With Barack Obama’s second presidential term approaching an end, his failure to successfully deal with Russia could be one of the three mistakes that could wreck Obama’s legacy, defining his presidency with major foreign policy errors for years to come, US journalist Patrick Smith wrote for the Fiscal Times.

According to Smith, Obama’s other two foreign policy mistakes include his Middle Eastern policies, namely the Syrian crisis and a possible failure to secure a nuclear agreement with Iran.

The peculiar thing is that by establishing warmer relations with Russia from the get go, the Obama Administration could have probably avoided foreign policy failures in the Middle East; or at least made them less grim than they currently are.

By needlessly provoking Russia, the Obama Administration “missed opportunities for cooperative action with Russia on everything from terror to global warming,” Smith argued.

“Russia experts have advised the Obama administration to face up to its not-inconsequential role in provoking the Ukraine crises, cease the eastward advance of NATO, and recognize the vast range of interests it shares with Russia,” Smith said, as cited by the Fiscal Times.

However, instead of following the advice of experts, Obama and his Defense Secretary Ashton Carter did precisely the opposite, Smith argued.

Obama’s inability and unwillingness to find common ground with Moscow will stand as the single worst feature in his foreign policy legacy, the US journalist said.

Relations between Russia and the United States have been strained over the ongoing political crisis in Ukraine. The United States and the European Union also have imposed economic sanctions against Russian officials and entities, which Moscow has called counterproductive.