OPINION: Unwilling to Appear Weak, Obama Ambassador Pick Curbs Ties With Russia

MOSCOW, April 21 (RIA Novosti), Nikita Alentyev – US President Barack Obama’s decision to consider a hawkish candidate as US ambassador to Russia is a move aimed at avoiding looking weak at home, Dominic Basulto, US editor of RussiaDirect told RIA Novosti Monday.

“Obama has to avoid being seen as weak at home, and he is under pressure from more hawkish members of the US Congress to prove that he can stand up to nations like Russia,” Basulto said, explaining that John Tefft’s possible appointment is a “larger sign that the Obama Administration is unwilling or unable to come up with creative foreign policy solutions when it comes to Russia.”

John F. Tefft, Obama’s most recent pending candidate for the Moscow post, is a career diplomat who previously served as ambassador to Ukraine (2009-2013), Georgia (2005-2009) and Lithuania (2000-2003). His candidacy is largely seen as a US move to restrict diplomatic ties with Russia to basic tactical issues, abandoning prospects for broad cooperation by picking a candidate that could irritate the Kremlin.

“This is a shame because there are many other issues – ranging from Syria to nuclear nonproliferation – where it’s important for the US and Russia to become more than grudging rivals playing a game of tit-for-tat sanctions,” Basulto concludes, acknowledging that such non-productive diplomatic trends will continue “until the US begins to see Russia as an important trading partner and as a formidable global economic force.”

Explaining Tefft’s appointment, Basulto said his candidacy was more or less a necessity, as “Obama needs to appoint an ambassador who can step in immediately and start negotiating with Russia and there's just not a lot of people to choose from.”

He added a different perspective to Tefft’s candidacy, explaining the he “makes sense for Obama – as the former US Ambassador to Ukraine, he knows many of the power players and understands the important role that Russia plays in Ukrainian foreign policy.”

US-Russia relations require a comprehensive new approach if the Obama administration wishes to follow through on its initial intentions to “reset” bilateral cooperation between the White House and the Kremlin. As Tefft’s candidacy remains pending, Moscow awaits the new turn in its dialogue with Washington.