Trump Says It Would Be A ‘Great Thing’ For Russia, Ukraine To Reconcile
February 24, 2020
U.S. President Donald Trump has said he would like to see Russia and Ukraine mend their relationship, which has been badly damaged by Moscow’s seizure of Crimea and the ongoing war between Kyiv’s forces and Russia-backed separatists who hold parts of eastern Ukraine.
“Well, I’d like to see them come together. I think if they came together in the sense that they got along with each other, that would be a great thing,” he told reporters on February 23 before departing on Marine Force One for his maiden voyage to India.
A reporter had asked Trump to comment on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recent accusations that other countries are trying split neighbors Russia and Ukraine apart, saying the two predominantly Slavic and Orthodox Christian countries would be a world superpower if they came together.
In response, Trump added that “it would be a great thing for the world…. If Ukraine and Russia could work out some agreement where they get along, to me that would be very good.”
Read more at https://www.rferl.org/a/trump-says-would-be-great-thing-for-russia-ukraine-to-reconcile/30450703.html
White House Extends Russia Sanctions Over Ukraine Situation For One Year
February 26, 2020
U.S. President Donald Trump has extended for one year a series of previously imposed sanctions on Russia over its actions in Ukraine, in particular, forcibly annexing the Crimean Peninsula and further destabilizing the country.
Trump’s executive order was signed on February 25 and includes a package of sanctions that have expanded in scope over time since March 6, 2014.
They were first introduced by the administration of former President Barack Obama and broadened three more times in 2014 as well as in 2018.
Russian President Vladimir Putin gave the order to invade Crimea in early 2014 after the Moscow-friendly Ukrainian president, Viktor Yanukovych, abandoned office and fled the country amid a popular uprising that opposed his increasingly corrupt and authoritarian rule.
Read more at https://www.rferl.org/a/white-house-extends-russia-sanctions-over-ukraine-situation-for-one-year/30456342.html
