Source: NPR’s Diane Rehm Show
Speaking on NPR’s Diane Rehm Show, Carnegie’s Andrew Weiss explained that President Barack Obama made the right choice in cancelling his summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin because Russia had stonewalled Obama’s agenda over the past several months. Given the already slim prospects for the summit, Russia’s handling of Edward Snowden showed that the Russian government was not willing to make serious progress on the issues, he said. Weiss described the Russian government’s growing anti-American and anti-gay rhetoric as an effort by Putin to reach out to “Ivan Sixpack”—the Russian political base—and portray his opponents as un-Russian.
This discussion was originally aired on NPR’s Diane Rehm Show.