Obama congratulates Putin for election “win”

The Russian people and international observers may not see last Sunday’s presidential election in Russia as legitimate, but President Barack Obama has now officially endorsed the return of Russian past and future President Vladimir Putin.

“President Obama called Russian President-elect and Prime Minister Putin to congratulate him on his recent victory in the Russian Presidential election,” the White House said in a late Friday afternoon statement (read: news dump) about the Friday morning phone call between the two leaders.

“President Obama highlighted achievements in U.S.-Russia relations over the past three years with President Medvedev, including cooperation on Afghanistan, the conclusion and ratification of the START agreement, Russia’s recent invitation to join the World Trade Organization (WTO) and cooperation on Iran,” the statement read. “President Obama and President-Elect Putin agreed that the successful reset in relations should be built upon during the coming years.”

Obama told Putin he looked forward to Putin’s May visit to Camp David for the G-8 summit and the two talked about how they could benefit economically from Russia’s joining the WTO, the statement explained.

That could be a reference to administration efforts to get Congress to repeal the 1974 Jackson-Vanik law that prevents the U.S. from giving Russia permanent normal trade status. Some in Congress are resisting that because of Russia’s deteriorating record on democracy, rule of law, and human rights.

At the end of the statement, the White House mentioned the crisis in Syria, in which the Russian government is arming the brutal regime of President Bashar al-Assad.

“President Obama and President-Elect Putin agreed to continue discussions on areas where the United States and Russia have differed, including Syria and missile defense,” the statement read. “President Obama and President-Elect Putin agreed to continue their efforts to find common ground and remove obstacles to better relations.”

The State Department, in their May 5 statement on the election, noted the concerns of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe about the election, including that it wasn’t a level playing field to begin with, that government resources were used partisan purposes, and that there were procedural irregularities on the day of the election.

“We urge Russian authorities to build on these steps to ensure that the procedures for future elections will be more transparent,” the State Department said. The White House statement made no mention of the problems with the election.

After Russia’s Dec. 2011 parlaimentary elections, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called them “neither free nor fair.” When Russian protesters took to the streets to protest those elections and Putin’s return to the presidency, Putin publicly accused Clinton of inciting the protests.