Moscow, July 03: Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Friday reacted to US President Barack Obama's remarks that he had "one foot in the past," saying Russians do not stand with "legs apart" but firmly on both feet.
"We don't know how to keep legs apart, we firmly stand on our feet and always look to the future," Putin said.
Asking Putin to move ahead from the "Cold War approach" to US-Russia relations, Obama in an interview had said he believes Putin has "one foot in the old ways of doing business and one foot in the new."
"Prime Minister Putin still has a lot of sway in Russia. And I think that it's important that even as we move forward with President Medvedev, that Putin understands that the Cold Cold War approaches to the US-Russia relations are out date," Obama had said.
Speaking in a South Russian village, Putin, who will host Obama on Tuesday said: "The US refusal to deploy ABM shield in Europe and quit bloc mentality would have been great advancement in the relations with Russia."
He said Moscow expects similar approach in economic spheres like lifting of the Cold War-era Jackson-Vanick amendment slammed on the ex-USSR for not allowing Jews to freely migrate to Israel.
"We have been promised almost for eight year now, but it has not been scrapped, if it finally happens, this also will be a big leap forward," Putin said.
Putin said Moscow is ready for effective interaction and indeed, expects a lot from the Obama administration.
"The signals we have been so far receiving from Washington tune us for a positive dialogue in a positive manner," the Russian strongman said.
Bureau Report
First Published: Friday, July 03, 2009, 23:30