President Barack
Obama, making a final return as President to Berlin Thursday, November
17, 2016 issued a warning to President-elect Donald Trump in his
dealings with Russia.
He cautioned on issues like Ukraine and
Syria, Moscow must be confronted head-on. He advised Trump against
making deals with Russian President Vladimir Putin that could hurt
Americans.
“I don’t expect the President-elect will
follow exactly our blueprint or our approach, but my hope is he does
not simply take a realpolitik approach and suggest we cut some deals
with Russia, even if it hurts people or violates international norms or
leaves smaller countries vulnerable,” he said.
But Obama said his hope is that Trump is
“willing to stand up to Russia where they are deviating from our values
and international norms.”
Obama’s visit to Berlin marks his final
one as president. It’s the city where he introduced himself to the world
in 2008 but where he now faces persistent questions about the future of
transatlantic ties and liberal progress.
Obama spent most of his time huddling
with Merkel, his closest counterpart who is now Europe’s most powerful
leader as the continent prepares for Donald Trump’s presidency. Among
her challenges: checking Putin’s global aggression in an age of
uncertain global alliances.
In bidding farewell to his most stalwart
global ally, he assured Merkel — and Europeans more broadly — that
turbulent politics won’t shake the global order.
“I think our politics everywhere are
going to be going through a bumpy phase,” Obama said, an attempt to
downplay the wave of nationalist populism that has spread across Europe
and propelled Trump’s victory.
“As long as we stay true to our
democratic principles, as long as elections have integrity, as long as
we respect freedom of speech, freedom of religion, as long as there are
checks and balances in our governments…then I have confidence that over
the long term, progress will continue.”
Just after touching down here Wednesday
evening, Obama spent hours dining with Merkel at his hotel in central
Berlin. The pair is set to resume talks Thursday afternoon before taking
reporters’ questions.
As her European counterparts face
political challenges at home, Merkel has assumed a critical role in
transatlantic ties, voicing strong support for Obama’s priorities on
climate change, Russian sanctions and economic reform.
Obama and Merkel have repaired relations
that soured after revelations the US National Security Agency spied on
Merkel’s cell phone. Obama now looks to Merkel to carry his priorities
into an uncertain future with Trump in the White House.
The German leader has not yet said
whether she’ll run for a fourth term next year, though her political
allies have signaled she will. Like leaders in France, Britain, the US
and elsewhere, she’ll face challenges from far-right politicians who are
running on an agenda of populist nationalism.
In a joint op-ed published in the German
magazine Wirtschaftswoche, the two leaders argued globalization wasn’t
leaving, despite the momentum behind anti-trade movements.
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