“On all these issues,” said Obama, who thought he was speaking privately, “but particularly the missile defense …. This can be solved, but it’s important for him [President-elect Vladimir Putin] to give me space.”
Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney changed his scheduled speech to address this comment, saying, “When the President of the United States is speaking with the leader of Russia saying he can be more flexible after the election, this is an alarming and troubling development….This is no time for our president to be pulling his punches with the American people. And not telling us what he’s intending to do with regards to our missile defense system, with regards to our military might and with regards to our commitment to Israel and with regard to our absolute conviction that Iran must [not] have a nuclear weapon.”
Romney also identified Russia as America’s “number one geopolitical foe,” to which Medvedev replied, “Regarding ideological clichés, every time this or that side uses phrases like ‘enemy number one,’ this always alarms me, this smells of Hollywood and certain times [of the past].” He added, “Also, [one needs to] look at his watch. We are in 2012 and not the mid-1970s.”
Obama responded as well, saying “This is not a matter of hiding the ball. The only way I get this stuff done is if I’m consulting with the Pentagon, with Congress, if I’ve got bipartisan support, and frankly, the current environment is not conducive to those kinds of thoughtful consultations.”
Obama’s administration also responded directly to Romney’s speech through press secretary Ben LaBolt, who said “Once gain Governor Romney is undermining his credibility by distorting the President’s words.
“Governor Romney has been all over the map on the key foreign policy challenges facing our nation today, offering a lot of chest thumping and empty rhetoric with no concrete plans to enhance our security or strengthen our alliances.”