Following is an excerpt from President Barack Obama’s final press conference as he leaves office. A transcript of the January 18 news conference at the White House appeared in The Washington Post. The excerpt below is Mr. Obama’s answer to a reporter’s question about whether President-elect Donald Trump’s suggestion that sanctions on Russia could be lifted is “an effective strategy” and about what advice the president would give the president-elect’s advisers “to help him be effective when he deals with Vladimir Putin.”
Well, a couple of things. Number one, I think it is in America’s interest and the world’s interest that we have a constructive relationship with Russia. That’s been my approach throughout my presidency. Where our interests have overlapped we’ve worked together.
At the beginning of my term, I did what I could to encourage Russia to be a constructive member of the international community and tried to work with the president and the government of Russia in helping them diversify their economy, improve their economy, use the incredible talents of the Russian people in more constructive ways.
I think it’s fair to say that after President Putin came back into the presidency, that an escalating anti-American rhetoric and an approach to global affairs that seem to be premised on the idea that whatever America’s trying to do must be bad for Russians, so we want to try to counter act whatever they do. That returned to an adversarial spirit that I think existed during the Cold War, has made the relationship more difficult.
And it was hammered home when Russia went into Crimea and portions of Ukraine. The reason we imposed the sanctions, recall, was not because of nuclear weapons issues, it was because the independence and sovereignty of a country, Ukraine, had been encroached upon by force, by Russia. That wasn’t our judgment, that was the judgment of the entire international community.
And, Russia continues to occupy Ukrainian territory, and meddle in Ukrainian affairs, and support military surrogates who have violated basic international laws and international norms. What I’ve said to the Russians is, as soon as you stop doing that, the sanctions will be removed. And I think it would probably best serve, not only American interests, but also the interests of preserving international norms if we made sure that we don’t confuse why these sanctions have been imposed with a whole set of other issues.
On nuclear issues, in my first term we negotiated the START II Treaty and that has substantially reduced our nuclear stockpiles, both Russia and the United States. I was prepared to go further, I told President Putin I was prepared to go further. They have been unwilling to negotiate.
If President-elect Trump is able to restart those talks in a serious way, I think there remains a lot of room for our two countries to reduce their, our, stockpiles. And part of the reason we’ve have been successful on our non-proliferation agenda and on our nuclear security agenda is because we were leading by example. I hope that continues.
But I think it’s important just to remember that the reason sanctions have been put in place against Russia, has to do with their actions in Ukraine. And it is important for the United States to stand up for the basic principle that big countries don’t go around and invade and bully smaller countries.
I’ve said before, I expect Russia and Ukraine to have a strong relationship. They are historically bound together in all sorts of cultural and social ways, but Ukraine is an independent country. And this is a good example of the vital role that America has to continue to play, around the world, in preserving basic norms and values. Whether it’s advocating on behalf of human rights, advocating on behalf of women’s rights, advocating on behalf of freedom of the press.