Obama, Merkel vow wider Russia sanctions if Ukraine election impeded

[dipsydoodle]

Source: Reuters

(Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama said on Friday the United States would move to "sectoral sanctions" on Russia if Moscow impeded plans for elections in Ukraine later this month.

Obama was speaking to reporters at the White House after talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who also supported a move to wider sanctions and said the European Union and the United States would continue to work in concert on the issue.

"The next step is going to be a broader-based sectoral sanctions regime," Obama said. Merkel agreed, saying that May 25 was a critical date and "we will see to it that elections can take place."

The United States and the EU have imposed several rounds of sanctions on individuals and some companies to try to persuade Russian President Vladimir Putin to halt any interference in Russian-speaking areas of eastern Ukraine.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/02/us-obama-merkel-ukraine-idUSBREA410NQ20140502

---

However :

Germany's Merkel: Russia sanctions must be mixed to spread EU pain.

(Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Friday the European Union and the United States need to find a mix of sanctions on Russia over the Ukraine crisis so that no single EU country bears the brunt of the impact.

Russia is a major EU trading partner.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/02/us-ukraine-crisis-merkel-sanctions-idUSBREA410U420140502

[uhnope]

1. Putin's march to war threatening all of Europe

must be stopped

[GermanSmoker]

2. Well

Polls are not published on German Newspaer Sites, cause between 70-80% of german cititzen's support Putin.

[Iterate]

3. That's what was published in "The Moscow Times" 19.3.2014

Or...

In the survey by Infratest Dimap for broadcaster ARD and the newspaper Die Welt, only 38 percent of those polled said they favored economic sanctions against Russia, while 72 percent supported financial aid for the Ukrainian government.

Only 15 percent of those polled thought Moscow a reliable partner and three quarters were of the view that Putin himself was not trustworthy.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/07/us-ukraine-crisis-germany-poll-idUSBREA2616620140307

ARD-DeutschlandTrend
Solidarität mit der Ukraine

Im Krim-Konflikt beziehen die Deutschen klar Position: Laut ARD-DeutschlandTrend fordern 58 Prozent der Befragten Unterstützung der EU und der Bundesregierung für die Ukraine. Wirtschaftssanktionen gegen Russland lehnt die Mehrheit aber ab.

Von Jörg Schönenborn, WDR

Eigentlich sind die Deutschen traditionell zurückhaltend, wenn es darum geht, in internationalen Konflikten Partei zu ergreifen. Bei der Ukraine ist das anders: Die Ergebnisse des neuen ARD-DeutschlandTrends zeigen breite Solidarität. So fordert nicht nur eine deutliche Mehrheit von 58 Prozent, dass sich Europäische Union und Bundesregierung klar auf die Seite der Ukraine und gegen Russland stellen sollen. Eine, wenn auch knappe Mehrheit (51 Prozent) befürwortet sogar den Beitritt der Ukraine zur EU in einigen Jahren.

more...

But then ARD isn't a newspaper.

[NuclearDem]

4. [citation needed]

[dipsydoodle]

6. Anti-Americanism and Geman Public Support for Putin

It is hard to understand what is going on in Germany. The Ukraine is in an existential crisis as it tries to pivot to the democratic values of the West, but the majority of Germans seem drawn to Putin's authoritarian Machtpolitik.

A majority of Germans, according to two recent opinion polls, are opposed to significant new sanctions. In addition, one poll suggests that a majority of Germans sympathize with Putin’s desire to protect Russian national interests in Crimea.

At the same time, profound skepticism of the United States after spying revelations by Edward Snowden last year has added to the pressure here. For a vocal minority, the breach of trust exposed by U.S. eavesdropping on the German leader has cast doubt on any initiative advocated by Washington.

“A positive image of Russia has grown in Germany, which is a mixture of culturalism and admiration of Putin as the strong man standing up against the U.S.,” said Stefan Meister, senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations.

http://www.dialoginternational.com/dialog_international/2014/04/anti-americanism-and-geman-public-support-for-putin.html

The Sympathy Problem: Is Germany a Country of Russia Apologists?

Should the West chart a course of confrontation with Russia following Moscow's annexation of Crimea? Many prominent Germans aren't so sure. Sympathy for Russia is alive and well in the country.

Is it acceptable for a person to be sympathetic towards or have an understanding for Russia's actions in Crimea? Are Moscow's claims justifiable? Did the West provoke Russian President Vladimir Putin? For weeks, this debate has dominated the public discussion in Germany like no other. Generally, foreign policy remains a niche topic for experts. Russia has proven to be the exception.

The Crimean crisis has been the main issue in newspaper editorials and the topic of discussion on talk shows for weeks now. On websites, Crimea is leading in clicks and has emerged as the dominant issue in Internet forum discussions. Nothing, it seems, is as polarizing as the question of whether Moscow's annexation of Crimea was a justifiable reaction to NATO's expansion into Eastern Europe or if it was acting in violation of international law, thus making any sympathy for the move unacceptable.

Those expressing understanding for Russia's move are clearly dominating the Internet forums and talk shows. One former German chancellor, Helmut Schmidt, even declared that the situation in Ukraine is dangerous "because the West has gotten so terribly worked up about it." The question of whether Putin's actions were legitimate didn't even seem to interest him. "I find it entirely understandable," he said. Another former chancellor, Gerhard Schröder, admitted that he himself hadn't always respected international law.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/prominent-germans-have-understanding-for-russian-annexation-of-crimea-a-961711.html

There are others if you google the subject of "german public support for putin."

[ballyhoo]

5. That's what I heard from my friend in Turkey also. He

goes to Germany quite often in his business.