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| Obama, Seeking Unity on Russia, Meets Obstacles | Obama, Seeking Unity on Russia, Meets Obstacles |
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| BRUSSELS — President Obama started his day in Warsaw struggling to convince his friends in Central and Eastern Europe that the United States is being tough enough with Russia. He ended his day in Brussels, still struggling, but this time to persuade America’s core Western allies to stay tough with Russia. | BRUSSELS — President Obama started his day in Warsaw struggling to convince his friends in Central and Eastern Europe that the United States is being tough enough with Russia. He ended his day in Brussels, still struggling, but this time to persuade America’s core Western allies to stay tough with Russia. |
| The dizzying contrasts underscored the challenges Mr. Obama faces navigating the complicated waters of European politics as he tries to forge a unified stance against Russian aggression in Ukraine. On the defensive at home for a prisoner swap, he finds himself pressed overseas by some allies unsatisfied with his reassurances of resolve and others unimpressed with his arguments for action. | The dizzying contrasts underscored the challenges Mr. Obama faces navigating the complicated waters of European politics as he tries to forge a unified stance against Russian aggression in Ukraine. On the defensive at home for a prisoner swap, he finds himself pressed overseas by some allies unsatisfied with his reassurances of resolve and others unimpressed with his arguments for action. |
| He arrived here on Wednesday to have dinner with the leaders of the Group of 7 powers who, at his urging, had excluded President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia as punishment for his annexation of Crimea. But Mr. Obama’s counterparts from Britain, France and Germany all ended up scheduling one-on-one meetings with Mr. Putin later on. President François Hollande of France even arranged to have dinner with Mr. Putin on Thursday just after having a separate dinner with Mr. Obama. | He arrived here on Wednesday to have dinner with the leaders of the Group of 7 powers who, at his urging, had excluded President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia as punishment for his annexation of Crimea. But Mr. Obama’s counterparts from Britain, France and Germany all ended up scheduling one-on-one meetings with Mr. Putin later on. President François Hollande of France even arranged to have dinner with Mr. Putin on Thursday just after having a separate dinner with Mr. Obama. |
| Not only were they unwilling to snub the Russian leader entirely, as Mr. Obama sought, they were also reluctant to go along with other efforts to isolate the Kremlin. Most notably, the French government repeated that it would go ahead with the $1.6 billion sale of powerful warships to Moscow along with plans to train 400 Russian sailors in France this month. And other European leaders were cautious about setting further red lines threatening additional sanctions against Russia. | Not only were they unwilling to snub the Russian leader entirely, as Mr. Obama sought, they were also reluctant to go along with other efforts to isolate the Kremlin. Most notably, the French government repeated that it would go ahead with the $1.6 billion sale of powerful warships to Moscow along with plans to train 400 Russian sailors in France this month. And other European leaders were cautious about setting further red lines threatening additional sanctions against Russia. |
| Mr. Obama’s aides repeated their opposition to the French sale on Wednesday but tried to play down the disparate approaches of the leaders. | Mr. Obama’s aides repeated their opposition to the French sale on Wednesday but tried to play down the disparate approaches of the leaders. |
| “The question is not whether they’re meeting,” said Benjamin J. Rhodes, the president’s deputy national security adviser. “The question is what people are saying in those meetings. And our belief is that there needs to be a unified message.” | “The question is not whether they’re meeting,” said Benjamin J. Rhodes, the president’s deputy national security adviser. “The question is what people are saying in those meetings. And our belief is that there needs to be a unified message.” |
| Others expressed concern. Carl Bildt, the Swedish foreign minister who saw Mr. Obama in Warsaw and then traveled to Kiev later in the day, said Moscow was playing the allies against one another. | Others expressed concern. Carl Bildt, the Swedish foreign minister who saw Mr. Obama in Warsaw and then traveled to Kiev later in the day, said Moscow was playing the allies against one another. |
| “I really hope the G-7 dinner tonight has produced the cohesion necessary,” he said. “It’s only by sticking together that we can influence events. Russia is very consciously cultivating and using different bilateral links.” | “I really hope the G-7 dinner tonight has produced the cohesion necessary,” he said. “It’s only by sticking together that we can influence events. Russia is very consciously cultivating and using different bilateral links.” |
| The leaders used their dinner on Wednesday to discuss what might set off another, more expansive round of sanctions. Some Europeans want to keep new sanctions in their pocket, as they put it, to impose only if Russia escalates the situation, while others say Moscow should avoid new penalties only if it proactively works to stop pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine. | |
| After a long discussion, the leaders left the question largely unresolved. In a joint statement, they again condemned Russia’s actions and called on the country to stop the flow of arms and fighters across its borders. But they did not specify what might prompt them to broaden their sanctions to target entire sectors of the Russian economy. Instead, they threatened “to impose further costs on Russia should events so require,” without elaboration. | After a long discussion, the leaders left the question largely unresolved. In a joint statement, they again condemned Russia’s actions and called on the country to stop the flow of arms and fighters across its borders. But they did not specify what might prompt them to broaden their sanctions to target entire sectors of the Russian economy. Instead, they threatened “to impose further costs on Russia should events so require,” without elaboration. |
