Obama admits US 'brokered power transition deal' in Ukraine
President Barack Obama has admitted that the United States brokered a power transition deal in Ukraine that has led to the current crisis in the country.
Commenting on the situation in Ukraine in an interview with CNN, Obama said, “We had brokered a deal to transition power in Ukraine” since Russian President Vladimir Putin “made this decision around Crimea and Ukraine.”
The US president also rejected the possibility of a military conflict with Russia, saying it would not be “wise for the United States or the world to see an actual military conflict between the United States and Russia.”
Obama, however, reiterated that Washington would continue to put pressure on Moscow and reinforce NATO member states bordering Ukraine.
“What we are doing is reinforcing those border states who are members of NATO,” Obama said, adding “that line is one that cannot be crossed because we would have to take military action to protect our allies.”
Obama has already asked Congress for $1 billion in additional spending to bolster the US military presence in Poland and its neighbors.
Meanwhile, Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland revealed that Washington has invested about $5 billion in what she described as promoting democracy in Ukraine over the past two decades.
Ukraine’s mainly Russian-speaking regions of Donetsk and Lugansk in the east have witnessed deadly clashes between pro-Russia forces and the Ukrainian army since Kiev launched military operations to silence pro-Moscow protests in mid-April 2014.
Violence intensified later in May after the two flashpoint regions held local referendums in which their residents voted overwhelmingly in favor of independence from Ukraine and joining the Russian Federation.
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