Russian President Vladimir Putin can be “smart and he can be charming”, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright

Russian President Vladimir Putin can be “smart and he can be charming”, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said Monday, and President Barack Obama will have to be tough while he’s dealing with him.

“One of hard parts about diplomacy is you do deal with people you disagree with and you have to find the areas where you can find something to do in common and yet make clear what your position is,” she told MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” program. Putin “knows what he wants,” she continued, and Obama will “have to push back.”

“They have had an interest in having influence in the Middle East historically and they feel they have lost generally in terms of stature or abroad,” Albright said. “What Putin is trying to do is restore Russia’s greatness because they lost the Cold War and I think that that is something that bears heavily on them.”

Obama and Putin will meet on Monday, and Albright believes both men have to “take a new measure of each other,” as Putin will want to “have some visible respect for Obama but at the main time he’s trying to undermine Obama’s position.”