Obama faces pressure to take steps against Russia on Ukraine

Senator Marco Rubio demands Obama should dispatch John Kerry and Chuck Hagel to Kiev

US President Barack Obama was facing mounting domestic pressure to take steps to ensure the territorial integrity of Ukraine after Russian Parliament authorised President Vladimir Putin to use force if needed.

 

One of the steps that the US and its allies could take would be to place a significant number of international observers on the ground in Ukraine if requested by Kiev, said Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

 

"The presence of international observers on the ground could reduce the risk that Russia would make a false claim of provocative acts by Ukraine as an excuse for further violation of Ukrainian sovereignty, and thereby help avoid a conflict that nobody should want," he said.

 

Senator Marco Rubio demanded that Obama should dispatch Secretary of State John Kerry and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel to Kiev to show US support for Ukraine's new government.

 

"The United States should convene an emergency meeting of NATO to develop a strong united response from the trans- Atlantic alliance. And we should send high-level delegations to our allies in Central and Eastern Europe to reinforce the fact that we are standing by them," Rubio said.

 

The US should rally its allies to boycott this June's G-8 summit in Sochi, Russia, he demanded.

 

"If Russian troops do not leave Ukraine immediately, Russia should be expelled from this group," he said.

 

"The US and our allies should put forward a condemnatory resolution in the United Nations Security Council. A Russian or Chinese veto would make clear to the world the hypocrisy of these governments, since they say they oppose foreign intervention into the affairs of sovereign countries-unless of course they are the ones intervening," Rubio said.

 

"Every moment that the United States and our allies fail to respond sends the signal to President Putin that he can be even more ambitious and aggressive in his military intervention in Ukraine," Senator John McCain said.

 

"There is a range of serious options at our disposal at this time without the use of military force. I call on President Obama to rally our European and NATO allies to make clear what costs Russia will face for its aggression and to impose those consequences without further delay," he said.

 

In a statement, Foreign Policy Initiative said the American objectives should be to deter any further Russian military intervention into Ukraine, to restore Ukrainian territorial integrity and sovereignty, to reassure America's allies in Europe, to strengthen NATO's deterrence posture in Europe, and to impose costs on the Putin government.