Former U.S. Ambassador To Russia On How Trump 's Policies Compare To Obama's : NPR
Former U.S. Ambassador To Russia On How  Trump 's Policies Compare To Obama's
NPR's Mary Louise Kelly speaks with former U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul about  President Trump 's stance on Russia and how that compares with policies throughout the Obama administration.
And we're going to take a moment now to fact-check a claim on Russia.  President Trump  on Tuesday tweeted this - quote  "I have been much tougher on Russia than Obama. Just look at the facts." Well  we're going to do just that  and we have asked Michael McFaul to help us out. He was the American ambassador to Russia under President Obama  and he's now a professor at Stanford from where he joins me now.
KELLY: I should start by acknowledging the obvious  which is that you're not a neutral observer in this having served in the Obama administration. But you have deep and firsthand knowledge  which is valuable here. So I want to start with asking just what's your gut reaction to that statement from  President Trump  - that  he  has been tougher on Russia than Obama?
MCFAUL: Well  my gut reaction is that - and this is going to offend everybody in the Obama camp and the  Trump  camp - is that I actually see more continuity between President Obama's policy on Russia and Trump's policy on Russia than most other people do.
KELLY: Now since  Trump  assumed the presidency  Congress has passed a new sanctions bill  which so far the  Trump  administration has chosen not to enforce. They haven't announced new sanctions  at least so far. And they've been criticized for that by Republicans and Democrats who say this shows that  President Trump  is soft on Russia. What do you think?
KELLY:  President Trump  has not  himself  called out Russia  but officials who serve  him  do.  His  national security adviser H.R. McMaster just did  for example. Do you see a disconnect between what  the president  says and what  his  administration actually does when it comes to Russia?
MCFAUL: I think there's a fundamental disconnect. I was in the audience with H.R. McMaster in Munich when  he  made those remarks. Not only do many of  his  senior officials say things differently - tougher on Russia - but the policy is tougher. But when it comes to  the president   for whatever reason   he  never criticizes Vladimir Putin for the things  he 's done ever. And it's I think a big disconnect between the rhetoric of  the president himself  and the policy of the Trump administration more generally.
KELLY: Before I let you go  what is the end goal with Russia? I mean  when we speak of a president - whether it's President Trump  President Obama - getting tough on Russia  that's in the service of what?
MCFAUL: And I think this is another place where  President Trump  is sometimes confused. I think  he  gets mixed up in  his  head the difference between means and ends. The means could be engagement  getting tough  isolating. But the ends have to be things very concrete - things like  we would like to see Russia leave Eastern Ukraine. We would like to see Russia stop interfering in our electoral politics. Those are very concrete objectives - American national security objectives. The means may change over time depending on what the issue is  and that's the tough or not get tough. But to have a  quote  unquote  "good relationship" with Russia or Putin or any country for that matter  I think is always the incorrect way to think about American national security policy and American foreign policy.
Former U.S. Ambassador To Russia On How  Trump 's Policies Compare To Obama's
NPR's Mary Louise Kelly speaks with former U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul about  President Trump 's stance on Russia and how that compares with policies throughout the Obama administration.
And we're going to take a moment now to fact-check a claim on Russia.   [TGT] on Tuesday tweeted this - quote  "I have been much tougher on Russia than Obama. Just look at the facts." Well  we're going to do just that  and we have asked Michael McFaul to help us out. He was the American ambassador to Russia under President Obama  and he's now a professor at Stanford from where he joins me now.
KELLY: I should start by acknowledging the obvious  which is that you're not a neutral observer in this having served in the Obama administration. But you have deep and firsthand knowledge  which is valuable here. So I want to start with asking just what's your gut reaction to that statement from  President Trump  - that  he  has been tougher on Russia than Obama?
MCFAUL: Well  my gut reaction is that - and this is going to offend everybody in the Obama camp and the   [TGT]   camp - is that I actually see more continuity between President Obama's policy on Russia and Trump's policy on Russia than most other people do.
KELLY: Now since   [TGT] assumed the presidency  Congress has passed a new sanctions bill  which so far the   [TGT] administration has chosen not to enforce. They haven't announced new sanctions  at least so far. And they've been criticized for that by Republicans and Democrats who say this shows that   [TGT] is soft on Russia. What do you think?
KELLY:   [TGT] has not   [TGT]   called out Russia  but officials who serve   [TGT]   do.   [TGT]   national security adviser H.R. McMaster just did  for example. Do you see a disconnect between what  the president  says and what  his  administration actually does when it comes to Russia?
MCFAUL: I think there's a fundamental disconnect. I was in the audience with H.R. McMaster in Munich when  he  made those remarks. Not only do many of  his  senior officials say things differently - tougher on Russia - but the policy is tougher. But when it comes to  the president   for whatever reason   he  never criticizes Vladimir Putin for the things  he 's done ever. And it's I think a big disconnect between the rhetoric of  the president himself  and the policy of the Trump administration more generally.
KELLY: Before I let you go  what is the end goal with Russia? I mean  when we speak of a president - whether it's President Trump  President Obama - getting tough on Russia  that's in the service of what?
MCFAUL: And I think this is another place where   [TGT] is sometimes confused. I think   [TGT]   gets mixed up in   [TGT]   head the difference between means and ends. The means could be engagement  getting tough  isolating. But the ends have to be things very concrete - things like  we would like to see Russia leave Eastern Ukraine. We would like to see Russia stop interfering in our electoral politics. Those are very concrete objectives - American national security objectives. The means may change over time depending on what the issue is  and that's the tough or not get tough. But to have a  quote  unquote  "good relationship" with Russia or Putin or any country for that matter  I think is always the incorrect way to think about American national security policy and American foreign policy.