Posted on 03/26/2014 12:32:29 PM PDT by Jim Robinson
BRUSSELS — President Obama offered a sustained and forceful rejoinder against Russia on Wednesday, denouncing the “brute force” he said it has used to intimidate neighbors like Ukraine and vowing that the United States “will never waver” in standing up for its NATO allies against aggression by Moscow.
In a speech meant as a capstone to his trip to Europe in the midst of an East-West confrontation with Russia, Mr. Obama addressed Moscow’s justifications for its intervention in Ukraine point by point, dismissing them as “absurd” or unmerited. He even defended the Iraq war, which he had opposed as a senator, as a stark contrast to the way Russia has seized the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine.
“America and the world and Europe has an interest in a strong and responsible Russia, not a weak one,” Mr. Obama told an audience of leading figures here in the capital of the European Union. “But that does not mean that Russia can run roughshod over its neighbors. Just because Russia has a deep history with Ukraine does not mean it should be able to dictate Ukraine’s future. No amount of propaganda can make right something the world knows is wrong.”
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“Make no mistake: Neither the United States nor Europe has any interest in controlling Ukraine,” Mr. Obama said. “We have sent no troops there. What we want is for the Ukrainian people to make their own decisions, just like other free people around the world.”
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“Russia’s leadership is challenging truths that only a few weeks ago seemed self-evident, that in the 21st century the borders of Europe cannot be redrawn with force, that international law matters, that people and nations can make their own decisions about their future,” he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Heating fuel is more important to them than auto gas.
They have no money left to subsidize and their broker is knocking at the door wanting his money owed.
Heating fuel is expensive in that part of the world. The Ukrainians need to suck it up and pay the heating bill like everybody else does and not expect welfare from the russian bear. The cheap NG obviously comes with strings attached.
I’m half Polish, hope he leaves Poland alone!
“Brokeback Barry”
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