George W. Bush's secret memos to Obama revealed relationship with Russia had 'soured' and Putin had an eye on Ukraine

Newly declassified memos from former President George W. Bush and then-incoming President Barack Obama revealed that while W touted the "soul" of the Russian president, he acknowledged that the relationship had "soured" and they were looking to go after Ukraine.

The New York Times reported on the newly revealed memos warning five years prior to the annexation of Crimea, Russia was ready to pounce.

The memo concludes that their “strategy of personal diplomacy met with early success” but after Russia invaded the Soviet republic of Georgia in 2008 the relationship with the U.S. was not well.

“Russia attempts to challenge the territorial integrity of Ukraine, particularly in Crimea, which is 59 percent ethnically Russian and is home to the Russian Navy’s Black Sea Fleet, must be prevented,” the memo said.

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It went on to say, “Russia will exploit Europe’s dependence on Russian energy” and use political means “to drive wedges between the United States and Europe.”

Thirteen years later, it's precisely what has happened. What Russian President Vladimir Putin didn't seem to count on was just how badly equipped his military was and how willing the Europeans were to fight to preserve the NATO alliance with the United States.

There were 40 classified memos but only 30 of them will be published by the Brookings Institute on Wednesday with details by Bush's former national security adviser, Stephen Hadley.

“They were designed to provide the incoming administration with what they needed to know about the most critical foreign policy and national security issues they would face,” Bush wrote in the book's foreword. “The memoranda told them candidly what we thought we had accomplished — where we had succeeded and where we had fallen short — and what work remained to be done.”

Each memo focuses on a different country or a different element of foreign policy.

Read the full details about the memos at The New York Times.