Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said on Thursday that the Obama administration's "naïve fantasy of a 'good Russia'" has been abruptly shattered by President Vladimir Putin's actions in Ukraine.
"The United States has been rudely reminded that Russia is a major power with different values, ambitions and goals than America's," Gingrich, who served as GOP speaker from 1995 to 1999, wrote
in an opinion piece for CNN.
Gingrich is a co-host of "Crossfire" on the network and is also author of the new book,
"Breakout: Pioneers of the Future, Prison Guards of the Past, and the Epic Battle That Will Decide America's Fate."
In his piece, Gingrich recounted how President Barack Obama attacked GOP presidential candidates Sen. John McCain and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney for their calls for a strong Russia foreign policy.
"Putin's brazen move to assert Russian interests … seems to have come as a shock to many leaders in the Obama administration and to most of the American news media," he said.
And, as a result, "earlier overly positive statements have been replaced with a tendency to demonize" the Russian president, Gingrich added.
"Strong words mask a position of weakness," the former speaker cautioned, referencing former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. "Calling Putin names is not a substitute for a strategy."