West ramps up the pressure on Putin
Does he (Vladimir Putin) continue to wreck his country’s economy and continue Russia’s isolation in pursuit of a wrong-headed desire to recreate the glories of the Soviet empire, or does he recognise that Russia’s greatness does not depend on violating the territorial integrity and sovereignty of other countries?
President Barack Obama launched a fierce personal attack on Vladimir Putin’s ‘‘wrong-headed desire to re-create the glories of the Soviet empire’’ as leaders of the world’s top industrial nations warned that they were prepared to extend sanctions on Russia despite their ruinous economic impact.
The American president used the G7 stage to try to reach beyond Russian media ‘‘propaganda’’ to convince the country’s people that they were suffering because of Putin’s aggression in Ukraine, as the summit participants – Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the US – closed ranks against Moscow.
Putin made attempts to woo Italy, seen as the weakest link among the G7 on sanctions, but not even the Russian leader’s planned trip to see Matteo Renzi in Milan tomorrow dissuaded the Italian prime minister from signing up to a fresh ultimatum.
‘‘We stand ready to take further restrictive measures in order to increase cost on Russia should its actions so require,’’ the leaders said after the two-day gathering in the southern Bavarian hideaway resort of Schloss Elmau.
‘‘The duration of sanctions should be clearly linked to Russia’s complete implementation of the Minsk agreements and respect for Ukraine’s sovereignty,’’ they added, referring to the fragile peace deal struck in the Belarus capital last year.
The warnings came as Stepan Poltorak, Ukraine’s defence minister, accused pro-Russian rebels backed by Moscow of deploying an army of 40,000 men on the Ukrainian border, equivalent to a ‘‘mid-sized European state’’. A recent flare-up in fighting has left at least 28 dead.
Obama said work on further sanctions was already taking place ‘‘at a technical level, not yet at a political level’’. The next step was for the European Union to commit to extending its sanctions at a summit later this month.
Obama said the Russian presi- dent had to make a decision. ‘‘Does he continue to wreck his country’s economy and continue Russia’s isolation in pursuit of a wrongheaded desire to re-create the glories of the Soviet empire, or does he recognise that Russia’s greatness does not depend on violating the territorial integrity and sovereignty of other countries?’’
He acknowledged that the Russian people were suffering economic consequences. ‘‘It may not always be understood why they are suffering, because of . . . propaganda coming out of the state media in Russia,’’ Obama said. It was ironic that Putin insisted he was trying to protect the Russianspeaking people in eastern Ukraine, the US president said.
‘‘Russian speakers inside of Ukraine are precisely the ones who are bearing the brunt of the fighting,’’ Obama insisted. ‘‘The best way to stop their suffering is for the Minsk agreement to be fully implemented.’’
In his closing statement, British Prime Minister David Cameron added to the pressure. ‘‘Existing sanctions must remain in place until the Minsk agreements are fully implemented. This will require action from both Ukraine and Russia . . . We must not forget that the Ukrainians are the victims and not the aggressors.’’
President Francois Hollande, of France, said it was unlikely the EU sanctions would be extended until the end of the year. ‘‘It is likely to be the proposal put forward by the European authorities,’’ he said. Shinzo Abe, Japan’s prime minister, and Stephen Harper, the prime minister of Canada, made a point of visiting Kiev on their way to the summit to voice support for Ukraine’s leaders.
The Kremlin said there was nothing new in the G7 rhetoric on sanctions and complained that the group was failing to put pressure on Kiev to fulfil the Minsk agreements as well. ‘‘We have noticed that statements have been made on the sanctions issue. These statements are not new,’’ Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin’s spokesman, said. ‘‘At the same time, we have also noticed certain nuances in the participants’ approaches: some of them say there is a need to continue dialogue with Russia and that serious problems cannot be resolved without this dialogue.’’