Obama says Putin wants to recreate Soviet empire

US President Barack Obama has lashed out at his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, saying he is destroying the country’s economy in order to recreate the Soviet empire.

During a speech to world leaders at the G7 summit in Germany, Obama attacked Putin over the Ukraine crisis.

“Does he continue to wreck his country’s economy and continue Russia’s isolation in pursuit of a wrong-headed desire to recreate the glories of the Soviet empire?” Obama asked.

“Or does he recognize that Russia’s greatness does not depend on violating the territorial integrity and sovereignty of other countries?” he added.

The Obama administration accuses Moscow of supporting and arming pro-Russian forces fighting in eastern Ukraine since last year. The Kremlin says the allegations are baseless.

Washington and its allies have imposed sanctions against Moscow over the crisis in Ukraine.

President Obama convinced the world leader to toughen sanctions against Russia.

He said “additional steps” could be taken over Russia’s “aggressive behavior” in Ukraine.

However, Russian journalist Dmitry Zolotarev believes that Washington can no longer continue its self-imposed sanctions against Moscow due to its economic reliance on Russian companies.

“The United States will have to look into Russian corporations. The United States will have to look into Russian engines,” Zolotarev said in an interview with Press TV last week.

The New York Times reported the US military urged Congress to call off legislation that banned the purchase of Russian rocket engines for launching military and intelligence satellites into space.

A bill was passed five months ago that forced the Pentagon not to buy the RD-180 rocket engines from Russia. The US military says it needs the engines for the next several years.

AGB/AGB

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