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Obama Calls Ukraine a ‘Moment of Testing’ for NATO Obama, in Estonia, Calls Ukraine Conflict a ‘Moment of Testing’
(about 7 hours later)
TALLINN, Estonia — President Obama on Wednesday declared the conflict in Ukraine a “moment of testing” for the United States and Europe, calling Russia’s intervention a “brazen assault” on the nation’s territorial integrity that warrants a unified response. TALLINN, Estonia — President Obama on Wednesday called the conflict in Ukraine a “moment of testing” for the United States and Europe, and condemned Russia’s intervention as a “brazen assault” on the nation’s territorial integrity that warrants a unified response.
On a day of conflicting reports of a cease-fire agreement between President Petro O. Poroshenko of Ukraine and President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, Mr. Obama condemned what he called “Russia’s aggression against Ukraine” and said Moscow was guilty of having violated the postwar international order. On a day of conflicting reports of a cease-fire agreement between President Petro O. Poroshenko of Ukraine and President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, Mr. Obama said Moscow had violated the post-World War II international order.
“It is a brazen assault on the territorial integrity of Ukraine, a sovereign and independent European nation,” Mr. Obama said in a speech to more than 1,800 students, young professionals and civic and political leaders at a concert hall here. “It challenges that most basic of principles of our international system — that borders cannot be redrawn at the barrel of a gun; that nations have the right to determine their own future.” “It is a brazen assault on the territorial integrity of Ukraine, a sovereign and independent European nation,” Mr. Obama said in a speech to more than 1,800 students, young professionals and civic and political leaders at a concert hall here. “It challenges that most basic of principles of our international system — that borders cannot be redrawn at the barrel of a gun, that nations have the right to determine their own future.”
Mr. Obama also used the speech to call for military assistance to Ukraine’s armed forces. While he did not say that the United States would be sending weapons — a step that some American lawmakers and even some of his own advisers have urged — Mr. Obama said that NATO should help.Mr. Obama also used the speech to call for military assistance to Ukraine’s armed forces. While he did not say that the United States would be sending weapons — a step that some American lawmakers and even some of his own advisers have urged — Mr. Obama said that NATO should help.
“Now, Ukraine needs more than words,” he said. “NATO needs to make concrete commitments to help Ukraine modernize and strengthen its security forces.”“Now, Ukraine needs more than words,” he said. “NATO needs to make concrete commitments to help Ukraine modernize and strengthen its security forces.”
Rejecting Mr. Putin’s frequent denials of intervention in Ukraine and his assertion that the Russian presence there is part of a humanitarian or peacekeeping mission, Mr. Obama said it was clear that Moscow was responsible for the escalation of tensions there.Rejecting Mr. Putin’s frequent denials of intervention in Ukraine and his assertion that the Russian presence there is part of a humanitarian or peacekeeping mission, Mr. Obama said it was clear that Moscow was responsible for the escalation of tensions there.
“It was not the government in Kiev that destabilized eastern Ukraine; it’s been the pro-Russian separatists who are encouraged by Russia, financed by Russia, trained by Russia, supplied by Russia and armed by Russia,” he said. “These are the facts. They are provable. They are not subject to dispute.”“It was not the government in Kiev that destabilized eastern Ukraine; it’s been the pro-Russian separatists who are encouraged by Russia, financed by Russia, trained by Russia, supplied by Russia and armed by Russia,” he said. “These are the facts. They are provable. They are not subject to dispute.”
Mr. Obama spoke before news emerged that Mr. Putin had proposed a seven-point plan to end the conflict in Ukraine that could take effect on Friday — precisely when Mr. Obama and his counterparts from NATO would be meeting in Wales to devise a response to Russia’s behavior. Mr. Putin’s announcement appeared deliberately timed to blunt that effort. Mr. Obama spoke before it emerged that Mr. Putin had proposed a seven-point plan to end the Ukraine conflict that could take effect on Friday — when Mr. Obama and his counterparts from NATO would be meeting in Wales to devise a response to Russia’s behavior. Mr. Putin’s announcement appeared deliberately timed to blunt that effort.
