According to Obama, Washington and Moscow are to strengthen the union
The United States and Russia shouldn’t return to the cold war epoch, U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama made clear during his first presidential debate with Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain held at the University of Mississippi.
According to Obama, Washington and Moscow are to strengthen the union, as they have lots of common problems, including non-proliferation of nuclear weapons.
John McCain denounced Russia as a KGB-run state during that high-pressure encounter in Mississippi, pointing out that Barack Obama was naive in his judgment of Russia.
Obama emphasized that both countries are fighting to prevent Al Qaeda from obtaining nuclear weapons and United States is to work with Russia for this purpose. When cooperating with Moscow, the next president of the United States should be governed by national interests, Obama said.
As to the recent war in the Caucasus, Obama called “illegal and objectionable” Russia’s incursion into South Ossetia, pointing out that he views Russia as the threat in the Caucasus. He also urged Moscow to pull troops out of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
Both candidates agreed that Georgia and Ukraine should be allowed to join NATO and Obama said Tbilisi should be immediately given the MAP.
At the same time, Obama called Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili a weak figure politically and forecasted that Georgia would have a new president because of it.