Obama threatens Russia with more sanctions as death toll hits 2,600
President Obama during his press conference on Thursday afternoon that the United States is considering new sanctions to impose against Russia over the escalating crisis in Ukraine. The Office of the UN High Commissioner on Human Rights also reported Thursday that at least 2,593 people have been killed in eastern Ukraine since the start of the Kiev’s military operation against anti-government forces.
President Obama speaking on the economy, the crisis in Iraq and the Ukraine, Aug. 28, 2014 photo/whitehouse.gov
Obama told reporters that he’s certain Russia is playing a direct role in the ongoing fighting in eastern Ukraine between anti-Kiev separatists and the country’s military, and that the US is weighing further sanctions to intensify the restrictions previously waged against Moscow.
“As a result of the action Russia has already taken and the major sanctions we’ve imposed,” Obama said, “Russia is already more isolated than any time since the end of the cold war…The separatists are backed, trained, armed, financed by Russia. Throughout this process we’ve seen deep Russian involvement in everything that they’ve done.”
The current death toll includes civilians, members of the Ukrainian troops and also fighters in the anti-government forces.
“The trend is clear and alarming. There is a significant increase in the death toll in the east,” Ivan Simonovic, U.N. Assistant Secretary General for Human Rights, told journalists as the Aug. 28 presser. “The current number of killed is 2,593 – close to 3,000 if we include the 298 victims of the MH17 (Malaysian airliner) plane crash,” he said.
Obama continued, he expects a new wave of sanctions to come soon. The president is expected to meet with NATO partners next week, and said the US “will continue to stand firm with our allies and partners” to protect Ukraine from further encroachment.
“In our consultation with our European allies,” Obama said, “…my expectation is we will take additional steps, primary because we have not seen any meaningful action on the part of Russia to try and actually resolve this in a diplomatic fashion.”
Vitaly Churkin, Power’s Russian counterpart, deflected blame and warned the US: “Stop interfering in the affairs of sovereign states.”
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