Earlier Wednesday, at a news conference with President Toomas Hendrik Ilves of Estonia, Mr. Obama had reacted cautiously to preliminary reports of a halt to the fighting in eastern Ukraine, saying it was “too early to tell” whether the cease-fire was real, and casting doubt on whether it would be lasting. Earlier on Wednesday, at a news conference with President Toomas Hendrik Ilves of Estonia, Mr. Obama had reacted cautiously to preliminary reports of a halt to the fighting in eastern Ukraine, saying it was “too early to tell” whether the cease-fire was real, and casting doubt on whether it would last.
By the time he stepped back from the podium at the close of the question-and-answer session, hopes for an agreement were already fading, with the Kremlin saying it could not negotiate a cease-fire because it was not a party to the conflict, and Mr. Poroshenko’s aides saying there was no formal pact.By the time he stepped back from the podium at the close of the question-and-answer session, hopes for an agreement were already fading, with the Kremlin saying it could not negotiate a cease-fire because it was not a party to the conflict, and Mr. Poroshenko’s aides saying there was no formal pact.
Later in the day, Mr. Obama stepped up his criticism of Moscow, saying “the actions of the separatists in Ukraine and Russia evoke dark tactics from Europe’s past that ought to be consigned to history.” While Mr. Obama has said repeatedly that he does not see the Ukraine crisis as the start of a new Cold War, the episode is unleashing old tensions that create echoes among the Baltic nations — particularly in Estonia and others with Russian-speaking populations — of an East-West rivalry playing out uncomfortably close to their borders.
While Mr. Obama has said repeatedly he does not see the Ukraine crisis as the start of another Cold War, the episode is unleashing old tensions that are creating echoes – particularly for Estonia and other Baltic nations with Russian-speaking populations – of an East-West rivalry playing out uncomfortably close to their borders. The president’s speech was part of a visit intended to show solidarity with fretful allies and reassure them — particularly newer NATO members and those bordering Russia — that the United States and Europe are serious about defending them from a newly aggressive neighbor. Mr. Obama met with the presidents of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania here on the eve of the NATO summit meeting in Wales, which will be dominated by the question of how the alliance will respond to the crisis in Ukraine.
The president’s speech was part of a visit intended to show solidarity with fretful allies and reassure them – particularly newer NATO members and those bordering Russia — that the United States and Europe are serious about defending them from a newly aggressive neighbor. Mr. Obama met with the presidents of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania here on the eve of the NATO summit in Wales, which will be dominated by the question of how the alliance will respond to the Ukraine crisis. “The defense of Tallinn and Riga and Vilnius is just as important as the defense of Berlin and Paris and London,” Mr. Obama said Wednesday, invoking the founding principle of collective defense that undergirds NATO. “An attack on one is an attack on all, and so if, in such a moment, you ever ask again, ‘Who’ll come to help?’ you’ll know the answer: the NATO alliance, including the armed forces of the United States of America.
“The defense of Tallinn and Riga and Vilnius is just as important as the defense of Berlin and Paris and London,” Mr. Obama said Wednesday, invoking the founding principle of collective defense that undergirds NATO. “An attack on one is an attack on all, and so if, in such a moment, you ever ask again, ‘Who’ll come to help?’ you’ll know the answer: the NATO alliance, including the armed forces of the United States of America.” “We’ll be here for Estonia, we’ll be here for Latvia, we’ll be here for Lithuania,” the president said. “You lost your independence once before. With NATO, you will never lose it again.”
“We’ll be here for Estonia. We’ll be here for Latvia. We’ll be here for Lithuania,” the president said. “You lost your independence once before. With NATO, you will never lose it again.” Also on Wednesday, Mr. Obama vowed to punish the Sunni militants whose videotaped beheadings of two American journalists had “repulsed” the world, and said that the United States would lead a regional and international coalition to defeat the terrorists.
To back up the words, Mr. Obama referred to a $1 billion initiative that will position more American equipment in the Baltic States to be ready in the event of an attack, more training exercises, and more United States forces “including American boots on the ground” rotating through Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. At the news conference, he announced that the initiative — which must be approved by Congress — would include additional air force units and aircraft for training exercise in the Nordic-Baltic region that could be based at Amari Air Base in Estonia. “Our objective is clear, and that is: degrade and destroy ISIL so that it’s no longer a threat, not just to Iraq but also to the region and to the United States,” Mr. Obama said at a news conference here, using an alternative acronym for the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
At the summit, NATO is expected to endorse a rapid-reaction force of 4,000 troops capable of deploying at 48 hours’ notice, supported with logistics and equipment pre-positioned in eastern European countries closer to Russia, with an upgraded schedule of military exercises and deployments that are intended to make NATO’s commitment of collective defense more credible and enhance its deterrence. “It’s not only that we’re going to be bringing to justice those who perpetrated this terrible crime against these two fine young men,” the president said. “The United States will continue to lead a regional and international effort against the kind of barbaric and ultimately empty vision” the group represents.
