Obama Offers Russia Partnership And Challenges
President Barack Obama called on Tuesday for Russia to forge a true partnership with the United States, promoting democracy and the rule of law but avoiding direct criticism of the Kremlin. Obama was speaking after a first meeting with Russia's most powerful figure, Vladimir Putin, whom he had upset with pre-trip comments accusing the prime minister of keeping one foot in the past. U.S. officials called the talks "very successful." In a carefully calibrated speech billed by the White House as a...

Highlights: Obama's Summit Visit To Russia
The following are comments by U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in Moscow. AT A MEETING BETWEEN Obama AND Putin Obama: "I very much appreciate you taking time to meet with me. "We had excellent discussions with the president yesterday and I am aware of not only the extraordinary work that you've done on behalf of the Russian people in your previous role as prime minis, uh, as president, but in your current role as prime minister. "We think there's an...

HEALTH CARE DRAMA: Rahm Says, -We Should Do The Lame Health Care Idea,' Obama Pretends To -Walk It Back' With Tricksy Statement From SOVIET UNION
Hey, we tried to make the headline concise, but these daily health care reform games are just nuts. Okay, so, TODAY’S INTERNET HEALTH CARE BABBLE RECAP: Rahm Emanuel told a newspaper that the White House would be open to the lamers’ version of health care reform, and then progressives went nuts, and then Obama released a statement from inside Lenin’s coffin supposedly “walking back” Rahm’s statement, and this is when the Halperins of the world started paying...

Vladimir Putin Praises Bush Hospitality During Obama Visit
Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin praised the hospitality and openness of U.S. former President George W. Bush in a telegramme sent hours before meeting his successor Barack Obama. "During the last years we have been working on strengthening Russia-U.S. cooperation. Although there were differences between our countries, I always valued your openness and sincerity," Putin said, congratulating Bush on his 63rd birthday on July 6. "With special warmth I recall your hospitality in the Crawford...

Highlights: Obama's Summit Visit To Russia
The following are comments by U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in Moscow. AT A MEETING BETWEEN Obama AND Putin Obama: "I very much appreciate you taking time to meet with me. "We had excellent discussions with the president yesterday and I am aware of not only the extraordinary work that you've done on behalf of the Russian people in your previous role as prime minis, uh, as president, but in your current role as prime minister. "We think there's an...

Obama Says Supports Kremlin Chief On More Freedoms
President Barack Obama has used an interview with a Russian opposition newspaper to support Kremlin chief Dmitry Medvedev's publicly declared aim of building a freer society in Russia. Medvedev, who was sworn in as Russian president in May 2008, has sought to strike a more liberal tone than his predecessor and mentor, ex-KGB spy Vladimir Putin, though officials say Russia's two leaders are united on all major issues. In an interview to be published in Novaya Gazeta newspaper on Monday, the...

Obama Not Fully Informed On Russia: Putin Spokesman
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin will use next week's Moscow talks to relieve President Barack Obama of mistaken impressions he remains mired in Cold War thinking, Putin's spokesman said on Friday. The spokesman was reacting to comments Obama made in a pre-trip interview. The U.S. leader told the Associated Press that Putin needed to "understand that the Cold War approach to U.S.-Russian relationship is outdated" and that Putin had "one foot in the old ways of doing business." Putin spokesman...

David Ignatius - 'Miracle and Mystery': Why Russians Love Putin
Why do Russians love Vladimir Putin? Read "The Brothers Karamazov."

Barack Obama: Vladimir Putin is 'living in the past'
Barack Obama yesterday accused Vladimir Putin, the Russian prime minister, of "living in the past" and indulging in Cold War thinking on the eve of his first trip to Russia as US president.

Putin Treats Obama To Russian Breakfast
U.S. President Obama ate a traditional Russian breakfast including smoked sturgeon and caviar at a meeting Tuesday with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Obama and Putin dined on an open terrace at the prime minister's official residence, with some tables outfitted in table linens in the style of classic Pavlovsky Posad shawls, Russian news agency RIA Novosti reported. "We have prepared for you a Russian-style breakfast," Putin greeted his U.S. visitor. The menu included smoked sturgeon...

Obama, Russia PM Vladimir Putin May Discuss Reserve Currencies
Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin may discuss reserve currencies with U.S. President Barack Obama at a breakfast in Moscow next week, Putin's spokesman said on Thursday. Obama and Putin, who developed a good personal rapport with Obama's predecessor George W. Bush despite Russia-U.S. relations hitting their post-Cold War lows, will have one-and-a-half hour long meeting during Obama's first visit to Russia. "It would be logical to suggest that an exchange of opinions regarding the global...

In Georgetown Speech, Obama Offers Cautious Optimism
President Obama today laid out a vision for a new era of U.S. economic prosperity and called on the nation to "get serious" about reforming entitlement programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security -- reform that he said starts with overhauling the American health care system.

Officials say tentative stimulus deal reached
WASHINGTON (AP) - Amid stunning new job losses and yet another bank failure, key senators and the White House reached tentative agreement Friday night on an economic stimulus measure at the heart of President Barack Obama's recovery plan. Two officials said the emerging agreement was for a bill with a $780 billion price tag, but there was no immediate confirmation. The tentative agreement capped a tense day of back room negotiations in which Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, joined by White...

Obama: U.S., Russia -not destined' to be rivals
President Barack Obama, working to drastically reshape U.S. relations with a skeptical Russia, said Tuesday the two countries are not "destined to be antagonists."

Why Obama wants to be as vague as possible about health care reform.
President Obama is in Russia, but he's still holding hands in Washington. Advocates of a public option as a part of health care reform got spooked he was going to abandon them, so between press releases heralding the U.S./Russian agreement on reducing stra

Obama Leaves Moscow For G8 Summit In Italy
U.S. President Barack Obama left Moscow on Wednesday aboard Air Force One after two days of talks with Russian leaders. Obama flies to Italy for a meeting with leaders of the Group of Eight nations in the Italian city of L'Aquila. (Reporting by Jeff Mason, writing by Conor Sweeney, editing by Guy Faulconbridge)

U.S. Trade Chief To Meet Lawmakers, Aide Says
U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk on Wednesday will meet Democratic lawmakers who requested a get-together to express their concerns about pending trade deals, a Democratic congressional aide said. Kirk is scheduled to meet Rep. Louise Slaughter, a senior member of the House of Representatives, and several other Democrats who are urging President Barack Obama to rethink U.S. trade policy before he pushes for congressional approval of trade pacts that his predecessor, George W. Bush, negotiated...

Obama Urges African Leadership To Pursue Stability
African nations must clean up corruption and end political instability in order to attract the investment needed to prosper, U.S. President Barack Obama said in an interview with AllAfrica.com released on Tuesday. Speaking in advance of a visit this week to Ghana, Obama said there was a direct correlation between governance and prosperity and urged African leaders to do better. "We know what it might take. What we haven't seen is a consistent, steady application of some of these models over...