Romney doubles down on Russia as 'geopolitical adversary'

Mitt Romney said Tuesday that he continues to view Russia as a serious "geopolitical adversary" despite needling from the Obama campaign.

“Russia is a geopolitical adversary, meaning that almost everything we try to do globally they try and oppose,” Romney said during an interview on the Hugh Hewitt radio show. 

"We try and put pressure on Iran; they fought against crippling sanctions. We tried to get tough language at the U.N. and action against the brutality of [President Bashar] Assad in Syria; they instead send attack helicopters to Syria. I mean, Russia has been opposing us in political circles for some time," he said.

Romney's remarks come less than a week after Obama used an earlier comment from the GOP nominee calling Russia America's "No. 1 geopolitical foe" to insinuate he was naive on foreign policy.

"After all, you don't call Russia our No. 1 enemy — not al Qaeda, Russia — unless you're still stuck in a Cold War mind warp," Obama said during his speech at the Democratic National Convention.

But on Monday, Romney looked to punch back at the president, reminding listeners of Obama's own Russia-related gaffe. During a meeting in March, the president was caught on an open mic telling then-Russian President Dmitri Medvedev that it would be best to negotiate a European missile defense system after the November election.

“This is my last election. After my election I have more flexibility," Obama said.

Romney seized on the private remark again to knock the president.

“And I was appalled that the president said to Medvedev, 'Just wait till after the election when I have more flexibility,' " Romney said. "How is it that he has flexibility with Russia he won’t tell the American people about? My own view is that Russia has a very different agenda than ours and that we ought to recognize that, and that we should pursue our interests, but recognize Russia as having a different course.”

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