European leaders warn Putin to back down: Threaten more sanctions if Ukraine ceasefire is violated
FREE Catholic Classes
While the current ceasefire agreement is apparently holding in Ukraine, European leaders and President Obama warned Russia that they would come down hard and slap on a new round of economic sanctions if the ceasefire was violated.
Highlights
Catholic Online (https://www.catholic.org)
3/4/2015 (9 years ago)
Published in Europe
Keywords: Europe, Ukraine, Russia, European Union, International, U.S.
LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - These statements were made after a video conference between President Obama and leaders from Germany, France, Britain and Italy, and the head of the European Council.
Please join Pope Francis in fighting poverty and hunger with "prayer and action". Your help can make a difference.
Josh Earnest, White House spokesman, reported that during the call Obama accused Russia of refusing to follow through on promises it made which resulted in the February 12 ceasefire.
Earnest described it as an opportunity "for the president to condemn the continuing failure of Russia and the separatists it backs to abide by the commitments to which they agreed."
He also revealed that the president is seriously contemplating sending Ukraine weapons and advisers of the conflict reignites.
A European Union spokesperson, as well as a spokesman for German Chancellor Angela Merkel, said that European nations will meet to decide on which sanctions they will put into effect if the ceasefire is violated.
President Francois Hollande of France said that if a breach of the agreement were to arise, a "strong reaction from the international community" would be necessary.
A statement from Hollande's office also said that France wants to provide resources to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which has been attempting to monitor the implementation of the ceasefire among Ukraine's military forces as well as the Russian-backed rebels.
While the OSCE has been able to observe Ukrainian withdrawals, and has confirmed that the government forces are abiding by the ceasefire, they have been unable to do so with the rebels, who often deny the OSCE the ability to observe withdrawals or access to sites where the heavy weapon systems are supposedly being taken to.
---
'Help Give every Student and Teacher FREE resources for a world-class Moral Catholic Education'
Copyright 2021 - Distributed by Catholic Online
We ask you, humbly: don't scroll away.
Hi readers, it seems you use Catholic Online a lot; that's great! It's a little awkward to ask, but we need your help. If you have already donated, we sincerely thank you. We're not salespeople, but we depend on donations averaging $14.76 and fewer than 1% of readers give. If you donate just $5.00, the price of your coffee, Catholic Online School could keep thriving. Thank you.Help Now >