http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-06-03/obama-unveils-1-billion-europe-security-fund-amid-russia-threat.html
U.S. President Barack Obama, arriving in Poland today, announced a $1 billion fund to help boost defensive capabilities of European allies shaken by Russia’s annexation of the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine.
Obama will officially call on Congress to approve the fund this afternoon during a joint press conference with Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski in Warsaw. The “European Reassurance Fund” will build on previously announced measures by increasing the capability, readiness, and responsiveness of North Atlantic Treaty Organization forces to address continued threats and deter further destabilizing activities, according to a White House fact sheet.
The initiative, unveiled in Poland, a NATO ally, marks the highest-profile measure to date by Obama in affirming a commitment to Europe following months of tensions surrounding the February ouster of Ukraine’s pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych. Russia’s moves since then to annex Crimea and back pro-Russian separatist movements in Ukraine triggered sanctions against members of Putin’s inner circle by the U.S. and Europe.
“Our commitments to Poland’s security, as well as the security of our allies in Central and Eastern Europe, is a cornerstone of our own security,” Obama said as he arrived in Warsaw this morning after flying overnight from Washington. “It is sacrosanct.”
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