Obama: Every Day We’re Watching the Events in Ukraine ‘With Deep Concern’
"Obviously every day we're watching events in eastern Ukraine and southern Ukraine with deep concern. And I think that what you've seen over the course of the last several months in the midst of this crisis is remarkable unity between the United States and the European Union in the response. We have at the same time offered a diplomatic approach that could resolve this issue. We have been unified in supporting the Ukrainian government in Kiev, both economically, diplomatically, and politically and we have said we would apply cost and consequences to the Russians if they continued with their actions. And that's exactly what we've done. And you saw just over the course of the last week additional sanctions applied both by the Europeans and U.S. The next step is going to be a broader base sectoral sanctions regime. And what we have said is that we want to continue to keep open the possibility of resolving the issue diplomatically. But as Angela Merkel said, if in fact we see the disruptions and the destabili -- destabilization continuing so severely that it impedes elections on May 25th, we will not have a choice but to move forward with additional more severe sanctions. And the consultations have been taking place over the course of the last several weeks about what exactly those would look like and apply to a range of sectors.
The goal is not to punish Russia. The goal is to give them an incentive to choose the better course, and that is to resolve the issues diplomatically. And I think we are united on that front. Within Europe, within the EU, I'm sure there has to be extensive consultations. You've got 28 countries and some are more vulnerable than others to potential Russian retaliation and we have to take those into account. Not every country will be in exactly the same place, but what has been remarkable is the agree to which all countries agreed that Russia violated international law, violated territorial sovereignty of a country in Europe and I think there's unanimity that there has to be consequences for that.
How we structure the sectoral sanctions, the experts have been working on and we anticipate that if we have to use them, we can. Our preference would be not to have to use them. And I thank Chancellor Merkel's leadership on this front. She has been extraordinarily helpful not only in facilitating European unity but also very important in helping to shape a possible diplomatic resolution and reaching out to the Russians to encourage them to take the door while it's still open.
Well, keep in mind when it comes to sectoral sanctions we're looking at the whole range of issues. Energy flows from Russia to Europe, those continue to even in the midst of the Cold War at the height of the Cold War. So the idea that you're going to turn off the tap on all Russian oil or natural gas exports, I think is unrealistic. But there are a range of approaches that can be taken not only in the energy sector but in the arms sector and finance sector, in terms of lines of credit for trade, all that have a significant impact on Russia. I don't think it's appropriate for us to delve into the details at this stage because our hope is that we don't have to deploy them. But what I can say is that our experts at the highest level -- not just bilaterally but multilaterally through the European Commission and our diplomatic teams -- have been working through all of the possibilities and we're confident that we will have a package that will further impact Russia's growth and economy. But again our hope is that we shouldn't have to use them. We're not interested in punishing the Russian people. We do think that Mr. Putin and leadership circle are taking bad decisions and unnecessary decisions and he needs to be dissuaded from his current course."
