Obama: Russia 'on wrong side of history'
President Barack Obama today accused Russia of being “on the wrong side of history” with its military intervention in Ukraine and said he’s examining diplomatic and economic steps to isolate Moscow.
Obama said Russia has violated Ukraine’s sovereignty and international law, and he warned Russian President Vladimir Putin to change course.
“Over time this will be a costly proposition for Russia and now’s the time for them to consider whether they can serve their interests in a way that resorts to diplomacy as opposed to force,” Obama said from the Oval Office. He spoke at the start of a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Earlier, a Ukrainian military spokesman said Russia had issued an ultimatum to the crews of two Ukrainian warships in Crimea, demanding that they immediately surrender or be stormed and seized. Vladimir Anikin, a Russian defence ministry spokesman in Moscow, dismissed that report as nonsense, but he refused to elaborate.
Secretary of State John Kerry was leaving for Ukraine late today and then will travel to France and Italy. He had planned to see his Russian counterpart in Paris, but a spokeswoman said that meeting was no longer certain.
The spokeswoman said any Russian threat to Ukraine’s navy would be a “dangerous escalation” of an extremely tense situation, although she said she could not confirm if Russia had in fact made such threats. She said Washington would hold Moscow accountable for such an escalation but did not elaborate on potential consequences.
The US and its allies are weighing sanctions on Moscow. One consideration is whether to bolster defences in Europe in response to Russia’s military advances on Ukraine.
“What cannot be done is for Russia with impunity to put its soldiers on the ground and to violate basic principles that are recognised around the world,” Obama said. “And I think the strong condemnation that it’s received from countries around the world indicates the degree to which Russia’s on the wrong side of history on this.”
“What we are also indicating to the Russians is that if in fact they continue on the current trajectory that they’re on, that we are examining a whole series of steps – economic, diplomatic – that will isolate Russia and will have a negative impact on Russia’s economy and its status in the world,” Obama said.
Putin gave no indication that he would heed the West’s warnings. Hundreds of armed men surrounded a Ukrainian military base in Crimea, a pro-Russian area. In Kiev, Ukraine’s capital, Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk warned that “we are on the brink of disaster.”
Senior Obama administration officials said they believe Russia now has complete operational control over Crimea and has more than 6,000 forces in the region.
