In a statement Monday morning at the White House, President Obama had some harsh and direct words for Russian President Vladimir Putin regarding the recent missile strike of a Malaysian airliner and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. President Obama called on Putin to back up his words with actions and to “get serious” about resolving the situation in Ukraine. He also told Putin that Russia needs to compel the pro-Russian separatists at the crash site in Ukraine to allow international investigators to conduct their investigation of the wreckage. Rebels at the scene have blocked investigators, allegedly tampered with evidence and removed bodies from the area.
After Obama had spoken about the tragedy of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 and the fact that investigators are now organized and on the scene, he addressed Russia and its president.
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Ukrainian President Poroshenko has declared a demilitarized zone around the crash site. As I’ve said before, you have international teams already in place prepared to conduct the investigation and recover the remains of those who have been lost. But unfortunately, the Russian-backed separatists who control the area continue to block the investigation. They have repeatedly prevented international investigators from gaining full access to the wreckage. As investigators approached, they fired their weapons into the air. The separatists are removing evidence from the crash site, all of which begs the question, what exactly are they trying to hide? Moreover, these Russian-backed separatists are removing bodies from the crash site, oftentimes without the care that we would normally expect from a tragedy like this. And this is an insult to those who’ve lost loved ones. It’s the kind of behavior that has no place in the community of nations.
Now, Russia has extraordinary influence over these separatists. No one denies that. Russia has urged them on. Russia has trained them. We know that Russia has armed them with military equipment and weapons, including anti-aircraft weapons. Key separatist leaders are Russian citizens. So given its direct influence over the separatists, Russia, and President Putin in particular, has direct responsibility to compel them to cooperate with the investigation. That is the least that they can do.
President Putin says that he supports a full and fair investigation. And I appreciate those words, but they have to be supported by actions. The burden now is on Russia to insist that the separatists stop tampering with the evidence, grant investigators who are already on the ground immediate, full and unimpeded access to the crash site. The separatists and their Russian sponsors are responsible for the safety of the investigators doing their work. And along with our allies and partners, we will be working this issue at the United Nations today.
More broadly, as I’ve said throughout this crisis and the crisis in Ukraine generally – and I’ve said this directly to President Putin as well as publicly – my preference continues to be finding a diplomatic resolution within Ukraine. I believe that can still happen. That is my preference today. And it will continue to be my preference.
But if Russia continues to violate Ukraine’s sovereignty and to back these separatists, and these separatists become more and more dangerous – and now are risks not simply to the people inside of Ukraine but the broader international community – then Russia will only further isolate itself from the international community and the costs for Russia’s behavior will only continue to increase.
Now is the time for President Putin and Russia to pivot away from the strategy that they’ve been taking and get serious about trying to resolve hostilities within Ukraine in a way that respects Ukraine’s sovereignty and respects the right of the Ukrainian people to make their own decisions about their own lives.
Very strong words indeed. President Obama knows that Putin is completely cornered when it comes to this awful incident. The blood is on Putin’s hands and there is no way he can deny it. While he might be able to spread propaganda in Russia and get the citizens there to believe that the Ukrainian government is responsible for the downed airliner, the international community knows that all evidence places culpability at Putin’s feet. Russia has trained, armed and guided these militias in eastern Ukraine for the sole purpose of causing a situation that could lead to Russia gaining further influence over that region.
While Putin has claimed he is open to diplomacy and does not want his country’s businesses, banks and individuals to be subjected to further sanctions, the fact is that his actions have spoken differently. The thing is, by tapping into a certain xenophobic nationalism within his country, arming pro-Russian separatists and exerting untold influence on them and pushing propaganda via state-run media, Putin has become extremely popular among Russians. Therefore, while he might tell other world leaders that he wants to cooperate diplomatically, he needs to keep appearances up within his homeland.
Everything is now going to fall apart around Putin. If he finally pulls the country’s support of the separatists and engages in diplomatic talks with Ukraine and other world leaders, the Russian people are going to turn on him as they will feel he has abandoned the ‘freedom fighters.’ However, if he continues to support the separatists in meddle in Ukraine, harsh international sanctions will cripple the Russian economy, eventually making him extremely unpopular in Russia. There is no scenario where Putin is going to come out of this looking good to the citizens of Russia.
President Obama knows that Putin, who was lauded by conservatives as a real leader earlier this year, is a buffoon and a blowhard. Putin’s irresponsible behavior over the past months has directly led to this horrible tragedy. He is now seen as a pariah on the world stage and has proven to be an egomaniacal liar who longs for the good ol’ days of the Cold War. Putin is an embarrassment as a leader. Obama knows this and will continue to hold Putin’s feet to the fire until Russia starts acting in a more responsible manner.
Below is video of the President’s statement, courtesy of C-SPAN:
Justin Baragona is the Managing Editor at Politicus Sports as well as Senior Editor at PoliticusUSA. He was a political writer for 411Mania.com before joining PoliticusUSA. Politically, Justin considers himself a liberal but also a realist and pragmatist. Currently, Justin lives in St. Louis, MO and is married. Besides writing, he also runs his own business after spending a number of years in the corporate world. You can follow Justin on Twitter either with his personal handle (@justinbaragona) or the Sports site’s (@PoliticusSports).
