Obama: Russia to Suffer Ukraine Costs
by Luis Ramirez March 24, 2014
U.S. President Barack Obama says the United States and Europe are united in imposing a cost on Russia for its actions in Ukraine.
Obama made the comments to reporters in the Netherlands ahead of an emergency meeting of the Group of Seven, or G-7, which will focus on Russia's annexation of Crimea.
The group is comprised of the U.S., Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan.
The White House has expressed concern about Russia's troop build up, warrning Moscow that further Russian moves on Ukraine would trigger a wider sanctions.
President Obama's official purpose for coming to the Netherlands is to attend the Nuclear Security Summit, but Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimean peninsula have become the main focus.
Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry are set to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
Shortly after arriving here Monday, Obama briefly toured Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum.
With a large Rembrandt masterpiece painting in the background, the U.S. leader stood next to Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and said Ukraine is taking up much of the conversation.
"Europe and America are united in our support of the Ukrainian government and the Ukrainian people. We're united in imposing a cost on Russia for its actions so far," President Obama said.
The U.S. leader's aim is to build up support for further sanctions against Russia and economic aid for Ukraine's government – especially as concerns grow over Russia's massing of troops along the Ukrainian border.
President Obama called an emergency meeting with G-7 leaders Monday to coordinate a response to Russia's actions in Ukraine.
The U.S. administration has imposed visa restrictions and ratcheted up financial sanctions, and it wants Europe to do the same.
Analysts say that may be a challenge for President Obama.
EU members have imposed their own sanctions, but not as severe as Washington's.
One reason is European nations have deep economic ties to Russia and are largely dependent on Russia for natural gas.
President Obama is also looking beyond Europe for support in his effort to isolate Russia.
On the sidelines of the nuclear summit, Mr. Obama met with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Beijing has questioned Russia's actions in Ukraine.
In a rare move, China last week abstained from a U.N. Security Council resolution declaring Crimea's Russian-sponsored secession referendum illegal.
Going into Monday's meeting with President Obama, the Chinese president said the two leaders have stayed in close communication and been in agreement on a number of important issues.
The meeting took place in a friendly atmosphere, with China's leader Xi Jinping telling President Obama that he enjoyed meeting with First Lady Michelle Obama and her daughters before leaving Beijing.
Xi drew laughs when he told the U.S. President that Mrs. Obama had sent her regards.
The Nuclear Summit has brought together 54 nations to talk about global denuclearization. Although the focus has largely turned to Ukraine, there have been some successes in efforts to reduce nuclear stockpiles.
U.S. and Japanese officials announced Japan will hand over hundreds of pounds of highly enriched uranium.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
