SEOUL, South Korea — U.S. politics combined with diplomacy as Russian President Dmitry Medvedev took a swipe at Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, and President Barack Obama pointed to an uncooperative Congress to explain why he was delaying negotiations with Russian leaders over missile defense.
Romney, in a CNN interview Monday, had referred to Russia as “our No. 1 geopolitical foe,” prompting Medvedev to tell reporters here that the former Massachusetts governor’s language seemed out of date and “smelled of Hollywood” stereotypes.
“Regarding ideological cliches, every time this or that side uses phrases like ‘enemy No. 1,’ this always alarms me,” the Russian leader said Tuesday in remarks broadcast on Russian television. “All U.S. presidential candidates (should) do two things: Use their head and consult their reason” and “look at his watch: We are in 2012 and not the mid-1970s.”
The back-and-forth was prompted by an open-microphone incident Monday in which Obama could be heard telling Medvedev that he would have more “flexibility” after the November presidential election to consider Russian concerns about U.S. missile-defense plans.
“This is my last election,” Obama said. “After my election, I have more flexibility.”
“I understand,” Medvedev responded. “I will transmit this information to Vladimir,” he added, referring to Vladimir Putin, who won Russia’s election March 4 and will begin a six-year term as president in May.
Republicans quickly pounced on that exchange, calling it evidence that Obama, if re-elected, would go soft on national-security issues.
Obama returned fire Tuesday, telling reporters as he wrapped up a three-day diplomatic tour in Seoul that he had merely been realistic about the problems of dealing with a Republican Congress.
“The only way I get this stuff done is if I’m consulting with the Pentagon, with Congress, if I’ve got bipartisan support,” Obama said of the missile-defense negotiations. “And frankly, the current environment is not conducive to those kinds of thoughtful consultations.”
