You are correct and Obama is correct. Putin is not financially able to project real military power beyond his immediate borders.
Obama is merely acknowledging that which is known but not mentioned. It is impolite. But....Putin made him do it.
................. Putin is not financially able to project real military power ...................
Yeah, like we are, sporting a $17 trillion debt, climbing by $1 Trillion per year, while we dismantle our military.
Oh yeah, very weak. That’s why Putin’s busy setting up bases in the newly Communist countries in Latin America, extending his influence through Iran...oh, all those good things.
Obama is such a fool.
Are comms and intel and other critical satellites within borders? "National Emergency" might require those to be shut down, rendering millions of Americans without the next episode of "The Voice", causing mass riots.