Putin’s rage triggered by Obama’s moves

2017/10/19 13:55:12

Former President Barack Obama’s envoy to Russia, Michael McFaul, raised the ire of Russian President Vladimir Putin by immediately meeting with opposition politicians when Mr. McFaul first landed in Moscow in January 2012.

 

(Associated Press)


 

 

 

 

 

 

By Dan Boylan and Guy Taylor - The Washington Times - Wednesday, October 18, 2017

 

In interview after interview with top U.S. intelligence officials and foreign diplomats about the downward spiral in U.S.-Russian relations, one date keeps resurfacing January 2012.

 

That month Michael McFaul, President Obama’s newly appointed ambassador to Russia, arrived in snow-covered Moscow and almost immediately began meeting with opposition leaders and human rights activists critical of the Kremlin.

 

It was a provocative move at a sensitive moment when Vladimir Putin was already seething over perceived American backing of mass protests designed to smear him. The Russian president was also facing a wobbly economy as global oil prices plunged as he struggled to reclaim Russia’s influence on the world stage.

 

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