ABC News says Vladimir Putin has thanked Mitt Romney for calling Russia the United States' #1 geopolitical foe, because it has "strengthened his resolve to oppose NATO’s plan for a missile defense shield in Eastern Europe."

“I’m grateful to him (Romney) for formulating his stance so clearly because he has once again proven the correctness of our approach to missile defense problems,” Putin told reporters, according to the Russian news agency RIA Novosti.

“The most important thing for us is that even if he doesn’t win now, he or a person with similar views may come to power in four years. We must take that into consideration while dealing with security issues for a long perspective,” he said, speaking after a meeting with Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic, according to Interfax news agency.

Between this and his Olympics debacle, Romney is setting international relations back by years, and he's not even president.