NEWSWATCH Washington Post: At G-7 meeting, Obama’s primary task is confronting his Putin problem

[“At G-7 meeting, Obama’s primary task is confronting his Putin problem” – Washington Post –  Steven Mufson – June 6, 2015]

The Washington Post covers U.S. policies towards Russia and Ukraine amidst the latest meeting of the G-7:

The G-7 meeting is a symbolic moment. After the Cold War, the annual gathering of the leaders of the world’s major industrial nations had added Russia and went from being known as the G-7 to the G-8 — a gesture welcoming Moscow into the wider community of nations and a tribute to the “Bill and Boris show” that featured presidents Clinton and Yeltsin.

But when Putin seized Crimea last year, that violation of international borders set off alarms throughout Europe and in the United States. When the group of world leaders met in Belgium in last June, Putin was left out.

Reportedly, while not making extensive efforts to engage Vladimir Putin directly, Barack Obama has become more detail-focused with some aspects of U.S.-Russian relations. For example, Obama attempted to negotiate details in a nuclear treaty and rejected advice to do more to enhance Ukrainian defensive capabilities:

Obama shows little inclination to talk to Putin himself; even before the Ukraine crisis, Obama canceled a visit to Moscow in 2013 after Russia granted asylum to Edward Snowden ….

… current and former White House officials say that Obama has been intimately engaged in U.S.-Russia relations. He helped negotiate details in the telemetry chapter of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or START, when Dmitry Medvedev was Russia’s president. Last fall, he disagreed with senior Democratic Party experts on Russia — including former deputy secretary of state Strobe Talbott, Biden and former national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski — who over dinner at the White House urged Obama to send lethal arms, such as antitank weapons, to Ukraine to raise the conflict’s cost to Russia.

Some imply that Obama has abandoned hopes for significant progress with Russia, and is trying to get to the end of his term without U.S.-Russian tensions escalating further.

At this point, experts say that Obama and his foreign policy team no longer hope for cooperation or democratic reform in Russia.  ‘I think they’re more concerned about Russians doing mischief, rather than a positive contribution to what we’re trying to achieve,’ said Thomas Graham, a managing director at Kissinger Associates who was NSC director for Russia under Bush. He cited the need to keep Russia in agreement with other powers for an Iran accord.

Beyond that, though, Graham added: ‘There are no expectations for the relationship. They just don’t want things to blow up between now and the end of the term.’

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[featured image is file photo of past event]