Obama Says ‘Deeply Held Grievance’ Led Putin to Seek Crimea [View all]
Source: NYTimes
WASHINGTON — President Obama on Friday attributed Russia’s annexation of Crimea and its buildup of troops at the border of Ukraine to a deep-seated resentment by President Vladimir V. Putin about the fall of the Soviet Union.
“I think he’s been willing to show a deeply held grievance about what he considers to be the loss of the Soviet Union,” Mr. Obama told Scott Pelley of CBS News in an interview Friday as the president was leaving Rome for Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Mr. Putin, the president added, “has said that he considers the breakup of the Soviet Union to be tragic. I think there’s a strong sense of Russian nationalism and a sense that somehow the West has taken advantage of Russia in the past.”
Mr. Obama drew attention to the massing of Russian troops along the border of Ukraine, and urged Moscow to enter into talks about a peaceful resolution of the conflict with Ukraine. He said the presence of Russian forces could be an attempt to intimidate Ukraine, or it could be a signal of future military moves.
Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/29/world/europe/obama-says-deeply-held-grievance-led-putin-to-seek-crimea-annexation.html?_r=0
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