In March 2009 Hillary Clinton announced that the Obama Adminstration was going to push the reset button with the Russians. Unfortunately, the administration bungled their delivery and spelled out “overcharge” rather than “restart” on their button.
An assistant shows the mock ‘reset’ button that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton handed to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Geneva in 2009. (AP Photo)
This week the Russians pushed their own reset button.
Moscow rejected US demands for the extradition of NSA leaker Edward Snowden.
The AP reported:
Russia’s foreign minister bluntly rejected U.S. demands to extradite National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden, saying Tuesday that Snowden hasn’t crossed the Russian border.
Sergey Lavrov insisted that Russia has nothing to do with Snowden or his travel plans. Lavrov wouldn’t say where Snowden is, but he lashed out angrily at Washington for demanding his extradition and warning of negative consequences if Moscow fails to comply. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Monday urged Moscow to “do the right thing” and turn over Snowden.
“We consider the attempts to accuse Russia of violation of U.S. laws and even some sort of conspiracy, which on top of all that are accompanied by threats, as absolutely ungrounded and unacceptable,” Lavrov said. “There are no legal grounds for such conduct of U.S. officials.”
The defiant tone underlined the Kremlin’s readiness to challenge Washington at a time when U.S.-Russian relations are strained over Syria and a Russian ban on adoptions by Americans.
What an embarrassment this Obama administration has become.