| Unlike some other Western European leaders, Chancellor Angela Merkel sided with the tougher line in a speech to the German Parliament before flying to Brussels. Mr. Putin “has to make his influence felt” with pro-Russian separatists who have attacked and seized government offices in eastern Ukraine and do more to prevent weapons flowing into Ukraine across porous Russian borders, she said. | Unlike some other Western European leaders, Chancellor Angela Merkel sided with the tougher line in a speech to the German Parliament before flying to Brussels. Mr. Putin “has to make his influence felt” with pro-Russian separatists who have attacked and seized government offices in eastern Ukraine and do more to prevent weapons flowing into Ukraine across porous Russian borders, she said. |
| “If all this does not stop,” she told Parliament, “then we will not shy away from imposing new sanctions.” | “If all this does not stop,” she told Parliament, “then we will not shy away from imposing new sanctions.” |
| But the French government repeated its refusal to cancel the warship sale, saying it would be illegal to break a contract under international law. French officials view the economic imperative as outweighing the geopolitical costs. | But the French government repeated its refusal to cancel the warship sale, saying it would be illegal to break a contract under international law. French officials view the economic imperative as outweighing the geopolitical costs. |
| “France cannot bat aside these economic questions with the back of a hand,” said Jean-Louis Carrère, who leads the French Senate’s committee on foreign relations and defense, noting “the serious economic difficulties” the country is facing. | |
| They also disagreed with Mr. Obama’s strategy of walling off Moscow from the outside world. “We’ve tried not to isolate Russia,” said a French official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss delicate a diplomatic dispute. “How can you ignore Russia today? They are important actors in the Middle East. They are everywhere.” | |
| That Mr. Obama is caught in the middle may be frustrating to him, given that he does not seem eager for a confrontation with the Kremlin either, but he wants to avoid allowing Russian aggression to stand with impunity and feels pressure at home to take a tough line. Even within his team, there are cross pressures about how to respond, most recently over sending more troops to bolster the security of Poland and other NATO allies in the east. | That Mr. Obama is caught in the middle may be frustrating to him, given that he does not seem eager for a confrontation with the Kremlin either, but he wants to avoid allowing Russian aggression to stand with impunity and feels pressure at home to take a tough line. Even within his team, there are cross pressures about how to respond, most recently over sending more troops to bolster the security of Poland and other NATO allies in the east. |
| Mr. Obama sided with aides who advised against a more robust military presence in the east in the short term for fear that it would be unnecessarily provocative. But he did promise to spend up to $1 billion if approved by Congress to increase joint exercises, expand military training and preposition equipment. And in a speech in Castle Square in Warsaw on Wednesday before flying here, he had strong words of support. | Mr. Obama sided with aides who advised against a more robust military presence in the east in the short term for fear that it would be unnecessarily provocative. But he did promise to spend up to $1 billion if approved by Congress to increase joint exercises, expand military training and preposition equipment. And in a speech in Castle Square in Warsaw on Wednesday before flying here, he had strong words of support. |
| “Poland will never stand alone,” Mr. Obama said. “Estonia will never stand alone. Latvia will never stand alone. Lithuania will never stand alone. Romania will never stand alone.” | |
| Mr. Obama was addressing a ceremony for the 25th anniversary of the elections that led to the eventual collapse of Communist rule in Poland, and he linked those stirring events to the current upheaval in Ukraine. “The Ukrainians of today are the heirs of Solidarity — men and women like you who dared to challenge a bankrupt regime,”he said. | |
| His message drew mixed reactions. “The U.S. president did not miss the opportunity to say the right things in the right time and place,” said Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz, a former Polish prime minister. | His message drew mixed reactions. “The U.S. president did not miss the opportunity to say the right things in the right time and place,” said Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz, a former Polish prime minister. |
| But Witold Waszczykowski, a senior member of Poland’s chief opposition party, Law and Justice, said that $1 billion for a region of 10 allies was not much. “In the past 25 years, we heard a lot of nice speeches, also from other American presidents,” he said. “Now it’s time to turn words into deeds. Because it’s us who are neighbors with the greatest aggressor.” | |
| Mr. Obama met in Warsaw for the first time with the newly elected president of Ukraine, Petro O. Poroshenko, and pledged support for efforts to stabilize his country. Mr. Obama announced that the United States would provide Ukraine with $5 million worth of night-vision goggles, body armor and communications equipment long sought by its security forces. | Mr. Obama met in Warsaw for the first time with the newly elected president of Ukraine, Petro O. Poroshenko, and pledged support for efforts to stabilize his country. Mr. Obama announced that the United States would provide Ukraine with $5 million worth of night-vision goggles, body armor and communications equipment long sought by its security forces. |
| Secretary of State John Kerry also spent time talking with Mr. Poroshenko, privately urging him to provide evidence of Russian involvement with separatists with which to confront Russian officials. He plans to meet with Foreign Minister Sergey V. Lavrov in Paris on Thursday. | Secretary of State John Kerry also spent time talking with Mr. Poroshenko, privately urging him to provide evidence of Russian involvement with separatists with which to confront Russian officials. He plans to meet with Foreign Minister Sergey V. Lavrov in Paris on Thursday. |
| Mr. Obama praised Mr. Poroshenko. “I have been deeply impressed by his vision,” he said after their 70-minute session. “The United States is absolutely committed to standing behind the Ukrainian people and their aspirations, not just in the coming days and weeks but in the coming years.” | Mr. Obama praised Mr. Poroshenko. “I have been deeply impressed by his vision,” he said after their 70-minute session. “The United States is absolutely committed to standing behind the Ukrainian people and their aspirations, not just in the coming days and weeks but in the coming years.” |