When pressed to name the foreign-policy successes achieved under President Obama’s watch, administration officials routinely cite the president’s “reset” of relations with Russia as one of the most important. With Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin’s announcement on September 24 that he will run next year for the Russian presidency, this may soon change.

Putin’s announcement should not have come as a shock to anyone. Skeptics of the Obama administration’s efforts to “reset” relations have seen this coming since the policy was announced to much fanfare in March 2009.

Russia’s constitution prevented Putin from seeking a third consecutive term in 2008. When current Russian president (and Putin protégé) Dmitry Medvedev assumed office, he was widely regarded as a placeholder. The two publicly confirmed this suspicion when Putin announced his presidential bid before a large rally of the United Russia party on September 24. “I want to say directly,” said Putin, “an agreement over what to do in the future was reached between us several years ago.” Added Medvedev: “It is a deeply thought-out decision. . . . We really discussed this possible turn of events at the time when we formed our comradely union [in 2007].”

In all likelihood, it will be easy for Putin, the former Soviet KGB officer who rose to dominate Russian politics, to reclaim the country’s highest office. Putin’s United Russia party has aggressively prevented the emergence of any viable opposition. Indeed, Russia’s current ruling elites have little regard for basic democratic principles, including the impartial rule of law, free and fair elections, an independent judiciary, and an open media. As the Pew Research Center noted in analysis, “Putin has proven to be a master at mixing what his harshest critics see as old-style Soviet repressiveness with the trappings and techniques of 21st Century populism.”

Putin’s return should serve as a wakeup call for President Obama and his advisers. The “reset” policy profoundly misreads not only why U.S.-Russia relations chilled in the first place, but also what is truly required to improve them. The problem was not U.S. rhetoric or actions, but the nature of the Russian regime. U.S.-Russian relations will not be on a firm footing until Moscow changes its strategic outlook and the Russian people are truly free to choose their own leaders.

Rather than coddle the Kremlin, the Obama administration should embrace the strategic goal of helping Russia move toward a truly representative democracy. Unfortunately, the administration’s focus on questionable efforts to obtain Russian acquiescence on certain issues — such as the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, limited cooperation on Iran, and the Northern Distribution Network into Afghanistan — has prevented administration officials from speaking frankly and repeatedly about the true nature of the Russian regime.

Instead, administration officials tried to argue that the iPad-toting, tweeting President Medvedev represented a more moderate face of the new Russia, and that administration priorities with Russia were aimed at bolstering Medvedev vis-à-vis Putin. In November 2010, Vice President Biden outlined the administration’s thinking, telling journalists: “I do believe that there is a play here.” Biden added: “Medvedev has rested everything on this notion of a reset. Who knows what Putin would do? My guess is he would not have gone there [in terms of committing to the reset], but maybe.”

The administration’s investment in Medvedev came even as opposition parties were harassed and blocked from competing in elections, peaceful protesters jailed, journalists beaten and killed, and routine legal norms repeatedly violated under Medvedev’s leadership. Russia’s rhetoric and threatening actions toward its neighbors also changed little under Medvedev, and the U.S. “reset” had the unfortunate affect of implying to U.S. allies in the region that Washington was all too willing to overlook their interests in the pursuit of cooperation with Moscow.