White House: Obama, Biden On Same Page Over Russia
WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden
are on the same page when it comes to Russia, The White House said Monday,
downplaying Biden's recent comments in an interview with The Wall Street
Journal.
"Both President Obama and Vice President Biden believe that better relations
are in our interest and that Russia will work to better relations because it's
also in their interests," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said.
Following a four-day trip to Ukraine and Georgia, Biden said Russia's "
withering" economy will force it to make accommodations to the West on national-
security issues.
Earlier in July, Obama had visited Moscow for high-profile meetings with
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, a summit
designed to "reset" U.S.-Russia relations.
"I think that the president stated his views on Russia during the trip and the
vice president agrees on those views and those policies," Gibbs said.
Asked if Obama thought Biden had gone too far in his remarks to the Journal,
Gibbs said he hasn't talked to the president about it.
-By Henry J. Pulizzi, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-9256; henry.pulizzi@
dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
07-27-091224ET
Copyright (c) 2009 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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