Obama invoked the anniversaries this week of the D-day landings in France in 1944 and the communist bloc's first partly free elections in Poland in 1989 as key events in the fight to free Europe from tyranny. After investing so much blood and treasure to bring Europe together, how can we allow the dark tactics of the 20th century to define this new century?"
"Further Russian provocations will only mean more isolation and costs for Russia. "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. "The days of empire and spheres of influence are over," he said at the royal palace in Warsaw. In Warsaw Obama accused the Kremlin of resorting to the "dark tactics" of the last century in Ukraine, and pledged to resist Russian aggression in eastern Europe. Putin is to attend and may have his first meeting with Obama since the Ukraine conflict turned violent in February. While Ukraine dominated Wednesday evening's Brussels dinner, it is also certain to loom large over events in France on Friday marking the 70th anniversary of the D-day landings. Western officials say they have been mildly encouraged by Putin's response to the Ukrainian presidential election and appear inclined to give the Kremlin the benefit of the doubt. While being highly critical of the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, over Ukraine, Obama has also used his visit this week to Europe to emphasise the potential for rebuilding trust between Russia and the west, depending on Moscow's behaviour on Ukraine in coming weeks.Ĭhancellor Angela Merkel of Germany also signalled there may be opportunities for a diplomatic opening to chart a way out of the Ukrainian crisis. Obama met Poroshenko for the first time on Wednesday in Warsaw before travelling to Brussels. "We consider that we have some diplomatic and political possibilities to see if Russia is ready to engage more and stop destabilisation in Ukraine," said Herman Van Rompuy, the president of the European Council, who co-chaired the summit.
But the emphasis was on capitalising on the landslide victory of president-elect Petro Poroshenko to try to encourage direct talks with Russia.
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