Obama: US Stands With Ukraine Against Russia’s ‘Dark Tactics’
U.S. President Barack Obama said the world must “stand with those who seek freedom,” as he drew parallels between reforms taking place in Ukraine today and the elections in Poland 25 years ago that marked the beginning of the end of Communism.
Speaking Wednesday at a Freedom Day event in Warsaw, Obama hailed Poland’s first partially free election in 1989 as a “landslide victory for freedom.”
He said now the free world is united against what he called Russia’s “dark tactics” in Ukraine, where in March Russian forces seized control of Crimea.
“Bigger nations must not be allowed to bully the small, or impose their will at the barrel of a gun or with masked men taking over buildings,” Obama said.
“And the stroke of a pen can never legitimize the theft of a neighbor’s land, so we will not accept Russia’s occupation of Crimea or its violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty. Our free nations will stand united so that further Russian provocations will only mean more isolation and costs for Russia,” the president added.
“We stand together because we believe that people and nations have the right to determine their own destiny — that includes the people of Ukraine,” Obama said in Warsaw.
“An attack on one is an attack on all. … We stand together, now and forever, for your freedom is ours,” Obama said.
“Poland will never stand alone. Estonia will never stand alone. Latvia will never stand alone. Lithuania will never stand alone. Romania will never stand alone,” he added.
“These are not just words,” Obama said. “They are unbreakable commitments backed by the strongest alliance in the world and by the armed forces of the United States of America: the most powerful military in history.”
While praising Poland’s 25-year history of democracy as a model for Ukraine, Obama also noted another 25-year anniversary on June 4: the crackdown on pro-democracy activists in Tiananmen Square in Beijing.
“The story of this nation reminds us that freedom is not guaranteed. And history cautions us to never take progress for granted. On the same day 25 years ago that Poles were voting here, tanks were crushing peaceful democracy protests in Tiananmen Square on the other side of the world.”
Meeting with Poroshenko
Before the ceremony, Obama met with Ukraine President-elect Petro Poroshenko, and announced $5 million in non-lethal aid to help Ukraine’s military forces in their effort to battle pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.
Obama’s three-nation tour of Europe moves to Brussels later today, where he will take part in a summit of leaders from the Group of Seven nations.
The leaders quickly arranged the summit after deciding to boycott a Group of Eight meeting Russia was to host this week in Sochi. The boycott was in response to Russia’s incursion into Crimea in March.
Obama’s trip will also include a speech Friday at Omaha Beach in Normandy, France, during a ceremony for the 70th anniversary of the allied D-Day invasion against Nazi forces in World War II.
