US President Barack Obama said during his stay in Brussels that the West would not be divided over the annexation of Crimea. He ensured that he would do his best to do the opposite and unite the United States, the EU, and their partners in defence of the ideals that Russia effectively denounced by its actions in Ukraine. Both the US and EU have agreed to cooperate and work hard to outline further steps and economic sanctions as well as decrease Europe’s dependence on Russian oil.
Yet, G7 leaders agreed that further retaliation of the West would hold off for a while to see what Moscow’s reaction to sanctions would be. However, if President Putin moves on to destabilize Ukraine even more, the G7 will make its “revenge” stronger. According to Barack Obama, the isolation of Russia will deepen “if the country continues on its current course”. Then, sanctions will get tougher, and the Russian economy will be affected across more sectors.
President Obama further told about 2,000 young people in a concert hall that the West would stay united and endure this crisis not thanks to the power of its military but thanks to the power of its values and ideals. Experts say that Mr Obama’s speech looked like a point-by-point rebuttal of Vladimir Putin’s speech in Kremlin on March 18. President Obama said that he respected strong Russia but this does not mean that Moscow can occupy the territory of its neighbours. Barack Obama further expressed his belief that Russian people themselves would soon realize that their country cannot achieve prosperity and security at the cost of brutal force towards other sovereign states.
