.
The relationship between the U.S. and Russia has been frosting for a while now, as the 2 sides have been at odds over arms control, missile defense, Syria, trade and human rights. The U.S. was also none to happy with Russia’s recently passed anti-gay laws, which could affect gay and lesbian athletes planning to attend the 2014 Winter Olympic games in Sochi. But it was Russia’s decision to grant temporary asylum to NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden that was considered a slap in the face and the straw that broke the camel’s back. Once Moscow stopped responding to U.S. proposals, Mr. Obama was fed up with Putin and placed him on the back burner.
In canceling the summit, Deputy National Security Adviser Benjamin Rhodes said “We weren’t going to have a summit for the sake of appearances, and there wasn’t an agenda that was ripe.” He added: “We’re not in any way signaling that we want to cut off this relationship, but meetings from now on will be held at lower levels. We’ll continue to calibrate whether or not the relationship improves to the point where we can reopen the prospect of a presidential initiative.”
