Barack
Obama and his EU allies unveiled a co-ordinate set of sanctions on Thursday to
punish Russia for occupying the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, imposing visa
restrictions on individuals and sharpening rhetoric in what has rapidly
degenerated into the worst east-west crisis since the end of the cold war.
President
Obama spoke for an hour on Thursday afternoon with his Russian counterpart,
Vladimir Putin. According the White House, the US president told Putin that
newly-announced sanctions, introduced in co-ordination with the UK, were a
response to Russia’s “violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial
integrity”.
“I
am confident that we are moving forward together, united in our determination
to oppose actions that violate international law,” Obama told reporters in
Washington. “That includes standing up for the principle of state sovereignty.”
After
an emergency EU summit in Brussels, Angela Merkel said: “We have experienced
very much disappointment in recent days and we’re ready to act.”
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