Clinton calls Russia a 'great power' after Biden's earlier, harsher remarks

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said today that the Obama administration viewed Russia as a "great power," despite Vice President Biden's observations that the former rival nation was saddled with deepening economic problems and backward-looking leadership. Clinton, seeking to take the edge off Biden's recent remarks, acknowledged that the longtime adversaries have problems with one anothers' policies. "They have questions about our policies and we have questions about some of theirs," she said in an appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press." But she insisted that the two countries are seeking to work out their differences and that the United States respects Moscow. "We view Russia as a great power," she said, adding that the two countries were already beginning to see the "resetting" of relations that had been President Obama's aim. The vice president roiled relations with Moscow by describing Russia as a country with a badly damaged economy, a fragile banking structure and a leadership that is "clinging to something in the past that is not sustainable."'