Obama criticized Putin for "lacking common sense".

US President Barack Obama said Russian President Vladimir Putin made a strategic mistake in annexing Crimea, calling it an unwise act.

Prior to his annual vacation in Hawaii, U.S. President Barack Obama gave an interview to NPR reporter Steve Inskeep in the Oval Office.

President Obama is being interviewed by NPR reporter Steve Inskeep in the Oval Office (photo: BBC).

President Obama criticized the opposition for cornering him and said they would have to admit their mistake in saying he was inferior to his Russian counterpart.

According to Obama: "If he were a genius, Putin wouldn't have let the country fall into the economic crisis it's in now. Putin's strategic mistake was related to the Ukraine crisis when he annexed Crimea in March of this year."

The US, EU, and other countries that do not recognize the results of the Crimean referendum have implemented a series of economic sanctions against Russia. In fact, these measures have been effective in causing the Russian economy to falter amidst fluctuations in oil prices. The consequences of these sanctions are long-lasting and will pose significant challenges to the Russian economy.

Under the impact of sanctions, the Russian ruble has lost half its value against the US dollar.

“The big advantage we have over Russia is that we have a dynamic, vibrant economy, and they don’t have that. They rely entirely on oil, which is dangerous. We don’t just have oil, iPads, and movies,” the US President said.

According to VOV