Vladimir Putin’s Good-Cop, Bad-Cop Act
Russia's leader wins President Obama's praise for his role in the Iran nuclear deal. But ongoing disputes from Syria to Ukraine raise doubts about the prospects for truly friendly relations.
BY JULY 29, 2015
Two weeks ago, President Barack Obama expressed rare praise for President Vladimir Putin, thanking the Russian leader for his role in securing the Iran nuclear deal and expressing hope that cooperation could spill into other contentious areas like ending the conflict in Syria. “We would not have achieved this agreement had it not been for Russia’s willingness to stick with us,” Obama said in an interview this month with New York Timescolumnist Thomas Friedman.
