By Jaime Ortega.
Following the U.S. invasion of Crimea, U.S. military cuts and trade cooperation with Russia are about to take place. Obama is also preparing sanctions against Putin , and his faithful banks and entrepreneurs.
Washington ‘s action contrasts with European interests and are put in doubt by several countries who still don’t trust the U.S. after a long list of invasions.
Itching to move faster than the European Union, the United States suspended Monday its military and trade cooperation with Russia. The Obama Administration also prepares sanctions against President Vladimir Putin , their banks and their loyal business .
Pressed last year by international criticism of hesitation, President Barack Obama announced that it will take “a number of economic and diplomatic measures to isolate Russia.”
If Putin’s troops do not withdraw from Crimea. “Russia is on the wrong side of history on this occasion,” Obama said before meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
A few hours later, the Pentagon issued the suspension of military cooperation with Russia with the cancellation of a naval exercise scheduled for May and all lectures and visits. Meanwhile , the State Department plans to ban the entry of U.S. senior Russian government officials and freeze their assets. Congress is also considering blocking Russia from receiving assistance through the International Monetary Fund.
United States also decided Monday to cancel meetings with Russia to promote investment and trade between the two countries. The exchange of goods with Russia poses to the United States only 1% of their trade, but the decision is the first sign of punishment that companies are brewing to do business with Moscow, a step that the EU is reluctant to act upon the interests of the British or Dutch Shell BP .
While Europeans doubt , Democrats and Republicans push Obama to use all possible diplomatic tools to punish Russia after years of Putin not responding the democratic way .
Just five years ago, Hillary Clinton gave Russian Foreign Minister in Geneva a red plastic button with the word “reset” . Sergei Lavrov promised to put it on his desk .
” It symbolizes what President Obama, Vice President Biden and I have said we want to start ,” said then-Secretary of State while Lavrov kept laughing. But the button had flaws .The Americans failed to correctly translate the term “reset” and wrote “peregruzka ” in Russian. Lavrov said the word chosen meant “download ” . “We already do that in my house,” he joked.
The good intentions of the Obama Administration to overcome the tension with Russia ‘s invasion of Georgia gave the same results as the attempts of George W. Bush to woo Putin ( former president regretted that in June 2001 he had looked into the “soul ” of the Russians and felt it was a “legit ” cause).
After years of negotiations , the U.S. and Russia do not even have a list of low confidence. Last week, Kerry spoke four times with Lavrov , who said that his army would not invade Crimea. Putin did the same with Obama he acknowledged Saturday for a half hour conversation before the deployment of thousands of Russian soldiers in Crimea.
The role of Obama
Obama’s position is particularly weak after their summer lurches with flawed interventions in Syria. Obama put the decision in the hands of Putin’s ally Assad and the output of chemical disarmament regime in Damascus was invented.
America ‘s obsession is to hold together the European and economic aid to the new government in Kiev, but retaliation preferred by the EU against Putin show far lower consent.
Instigated by Obama , Heads of State and Government of the G -7 ( U.S., Canada , UK, France, Germany , Italy and Japan ) on Sunday announced the suspension of all the preparatory meetings for the summit of the G- Sochi scheduled for August 4 and 5 June. This is a de-facto temporary withdrawal of G- 8, and the major industrialized countries forum formed to include Russia. The White House also sent a delegation to the Paralympics this week .
President Obama is now under pressure to do more and faster. In addition to freeze the assets of Putin and other leaders, the administration may prevent businesses linked to the Kremlin Russian banks , to expand the list of oligarchs who are banned from traveling to the U.S. or investigate black money laundering more aggressively.
Criticism of his foreign policy
Sen. Marco Rubio, become voice these days of protests in Ukraine and Venezuela , advises the president to “reconsider” the anti- missile shield that the Bush administration planned to deploy between Poland and the Czech Republic. Sen. Richard Durbin proposes “throw the whole” Russia from the G -8. But Obama has little room if Europeans dependent on Russian gas , and do not support all the punishment that can be counted on the United Nations.
The Security Council met Monday for the third time since Friday, but Russia’s veto is just a forum for debate.
From the hint in Syria , the president’s foreign policy was suspended. The Washington Post on Monday gave Obama a harsh editorial in which he is accused of living in a world of ” fantasy ” : “President Obama has been a foreign policy based more on how you think the world should work that in the reality we all live on. “
