US President Barack Obama said today in Amsterdam that the US and Europe have a unified position that Russia should pay the price for its intervention in Ukraine.
"Europe and the USA are united in their support for the Ukrainian government and the Ukrainians. We are also united in the position that Russia should pay the price for all the actions it has carried out so far," Obama said after a meeting with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte.
World leaders headed by Obama will gather today and tomorrow at the Nuclear Security Summit in The Hague, which is being held in the shadow of the Ukraine crisis, in an effort to find ways to prevent terrorist nuclear attacks.
More than 50 leaders are attending the Nuclear Security Summit at the invitation of the US President, who at the same time convened the Group of Seven (G7) summit of the most developed countries, where further sanctions against Russia will be discussed.
Obama also stated that, despite Russia's annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea, he does not see Europe as a battleground between East and West.
Speaking to the Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant, Obama said his message to European leaders is that Russian President Vladimir Putin needs to understand the economic and political consequences of his actions in Ukraine.
Obama admits that the sanctions, which he threatens the Russian economic sector, could affect the whole world.
"If Russia continues to escalate the situation, we must be prepared to impose a greater price (for that)," Obama said.
US Secretary of State John Kerry said he hoped the situation around Crimea would not affect cooperation with Russia on international efforts to destroy Syria's chemical weapons.
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