Posted on 08/28/2014 2:48:38 PM PDT by Tailgunner Joe
President Obama on Thursday sidestepped the question of whether Russia has mounted an invasion of Ukraine, describing the movement of troops and equipment across the border as an "incursion" and "continuation of what's been taking place" in the region.
Obama accused Russia of "deliberately and repeatedly" violating the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, and vowed "more costs and consequences" from the United States and its allies.
"The separatists are trained by Russia, they are armed by Russia, they are funded by Russia," Obama said. "Russia has deliberately and repeatedly violated the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, and the new images of Russian forces inside Ukraine make that plain for the world to see."
More than 1,000 Russian troops have entered the country, and two columns of tanks and military vehicles have crossed the border, Ukranian and NATO officials told The Associated Press. Russia has also reportedly fired missiles from across the border to clear a pathway for the convoy. Reports also said Russian forces had taken control of a key Ukrainian town.
The president announced plans to meet with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko at the White House in the next month, and said the crisis in Ukraine would be a point of discussion at next week's NATO summit in Wales. Obama spoke with German Chancellor Angela Merkel before his statement to reporters Thursday afternoon.
Republican lawmakers, including House Armed Services Committee Chairman Buck McKeon (R-Calif.), have asked Obama to say definitively whether he considered Russia's actions in Ukraine an invasion.
"If reports prove accurate that Putin has in fact sent over 1,000 troops into Ukraine to support and fight alongside Russian-backed separatists, this is an act of war against the sovereign state of Ukraine," McKeon and Rep. Michael Turner (R-Ohio) said in a joint statement.
The government in Kiev has said it viewed the Russian activity as an invasion.
"What we registered is a direct invasion of the Russian military into the eastern regions of Ukraine," said Ihor Prokopchuk, Ukraine's envoy to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, according to NBC News.
Once it was clear the US and EU were going to make Russia pay the same price for backing an insurgency as they'd pay for a full blown invasion there hasn't been any real reason for Russia to not take over a few regions whether they want them long term or not. They can always negotiate away the Southeast in return for a federated Ukraine and their keeping Crimea, then everyone will be happy.
Everyone except the thugs in Kiev who have desperately wanted what they now appear to have, Russia openly backing the Separatists with troops. I doubt things will work out the way Kiev thinks they will but as long as they get the austerity measures the IMF is demanding reduced there will still be plenty of graft to go around so they'll be happy, too.
I don't really understand why people in the US and Europe thought Russia would ever forget Kosovo and not eventually do the equivalent somewhere. Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova, where didn't really much as matter to Russia showing that if the goose was going to carve up countries the gander would as well.
The people in Kosovo were desperate and without water or electricity, civilians were being shelled, etc., so the US "had to intervene on humanitarian grounds". Well, that's the same line of BS that being used in Ukraine by Russia, tit for tat from a country where the people have always had very long memories and always resented what the US and NATO did in Kosovo.
i thought the press wasn’t allowed onto the golf course.
Plus, if he calls it an invasion, one might note there are far fewer Russians moving into the Ukraine than there are Mexicans busting our own borders....
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