President Obama Condemns Continued Russian Aggression in Ukraine - East Idaho News
Politics

President Obama Condemns Continued Russian Aggression in Ukraine

  Published at

020915 MerkelObamaPresser?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1423504318333The White House(WASHINGTON) — As international leaders grapple with renewed violence in Ukraine, President Obama Monday vowed to continue to put pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“The 21st century cannot have us stand idle and allow the borders of Europe to redraw at the barrel of a gun,” the president said Monday during a joint press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. “If Russia continues on its current course…Russia’s isolation will only worsen politically and economically.”

“Russian aggression has only reinforced the unity of the United States and Germany and our allies,” he added. “We continue to encourage a diplomatic resolution to this issue.”

The U.S. is seriously considering sending lethal weapons to Ukraine to help combat pro-Russian separatists fighting there. Merkel, however, opposes arming Kiev.

“The progress that Ukraine needs cannot be achieved with more weapons,” the German Chancellor said Saturday. “You have to look reality in the eye.”

Instead, Merkel hopes continued economic sanctions will persuade Putin to honor a peace agreement similar to the one that crumbled shortly after it was signed in September.

Merkel and French President Francois Hollande discussed the plan — which would likely include a ceasefire and the creation of a buffer zone — with Putin and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko via phone this weekend. The four leaders are expected to meet in-person in Belarus Wednesday.

Russia has denied U.S. allegations that it sent soldiers and arms to Ukraine. But on Saturday, Vice President Joe Biden warned Putin to “get out of Ukraine or face continuing isolation.

But even as the French and Germans push for diplomatic solutions, lawmakers on Capitol Hill are urging the Obama administration to arm Ukraine.

Republican Sen. John McCain brushed off Merkel’s assessment as “foolishness.”

“Asserting that there is no military solution — which is a truism — should not lead us to believe that there is no military dimension to the problem or that hard power can play no role in a favorable solution,” McCain said Sunday. “Putin does not want a diplomatic solution, he wants to dominate Ukraine.”

Despite this, Secretary of State John Kerry has denied any serious difference of opinion between the United States and Europe, saying, “There is no division, there is no split…we are united, we are working closely together.”


Copyright © 2015, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.

SUBMIT A CORRECTION