washington<u+2014>president barack obama on tuesday questioned donald trump<u+2019>s latest entreaty to russian president vladimir putin, saying the republican presidential nominee<u+2019>s statements regarding moscow were <u+201c>unprecedented in american politics.<u+201d> after mr. trump suggested this week that he would like to meet with mr. putin , the president defended his own efforts to cooperate with the russian president. <u+201d>any characterization that somehow we have improperly challenged russian aggression or have somehow tried to encroach on their legitimate interests is just wrong,<u+201d> mr. obama said during a news conference at the white house with italian prime minister matteo renzi. in a monday radio interview, mr. trump said that if elected, he might sit down with mr. putin before being sworn in as president. the new york businessman criticized democratic presidential nominee hillary clinton for <u+201c>talking too tough<u+201d> about russia, asserting that mr. obama and other u.s. leaders insult mr. putin constantly. mr. obama<u+2014>after saying he would be more subdued at the white house than on the campaign trail in his critique of the gop presidential nominee<u+2014>aggressively questioned mr. trump<u+2019>s posture toward russia and lashed out at other republicans who are standing with the new york businessman. <u+201d>mr. trump<u+2019>s continued flattery of mr. putin and the degree to which he appears to model many of his policies and approach to politics on mr. putin is unprecedented in american politics,<u+201d> mr. obama said. the president said he is rarely surprised by mr. trump<u+2019>s comments but added he was taken aback and troubled by republican officials who historically have been anti-russian but now are echoing their nominee<u+2019>s views. <u+201d>it<u+2019>s quite a reversal,<u+201d> mr. obama said <u+201c>you<u+2019>ll have to ask them how to explain it.<u+201d> mr. trump described u.s.-russia relations as a <u+201c>really catastrophic situation,<u+201d> laying blame at the feet of the president and mrs. clinton. he has drawn criticism for praising mr. putin and for suggesting that the russian president is a stronger leader than mr. obama. for his part, mr. obama described russia as a <u+201c>large, important country<u+201d> that needs to be part of the solution on the world stage. but russia<u+2019>s behavior has undermined international norms, the president said, pointing to moscow<u+2019>s actions in ukraine and syria as significant roadblocks to cooperation. the u.s. and russia reached an agreement for a cease-fire in syria on sept. 10 that included eventual military cooperation between washington and moscow. but the deal quickly fell apart after warplanes flown by the u.s.-led coalition combating islamic state erroneously bombed a syrian military site on sept. 17, killing dozens of soldiers fighting for mr. assad. two days later, an international aid convoy was hit by airstrikes that the u.s. blamed on russia and cited as an example of bad faith. <u+2014>felicia schwartz contributed to this article. write to colleen mccain nelson at colleen.nelson@wsj.com and byron tau at byron.tau@wsj.com
president obama questions donald trump<u+2019>s approach toward russia - wsj
colleen mccain nelson byron tau