We need to work with Russia, not confront it – Obama

The U.S. Democrats’ presidential candidate Barack Obama has said that instead of confronting Russia, the country has to work with it.

Obama was speaking in Washington where he said cooperation was vital on issues like the spread of nuclear weapons.

The speech outlined his foreign policy plans on the eve of a tour which will include Afghanistan and Iraq.

He said: “Instead of threatening to kick them out of the G8 we need to work with Russia: to take U.S. and Russian ballistic missiles off air trigger alert; to dramatically reduce the stockpiles of our nuclear weapons and material; to seek a global ban on the production of fissile material for weapons; and to expand the U.S.-Russian ban on intermediate range missiles so that the agreement is global.”