Putin calls Obama a decent man

The Russian President called his US counterpart a kind person for courageously admitting mistakes in his decisions in Libya.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Barack Obama. Photo: Reuters

"First of all, this fact confirms once again that the current US president is a decent person," Tass quoted Russian President Vladimir Putin as saying yesterday during a live conversation. "It's good that my colleague had the courage to make such a statement, which goes beyond what most people would do," Putin said, adding that this was evidence of a strong character.

The US president previously told Fox News that his failure to have a plan after intervening in Libya was his biggest mistake as president.

The Russian president recalled that as a senator, Mr Obama criticized the White House for Washington's actions in Iraq. "But unfortunately, during his presidency, he made the mistake he spoke about, in Libya."

"The bad thing is that this series of mistakes continues, because they are almost repeated in Syria. We don't know how all this will end," the Russian leader said. However, he stressed that extensive cooperation is taking place between the military, intelligence and foreign ministries to find a solution to the Syrian crisis.

According to Mr. Putin, cooperation with US President Barack Obama will continue until the end of his presidential term. "He is working, working actively, and I am in contact with him, with his administration, and I have grounds to think that this will be maintained until the last moment of his term," Mr. Putin said.

The 2011 intervention in Libya toppled Muammar Gaddafi but plunged the country into chaos. The situation in the region has only worsened since then.

According to VNE