Medvedev warns of second Cold War

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on Tuesday warned the United States and Russia are approaching “a second Cold War.”

Medvedev also said President Obama is to blame for the deteriorating relations.  

“Basically, we are slowly but surely approaching a second Cold War that nobody needs. Why am I saying this? Because a competent politician knows how to make reserved, careful, subtle, wise and intelligent decisions, which, I believe, Mr. Obama succeeded at for a while,” Medvedev told Bloomberg News. 

“But what is being done now, unfortunately, proves that the U.S. administration has run out of these resources,” he added. 

{mosads}The U.S. has imposed sanctions on Russia for its annexation of the Ukrainian region of Crimea. The U.S. has also accused Russia of meddling in Ukraine. 

Medvedev previously served as Russia’s president from 2008 until 2012, during which time he worked closely with Obama. 

Obama could be more “tactful” politically, Medvedev said, in his handling of the crisis between Ukraine and Russia.

“Some decisions taken by the U.S. administration are disappointing,” he said, pointing out how Russia hasn’t commented or responded harshly to Western sanctions. 

Russia could “cause some unpleasantness” to countries imposing those sanctions, he said. 

Medvedev, however, shrugged off the sanctions and predicted they wouldn’t help anyone win in the end. 

“By enacting such sanctions, our U.S. and European partners are destroying the very fabric of international relations,” he said. “Are they trying to scare us? This will lead nowhere.”

“Once a new administration comes to power in the United States and a new president takes office after Obama, these sanctions will be forgotten. In the end, nobody stands to win.”

Medvedev’s comments come a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered Russian troops along Ukraine’s border to pull back and return to their bases. 

U.S. and NATO officials, however, said they have seen no indications that Russian forces have moved.