Barack obama

Barack Obama declared there were no easy answers nor military solutions to the Crimea crisis, but cast Vladimir Putin's Russia as a lonely villain shredding the international rulebook to bully a smaller neighbour. Russia's seizure of Ukraine's Black sea peninsula did not herald a new cold war, Obama told 2,000 people gathered in an arts centre in central Brussels in the big speech of his four-day trip to Europe. But it was also clear that the Kremlin's actions in recent weeks had triggered a deep shift in western perceptions of Putin that would see Russia increasingly isolated internationally and exposed to a spiralling trade war with the west, depending on his next moves. Putin's decision to redraw his region's borders had caused "a moment of testing", Obama said in a 40-minute speech on his first visit in office to Brussels."Bigger nations can bully smaller ones to get their way," he said. "We must never take for granted the progress that has been won here in Europe and advanced … [Read more...] about Barack Obama: no cold war over Crimea

Facing the biggest punch-up with Russia since the end of the cold war, Barack Obama did what he does best: he came out talking. The former Harvard professor gave class dunce Vladimir Putin a withering civics lesson over his badly thought-through invasion of Crimea. History was on the side of those who believed in individual freedom, universal rights and democracy, he said. The "might is right" alternative – the playground resort to "brute force" recalling Europe's past "descent into barbarism" – was no alternative at all. In fact, it was a generation or more out of date, as every half-sensible student of the 20th century must surely realise. "We must meet the challenge to our ideals and our international order with strength and conviction," Obama insisted in scholarly fashion. There could be "no going back". Whether he meant no going back to Crimea, which is certainly true for Kiev's beleaguered rulers, or to the era of "extreme nationalism" from which he said Europe had … [Read more...] about Barack Obama delivers withering civics lesson to Putin over Crimea

President Barack Obama is ending a longstanding immigration policy that allows any Cuban who makes it to US soil to stay and become a legal resident, a senior administration official said Thursday. The repeal of the “wet foot, dry foot” policy is effective immediately, according the official. The decision follows months of negotiations focused in part on getting Cuba to agree to take back people who had arrived in the US. The US and Cuba planned to issue a joint statement later Thursday. The official insisted on anonymity in order to detail the change ahead of the announcement. The official said the Cubans gave no assurances about treatment of those sent back to the country, but said political asylum remains an option for those concerned about persecution if they return. Obama is using an administrative rule change to end the policy. Donald Trump could undo that rule after becoming president next week. He has criticized Obama’s moves to improve relations with Cuba. … [Read more...] about Obama ends ‘wet foot, dry foot’ policy for Cuban immigrants

The US and European Union have imposed sanctions on Russian and Ukrainian officials in response to Russian actions in Ukraine, which culminated on Sunday in Crimea's vote to join Russia. But Washington also appeared to be settling old scores, as several officials slapped with sanctions have had little to do with Russia's Ukraine policy, while some of the country's main Ukraine hawks were not on the list. The executive order by President Barack Obama to impose a travel ban and asset freeze on 11 officials was meant to rebuke Russia for "actions that violate the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, including their actions supporting the illegal referendum for Crimean separation", the White House said in a statement. The Russian reaction to the list was derisive. Influential blogger Rustem Adagamov called the sanctions "a joke" in a tweet, and deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin, who is on the list, tweeted that "some sort of prankster wrote the US president's decree." "I … [Read more...] about US and EU sanctions: the Russian and Ukrainian targets

The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, has approved a draft bill for the annexation of Crimea following a referendum in the peninsula that overwhelmingly supported seceding from Ukraine. In an address to a joint session of Russia's parliamentary houses scheduled for 11am GMT on Tuesday, Putin will deliver his position on the hugely contentious Crimean question. He is expected to set the stage for parliament to approve the absorption of Crimea. The US and the EU retaliated over the referendum – which they consider to be illegal – by imposing sanctions against Russian and Ukrainian officials on Monday, a move widely seen as "toothless". The White House imposed sanctions against 11 named individuals: seven senior Russian politicians and officials, and four Crimea-based separatist leaders accused of undermining the "democratic processes and institutions in Ukraine". But the US pointedly avoided targeting Putin or key figures in his inner circle. The EU imposed sanctions on 21 … [Read more...] about Ukraine: Putin approves draft bill for Russia to annex Crimea