Speaking to Russian students in Moscow on July 7, US President Barrack Obama sent a clear message to Moscow’s leadership that it must drop its attempts to have extraordinary influence over its neighbors through an archaic claim to the region as being within a Russian sphere of influence.
“This should be the base of world order. Just as countries should choose their leaders, they should also have the innate right to borders and independent foreign policy.”
“This, clearly, includes countries such as Georgia and Ukraine,” he added.
Russia has clashed in past years with both pro-western countries, even so far engaging in a military standoff with Georgia last summer, where it sides with two breakaway enclaves. Russia sharply opposes the pro-western foreign policy pursued by both countries, and its leaders, including Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, have questioned Ukraine’s claim to independence, citing Russian writers who described the country as a would-be territory of Russia.
