Obama chides ‘corrupt’ Russia
Posted by africanpress on July 8, 2009
MOSCOW, Tuesday
Barack Obama attempted to bridge the divisions of the Cold War with a new generation of Russian students today, outlining a vision of a world made safer by closer ties between the Kremlin and Washington.
The US president told students from Moscow’s New Economic School the future of Russia — and its relations with the US — belonged to them.
“What kind of future is Russia going to have? What kind of future are Russia and America going to have together? What world order will replace the Cold War?” President Obama said.
“Those questions still do not have clear answers, and so now they must be answered by you — by your generation in Russia, America, and around the world. You get to decide.”
But a generation of apathetic young people who were born in the last days of the Soviet Union and who grew up in the chaos of the 1990s may care more about money than better relations with Washington.
The hangovers
While extending the hand of friendship on cutting nuclear weapons and dealing jointly with North Korea and Iran, President Obama also addressed the hangovers from the Soviet Union by warning empires should not treat other countries as chess pieces.
“In 2009, a great power does not show strength by dominating or demonising other countries,” President Obama said.
“The days when empires could treat sovereign states as pieces on a chess board are over.”
The US leader also addressed the rampant corruption that is widespread in every walk of Russian life, from multi-billion energy deals to everyday bribes to teachers and policemen.
President Obama was careful to sprinkle his charm carefully through the speech, quoting Russian poet Alexander Pushkin and honouring the Soviet Union’s enormous sacrifices in the Second World War.
“Russia has cut its way through time like a mighty river through a canyon, leaving an indelible mark on human history as it goes,” President Obama said. (Reuters)
source.nation.ke
