Obama lambasts Putin: you're wrecking Russia to recreate Soviet empire

[Little Tich]

Source: The Guardian

At the G7 summmit, US president warns that ‘additional steps’ could be taken if Russia were to ‘double down’ on behaviour in Ukraine

Barack Obama has used the close of the G7 summit in Germany to deliver his strongest criticism yet of Vladimir Putin, lambasting the Russian president’s isolationist approach as the seven leaders signalled their readiness to tighten sanctions against Russia if the conflict in Ukraine escalates.

“Does he continue to wreck his country’s economy and continue Russia’s isolation in pursuit of a wrong-headed desire to recreate the glories of the Soviet empire? Or does he recognise that Russia’s greatness does not depend on violating the territorial integrity and sovereignty of other countries?” the US president said at the close of the intensive discussions in Bavaria as world leaders, including the summit’s host, Angela Merkel, presented a united front against Putin.

The German chancellor stressed that while she hoped the situation in Ukraine would not worsen, the G7 leaders were prepared to implement tougher sanctions if it did. We are “ready, should the situation escalate – which we don’t want – to strengthen sanctions if the situation makes that necessary but we believe we should do everything to move forward the political process of Minsk”, Merkel said.

Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/08/g7-leaders-sanctions-russia-ukraine-conflict-obama

[63splitwindow]

1. One of the traitorous positions of the far right wingnuts...

..., and there are many, is the absolute love they heap on thug Putin while belittling the President of the United States.

[freshwest]

4. +1,000

[bemildred]

2. Pretty thin gruel:

We are “ready, should the situation escalate – which we don’t want – to strengthen sanctions if the situation makes that necessary but we believe we should do everything to move forward the political process of Minsk”, Merkel said.

It's going to be interesting to see how this plays out.

[Psephos]

3. Guess "The Reset" wasn't all that, after all. n/t

[jakeXT]

5. Report: Drone Strikes Kill Dozens in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Yemen in May

American drone strikes killed roughly 50 people in Afghanistan, Pakistan in Yemen in May, according to a Tuesday report by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism (BIJ).

The U.S. government keeps virtually all information related to its drone operations classified, but BIJ issues a monthly report tallying the number of drone strikes, which it tries to confirm with local media reports, among other open-source information. It’s unclear if there were any civilian casualties.


The strikes are widely loathed in their home countries, but a Pew Research survey released last week found that 58 percent of Americans support them, a figure which has held steady since at least 2013. Despite support from the majority, 48 percent told Pew they are very concerned that U.S. drone strikes endanger innocent lives.

In Afghanistan, three confirmed strikes hit Nangarhar province and killed 34 people last month—a marked increase in monthly casualties, according to BIJ. In 2015, more than 70 people have been killed by drone strikes in the count

http://www.newsweek.com/report-drone-strikes-kill-dozens-afghanistan-pakistan-and-yemen-may-338614

So Putin should invest more in drones ?