Mr. Obama used the speech to call for NATO member countries to increase their defense budgets to help rebuild the capacity of an alliance that has been eroded in recent years as military spending has fallen. The United States accounts for 75 percent of NATO spending, and Estonia is one of the few nations that meets the target of spending 2 percent of its G.D.P. on defense. Mr. Obama’s strongly worded statement came after he drew criticism from allies and opponents last week, when he said that he had not yet developed a strategy for confronting ISIS in Syria. American airstrikes in Iraq, the president said Wednesday, had “borne fruit” by “blunting the momentum” of the militants in that country and averting the humanitarian disasters that they had threatened to incite.
“This week’s summit is the moment for every NATO nation to step up and commit to meeting its responsibilities to our alliance,” Mr. Obama said. “Estonia does it; every ally must do it.” He spoke just hours after the White House said intelligence agencies had analyzed a video showing the beheading by an ISIS operative of Steven J. Sotloff, a 31-year-old freelance journalist, and deemed it authentic.
Even as the president said the United States “will not accept Russia’s occupation and illegal annexation of Crimea — or any part of Ukraine,” he stopped short of promising to send arms to the country’s beleaguered military to fend off such action, a step some members of Congress and even some of his own advisers have pressed. “Whatever these murderers think they will achieve by killing innocent Americans like Steven, they have already failed,” Mr. Obama said in his first comments on Mr. Sotloff’s killing since the video was released.
Mr. Obama said the United States would never accept “Russia’s occupation and illegal annexation of Crimea — or any part of Ukraine,” and argued that American and European sanctions were weakening Moscow. He said the United States would continue to help Ukraine in other ways, including by training its military. The video put new pressure on the president to order military strikes on ISIS in its sanctuary in Syria. Mr. Obama said he was not yet ready to order such action, saying he wanted to be sure that the mission would be effective and that allies at home and abroad supported it.
Mr. Poroshenko is to attend a meeting Thursday at the NATO gathering to discuss such assistance. Pressed on whether he was talking about the elimination of ISIS, Mr. Obama suggested he was seeking instead to limit the group’s reach. He said that if the United States was joined by other nations, “we can continue to shrink ISIL’s sphere of influence, its effectiveness, its financing, its military capabilities to the point where it is a manageable problem.”
“We have no interest in weakening Russia,” Mr. Obama said, “nor do we not seek confrontation with Russia.” But he added that a solution to the current crisis “starts by Russia changing course and leaving Ukraine.” On Fox Business Network, Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the minority leader, retorted: “This is not, in my view, a manageable situation — they want to kill us. The president is the guy who needs to lay before Congress and the American people a strategy to deal with it.”
In Washington on Wednesday, the top American counterterrorism official asserted that ISIS “was losing arms, is losing equipment, and is losing territory.”
Airstrikes by the United States “have begun to sap ISIL’s momentum and created space for Iraqi and Kurdish forces to take the offensive,” Matthew G. Olsen, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, said in remarks at the Brookings Institution.
“As formidable as ISIL is as group, it is not invincible,” Mr. Olsen added. “ISIL is not Al Qaeda pre-9/11” with cells operating in Europe, Southeast Asia and the United States. Mr. Olsen’s sobering but measured assessment of the organization stood in contrast to more pointed descriptions by other American officials like Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, who has said ISIS poses an “imminent threat to every interest we have.”
As Mr. Obama begins to lobby support from allies to confront ISIS, Mr. Olsen’s analysis also seemed to reflect an effort by American intelligence and counterterrorism officials to put the terrorist group into a broader historical context.
Still, Mr. Olsen said it would take a comprehensive global strategy to defeat ISIS on the battlefield and in the propaganda wars, where it has proved extremely adept.