#Obamaconfers with #keyEuropeanallies over #RussianactioninCrimea • #President #speaks to #UK, #France, #Italy and #Balticleaders • John #Kerry #warns #Russian #foreignminister over #Ukraine • #Liveblog: how the day developed • #Whatnext for #Ukrainiansoldiers in Crimea? • #Whydoes Russia #seetheCrimea as its #navalstronghold? Share 149 Tweet this Email Martin Pengelly in New York theguardian, Saturday 8 March 2014 20.47 GMT Jump to comments (…) Sevastopol Putin rally A pro-Russian rally in Sevastopol on Saturday, the day President Barack Obama held telephone talks with key European allies. Photo: Viktor Drachev/AFP/Getty Images President Barack Obama on Saturday spoke to world leaders including David Cameron of Great Britain and François Hollande of France about the continuing crisis in Ukraine. Also on Saturday, secretary of state John Kerry warned his Russian counterpart that any steps to annex the Crimea region would “close any available space for diplomacy”. Kerry, who this week visited Kiev, spoke by telephone to foreign minister Sergei Lavrov. A State Department official said: “He made clear that continued military escalation and provocation in Crimea or elsewhere in Ukraine, along with steps to annex Crimea to Russia would close any available space for diplomacy, and he urged utmost restraint.” Regarding Obama’s call, a White House statement said “all of the leaders agreed on the need for Russia to pull its military forces back to their base” and to “allow for the deployment of international observers and human rights monitors to the Crimean peninsula”. The White House said Obama also spoke to Matteo Renzi, the prime minister of Italy, and in a conference call to Andris Berzins, Dalia Grybauskaite and Toomas Ilves, the presidents of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. Obama spoke to the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, on Friday night. Last weekend Obama spoke by telephone to the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, for 90 minutes. On Thursday afternoon, the two leaders spoke for an hour. Obama has been subjected to persistent domestic criticism over his perceived inability to deal with Putin. Russia first sent troops into the Crimea on 28 February, in response to the fall of the government headed by Viktor Yanukovych. The troops have occupied military, transport and infrastructure installations and engaged in standoffs with Ukrainian forces. On Thursday the area’s regional government announced a referendum on whether the Crimea should be a part of Russia or Ukraine, to take place on 16 March. In response, the US and the European Union have rejected the referendum and imposed sanctions and visa restrictions on Russia. On Friday two Republican senators called for Russia to be ejected from the 2014 World Cup in Brazil and stripped of the right to host the 2018 tournament. On Saturday it was reported that a Ukrainian observation plane had been fired upon and that a large convoy of Russian military vehicles had been seen moving into the Crimea. Observers from the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe were refused entry to the area after warning shots were fired near them, and a Russian defence official said the country might stop honouring international arms treaty commitments. It was also reported that Ukrainian state institutions had come under cyber attack from unidentified hackers. The White House statement continued: “All of the leaders rejected the proposed referendum in Crimea as a violation of Ukraine’s constitution and underscored that all decisions about the future of Ukraine must include the government in Kiev. The leaders made clear that Russia’s continued violation of international law will isolate it from the international community. “They also discussed the need for the international community to provide strong support to the government of Ukraine as it works to stabilise its economy and prepares for elections in May. They agreed to continue close coordination, including through appropriate international organisations.” The statement did not mention the G8 summit due to be held in the Russian city of Sochi in June. Last weekend the US and its allies, significantly referring to themselves as the G7, announced that they would boycott preparatory meetings for the summit. In his conversation with the Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian presidents, the White House said Obama, who is in Florida for the weekend, “reaffirmed the United States’ unwavering commitment to our collective defence commitments under the North Atlantic Treaty and our enduring support for the security and democracy of our Baltic allies”. The US this week sent six more F-15 fighter jets to join Nato’s policing mission over the Baltic states. The jets are on call to respond to any violations of Baltic airspace. theguardian/world/2014/mar/08/obama-european-allies-russia-crimea-ukraine?guni=Network%20front:network-front%20main-3%20Main%20trailblock:Network%20front%20-%20main%20trailblock:Position2:sublinks
Posted on: Sun, 09 Mar 2014 21:21:29 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015