President Obama pointedly warned the Ukrainian military on
Wednesday to stay out of the political crisis that has already ravaged
the streets of Kiev and said the United States would hold the government
responsible for further violence.
“We
have been watching very carefully and we expect the Ukrainian
government to show restraint, to not resort to violence in dealing with
peaceful protesters,” Mr. Obama said during a one-day visit here to meet
with Mexican and Canadian counterparts. “There will be consequences if
people step over the line.”
He
added: “And that includes making sure that the Ukrainian military does
not step into what should be a set of issues that can be resolved by
civilians.”
The
president’s decision to address the Ukrainian situation without being
asked reflected the growing concern by the White House that the standoff
between the government of President Viktor F. Yanukovych and
demonstrators in the street has increasingly spiraled out of control.
Until now, Mr. Obama has largely left it to Vice President Joseph R.
Biden Jr. and Secretary of State John Kerry to be the administration’s
public spokesmen on the crisis.
Mr.
Obama interrupted his opening meeting with Mexico’s President Enrique
Peña Nieto to tell reporters that “the United States condemns in the
strongest terms” the violence that has claimed lives in the last two
days. His reference to the military underscored American worries that
troops may soon be called out of the barracks, further fueling the
confrontation.
Mr.
Obama said protesters should themselves refrain from violence. “But we
hold the Ukrainian government primarily responsible for making sure that
it is dealing with peaceful protesters in an appropriate way.” Although
the president did not use the word, aides separately repeated the White
House position that sanctions may be imposed in response to the
violence.
Video|2:08
Clashes Continue in Ukraine
Antigovernment protests in Kiev continued overnight and into the early hours of Wednesday.
“We
have made it clear we would consider taking action against individuals
who are responsible for acts of violence within Ukraine,” Benjamin
Rhodes, a deputy national security adviser to the president, told
reporters on Air Force One during the trip here Wednesday morning. “We
have a tool kit for doing that that includes sanctions.”
But
the White House was clearly trying to use the threat to induce action
by the Ukrainian government. “Events like what we saw yesterday are
clearly going to impact our decision making,” Mr. Rhodes said. On the
other hand, he added, if the government pulls back its forces, releases
imprisoned protesters and pursues dialogue with the opposition, “that
would obviously factor into our calculus as well.”
The
administration has threatened sanctions repeatedly in recent weeks to
little if any apparent effect. Mr. Yanukovych and his government were
certainly aware of the past threats when riot police officers stormed
the protesters in Kiev but they evidently calculated either that
sanctions were a price they were willing to pay or that any such
measures were unlikely to be imposed, at least with enough teeth to
cause sufficient pain to alter their equation.
New York Times
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