WASHINGTON - U.S. President Barack Obama described Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Thursday as someone who still has "one foot in the old ways of doing business and one foot in the new."
In a White House interview with The Associated Press, Obama said one reason he is meeting with Putin -- as well as with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev -- during his upcoming visit to Moscow is that he wants Putin to know that "the old Cold War approaches" to relations with the United States are "outdated."
Obama travels next week to Russia, Italy and Ghana.
While saying Putin "still has sway" in Russia, Obama said the U.S. is developing a "very good relationship" with Medvedev, and that he is looking for gains in nuclear arms reduction.
Obama rejected the idea that Russia is an obstacle in confronting North Korea and Iran. He said there's been "good co-operation" in dealing with those two countries.
Turning to Iran, the president said he is "not reconciled" to the idea of Tehran obtaining a nuclear weapon within a year.
The president said a nuclear-armed Iran would likely trigger an arms race in the already volatile Mideast and said that would be "a recipe for potential disaster." Iran says its nuclear program is intended to produce electricity, not weapons.
On Afghanistan, Obama said that he will reassess the possible need for additional U.S. troops in Afghanistan after the Afghan national elections in August.
Asked how he defines U.S. success in Afghanistan, the president said Thursday the main U.S. goal is to keep the al-Qaida terrorist network from acquiring a haven from which it can train fighters and launch attacks on the United States or its allies.
He said the U.S. and its allies also must build up the Afghan national army and police and enable neighbouring Pakistan to secure its borders against terrorist movements.
On Iraq Obama said he has always reserved the right to adjust the U.S. troop withdrawal timetable in Iraq based on changing circumstances.
But he says he is confident the U.S. will be able to abide by agreements it made with Iraqis.
Obama also says he believes Iraqis do not want to return to spiraling violence of years ago. But he says he has not seen sufficient political reconciliation among Iraq's political factions.
He also praised praising U.S. commanders for handing over security to Iraqis in cities and urban areas this week.
Turning to the economy, Obama said he is still "deeply concerned" about the continuing loss of jobs across the United States.
He said that developing both a short-term and longer-term solution to America's economic woes is "one of the things that I'm most focused on."
Obama also said he believes his administration has stabilized the housing and financial markets, while he acknowledged that more work needs to be done in the area of job creation.
The president said he understands that people are "worrying if they're going to be next." He commented just hours after the Labor Department reported that the U.S. unemployment rate rose to 9.5 per cent last month.
