Vladimir Putin: Friend or Foe?

Vladimir Putin is the current President of Russia, but since the beginning of his presidency, he has been having troubled relations with the United States and President Barack Obama. Many people in the United States either don’t know whether he should be considered an enemy or make an uninformed decision. To make an accurate decision, it is necessary to know what President Putin has done while in office. One of the biggest recent issues regarding President Putin is the gassing of many Syrian citizens.

Putin published an article to the New York Times, telling the President not to invade Syria. This was a very controversial topic because the New York Times is an American newspaper and should not be used to help Russia. Putin seems to have been successful, however, because the United States has not invaded Syria. Another major issue concerning President Putin is the treatment of homosexuals in Russia. Russian homosexuals are not able to have equal rights, and protesters can be arrested or injured by police officers and anti-homosexuals respectively.

This is the reason why very few United States officials attended the Olympics, which were held in Sochi, Russia. The most recent issue between the United States and Russia is taking place in Ukraine, a country between Russia and the rest of Europe. Russian troops have recently invaded Crimea, a small area in Ukraine. It is suspected that this is because it would give Russians access to the Mediterranean Sea, Black Sea and Atlantic Ocean. However, Putin and the rest of Russia claim that this is only to protect Russians who live in Crimea from the actions of the Ukrainian government.

The United States has not had much involvement with the crisis currently, but it seems like there will be some sort of intervention soon.