Barack Obama: The United States will consider any measures, with the exception of a military conflict with Russia

Barack Obama accused Russia of resuming military clashes between the separatists and government forces sweeping over eastern Ukraine.

“We are deeply concerned about the recent truce violations and the aggression that the separatists have carried out - with Russian support, with Russian equipment, with Russian funding, with Russian training and with the Russian military,” said the US President, speaking at a press conference in New Delhi, India on sunday.

According to Obama, the United States will consider all possible steps, with the exception of military intervention, to deter Moscow’s interference in the internal affairs of a neighboring state.

"We will continue the previously chosen course aimed at increasing pressure on Russia," said Obama. "I will consider all the additional options available to us, with the exception of military confrontation, in order to respond to this problem," said the US president.

“I made it very clear that it’s ineffective for us to enter into a military conflict with Russia because of this problem. However, we will continue to help Ukraine to keep its territories under its control, ”the US President noted. He also said that the new steps are a combination of increasing pressure on Russia through sanctions and providing Ukraine with the necessary assistance to maintain its economy, as well as supplying the Ukrainian army with equipment, supplies, and conducting personnel training, including jointly with NATO.

Clashes intensified in Ukraine in recent days after the militants refused to further participate in peace negotiations. On Saturday, militants attacked the port city of Mariupol, killing around 30 civilians.

Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in talks with US Secretary of State John Kerry that Moscow is ready to do everything in its power to push the warring parties in eastern Ukraine to a peaceful solution.

A telephone conversation between the heads of diplomacy of the two countries is reported in a statement released on Sunday by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation. In particular, it is noted that Lavrov proposed to expand the group of international participants to help peace negotiations between militants in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions of Ukraine and the government in Kiev. “Lavrom stressed Russia's readiness to do everything in its power to encourage the parties to a peaceful solution,” the statement of the Russian Foreign Ministry notes.

"Achieving any results is possible only through a direct dialogue with Donetsk and Lugansk, which Kiev avoids by any means, clearly choosing a course for military suppression in south-eastern Ukraine," the Russian diplomatic department said in a statement.

Russia, on which the West places the responsibility for supporting the separatists, on Saturday prevented a UN Security Council statement criticizing the militants for denouncing a surge in violence.

Moscow denies sending military force and weapons to eastern Ukraine, despite statements by Kiev and the West about the existence of irrefutable evidence to the contrary. More 5 thousands of people died since the beginning of the conflict in April last year.

Source - Voice of America