two governments get from Russia, and I’m wondering, sir, if you believe that President

Putin bears some responsibility for the intransigence of those two regimes. And to some degree,

has this gone beyond just those two countries, and has it become a tug of war between two

world powers?

PRESIDENT OBAMA: …With respect to Syria and the Ukraine, I do think it is worth noting

that you have in this situation one country that has clearly been a client state of Russia,

another whose government is currently -- been supported by Russia; where the people obviously

have a very different view and vision for their country. And we’ve now seen a great

deal of turmoil there that arose organically from within those countries.

I don’t think there’s a competition between the United States and Russia. I think this

is an expression of the hopes and aspirations of people inside of Syria and people inside

of the Ukraine who recognize that basic freedoms -- freedom of speech, freedom of assembly,

fair and free elections, the ability to run a business without paying a bribe, to not

be discriminated against because of your religion or your beliefs -- that those are fundamental

rights that everybody wants to enjoy.

Now, Mr. Putin has a different view on many of those issues, and I don’t think that

there’s any secret on that. And our approach as the United States is not to see these as

some Cold War chessboard in which we’re in competition with Russia. Our goal is to

make sure that the people of Ukraine are able to make decisions for themselves about their

future, that the people of Syria are able to make decisions without having bombs going

off and killing women and children, or chemical weapons, or towns being starved because a

despot wants to cling to power.

Those express our values and our national interests, and we will continue to express

those national interests. There are times, I hope, where Russia will recognize that over

the long term they should be on board with those values and interests as well. Right

now, there are times where we have strong disagreements. And when I speak to Mr. Putin,

I’m very candid about those disagreements, even as we will continue to pursue cooperation

with Russia on areas where we had shared concerns.

But I want to emphasize this: The situation that happened in Ukraine has to do with whether

or not the people of Ukraine can determine their own destiny. And my government and Vice

President Biden, and I personally, have expressed to President Yanukovych the need for him to

recognize the spirit of the Ukrainian people and work with that, as opposed to trying to

repress it. And so we’ll continue to stand on the side of the people.

My hope is, at this point, that a truce may hold, but Stephen is exactly right -- ultimately,

the government is responsible for making sure that we shift towards some sort of unity government,

even if it’s temporary, that allows us to move to fair and free elections so that the

will of the Ukrainian people can be rightly expressed without the kinds of chaos we’ve

seen on the streets and without the bloodshed that all of us I think strongly condemn.