Former President Obama’s national security adviser Jim Jones on Monday referred to the current U.S.-Russia relationship as “regrettable,” saying it is the worst it had been since the end of the Cold War.
“It’s regrettable because for about 10 years we were moving in the right direction,” Jones told Hill.TV’s Buck Sexton and Krystal Ball on “Rising.”
He cited work in 2010 to reach a Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty with the Kremlin.
“We actually, in 2010, achieved a START treaty, Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty with the Russians. We shared information with them about the nuclear test sites in Iran that they didn’t know about. We reached a missile defense agreement that was palatable to the Russians,” he said.
“And between [former] President Medvedev and President Obama there was regular communications by telephone, and regular meetings,” he continued, adding “It goes to show how one man’s ascendency to power can change the whole balance, and that’s what happened with the return of President Putin.”
Jones comments come as President Trump faced intense bipartisan backlash last week when, during a joint press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin, he appeared to side with Russia over the U.S. intelligence community’s assessment that Moscow interfered in the 2016 presidential election.
Trump later walked back the assessment, saying that he trusted the intelligence community’s findings, but said that other foreign parties could have been involved in election interference.
The president on Sunday shifted to slamming Obama, blaming him for a lack of response to election interference in 2016.
“So President Obama knew about Russia before the Election,” Trump tweeted. “Why didn’t he do something about it? Why didn’t he tell our campaign?”
“Because it is all a big hoax, that’s why, and he thought Crooked Hillary was going to win!!!”
So President Obama knew about Russia before the Election. Why didn’t he do something about it? Why didn’t he tell our campaign? Because it is all a big hoax, that’s why, and he thought Crooked Hillary was going to win!!!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 22, 2018
— Julia Manchester
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