US President Salutes EU Sanctions On Russia

US President Salutes EU Sanctions On Russia

United States President Barack Obama lauded the new list of tougher sanctions imposed by the European Union against Russia this Tuesday in light of the Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 who was knocked down over Ukraine by Russian backed rebels.

Barack Obama added that the United States will also impose a new set of sanctions on Russia, particularly on the defense and energy sectors. President Obama said that the new set of sanctions were carefully coordinated with allies from the European Union and will cause “a bigger bite.”
In his White House press conference the President also added that this Tuesday’s set of sanctions shows that the West stands firma and united and that Russia and particularly its President Vladimir Putin are choosing to isolate themselves from the rest of the world.

The delay in sanctions came as numerous European countries depend on Russian gas exports, particularly EU powerhouse Germany who imports a vast amount of energy from the former soviet country. Another reason for the delayed sanctions is that the economic situation in the EU is far from stable and a list of tough sanctions on such an important business partner could have serious blowbacks and even hurt the EU’s economy indirectly.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, one of the EU leaders who was most reticent in sanctioning Russia said in a press conference held this Tuesday that the sanctions could no longer be avoided and that the choice is now Russia’s whether they want further isolation or a new cooperation with the EU and the West.

Posted by James Fried on Thursday July 31 2014, 4:21 AM EDT. Ref: NBC. Link. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News, World. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0