Obama calls on Nato to strengthen Ukrainian military against Russia

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/03/obama-nato-support-ukraine-military-russia

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Barack Obama used a crucial speech on the eve of a Nato summit to to call on the alliance to strengthen Ukraine’s military, a move that signalled a toughening of Washington’s response to Russian aggression.

Delivering the speech on Wednesday in Estonia, the US president accused Moscow of a “brazen assault” on Ukraine, and said Nato should fortify the defence capabilities of countries threatened by Moscow.

Obama also emphasised that Nato, a 28-state alliance, should be open to accepting members in the region as part of a broader strategy to counter Russia.

“Nato must make concrete commitments to help Ukraine modernise and strengthen its security forces. We must do more to help other Nato partners, including Georgia and Moldova, strengthen their defences as well,” Obama said.

“And we must reaffirm the principle that has always guided our alliance, for countries that meet our standards and that can make meaningful contributions to allied security, the door to Nato membership will remain open.”

Obama is under intense and growing pressure in Washington to provide more substantial support to Kiev, with some calling on his administration to directly supply the Ukrainian government with weapons. He held back from that demand in his speech, and was careful not to say that Nato should become militarily engaged in the conflict.

He also reiterated his administration’s stance that the standoff in Ukraine – where Russia has annexed the Crimean peninsula and, according to the west, directly aided separatist rebels in the east of the country – will not be resolved militarily.

Although vague, Obama’s call on Nato to fortify the military capabilities of Ukraine and other countries – delivered from the Estonian capital, Tallinn, just 200km from Estonia’s border with Russia – was intended as a firm warning to his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin.

The speech reaffirmed a US commitment to protect Nato member states in the Baltics that have sizeable ethnic Russian populations. “We’ll be here for Estonia. We’ll be here for Latvia. We’ll be here for Lithuania,” he said. “You lost your independence once before. With Nato, you’ll never lose it again.”

Obama and other Nato leaders will meet in Wales on Thursday for one of the most significant summits in the history of an alliance grappling with how to respond to Putin’s hostile activities in Ukraine.

Russia has repeatedly denied it is orchestrating separatist rebellions in eastern Ukraine. On Wednesday, a permanent ceasefire apparently agreed between Ukraine and Russia appeared to unravel before it had started.

After initially announcing the deal, the Ukrainian president, Petro Poroshenko, backtracked from the word “permanent”, while Putin said the pair had only discussed a “ceasefire regime” that he hoped might be in place by the end of the week.

Obama’s speech in Estonia was largely detached from recent developments in the conflict, as he gave a more discursive assessment of the broader repercussions of this year’s conflict in Ukraine, a confrontation the White House believes has led to the most significant clash between Russia and the west since the end of the cold war.

As well as underscoring Nato’s commitments to member states with most to fear from Russian aggression, Obama also provided backing to those countries, such as Moldova and Georgia, that are not in the alliance and fear they are particularly susceptible to further acts of aggression from Putin.

Obama’s call on Nato to strengthen its defences will be a particularly welcome intervention in those countries, particularly if it is followed by a commitment from alliance countries at this week’s summit.

Moldova and Georgia fear Putin may take new steps to consolidate or broaden his influence there. In Georgia, two separatist regions broke away from central government control following a brief war with Russia in 2008.

Condemning Russia’s recent actions in Ukraine, Obama made veiled comparisons to fascist movements in Europe, and expressed particular concern over Moscow’s attempts to use its control of gas supplies in the region as a coercive weapon. “No country should ever be held hostage to another country that wields energy like a weapon,” he said.

Though making it clear there was no immediate Nato military solution to the crisis in Ukraine, Obama urged patience, telling the audience in Estonia that they should “not give in to cynicism”.

“In the face of violence that seems intractable and suffering that seems so intense it is easy to grow cynical and think that peace and security are beyond our grasp … but do not give into that cynicism,” he said.

Instead, the US president presented the struggle with Russia as a long-term battle akin to Soviet occupation during the cold war, and said Estonia and other eastern European countries should serve as an example to Ukraine.

“You never gave up through a long occupation that tried to break your spirit and crush your culture,” he said. “Their tanks were no equal to the moral power of your voices.”

He added: “Citizens like nations will never settle for a world where the big are allowed to bully the small. Sooner or later they fight back. Democracy will win.”