President Barack Obama says he is "not reconciled" to the idea of Tehran obtaining a nuclear weapon within a year.
In a White House interview with The Associated Press Thursday, the president said a nuclear-armed Iran would likely trigger an arms race in the already volatile Mideast and said that would be "a recipe for potential disaster."
Obama rejected the idea that Russia is an obstacle in confronting North Korea and Iran, but described Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin as someone who still has "one foot in the old ways of doing business and one foot in the new."
The president said one reason he is meeting with Putin - as well as with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev - during his upcoming visit to Moscow is that he wants Putin to know that "the old Cold War approaches" to relations with the United States are "outdated."
While saying Putin "still has sway" in Russia, Obama said the US is developing a "very good relationship" with Medvedev, and that he is looking for gains in nuclear arms reduction.
On Afghanistan, Obama said that he will reassess the possible need for additional US troops in the country after the Afghan national elections in August.
Asked how he defines US success in Afghanistan, the president said Thursday the main US goal is to keep the al-Qaida terrorist network from acquiring a haven from which it can train fighters and launch attacks on the United States or its allies.
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