Contents tagged with Barack Obama

  • Lavrov: Relations between Russia and the US were ruined by Obama

    The Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs has said that Moscow hopes for an exit from the impasse in Russian-American relations and is ready to seek ways to improve them, as he discussed during an interview with the inter-Arab newspaper Asharq Al Awsat, RIA Novosti reported.

    "There is hope for the withdrawal of cooperation based on the artificially created impasse, but the future of relations depends not only on us, but also on the Americans," Lavrov said.

    According to him, the fact that …

  • Russia demands U.S. to return diplomatic property seized under Obama

    Russia has raised the issue of the return of Russian diplomatic property seized under the administration of the previous U.S. President, Barack Obama. This was purposely discussed during a telephone conversation between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

    According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, the conversation took place on April 21 at the initiative of the American side.

    "Some issues on the bilateral agenda were considered. Lavrov re- …

  • Obama expands Magnitsky Act globally

    US President Barack Obama signed the Pentagon’s 2017 budget into law, which expanded the use of the Magnitsky Act on accountability in the area of human rights. Henceforth, the act applies to all countries in the world and will enable Washington to impose sanctions against individuals involved in corruption and human rights violations. Previously, the act applied solely to Russian citizens, Deutsche Welle reported.

    The document, in particular, allows the US president to "impose sanctions …

  • Obama calls for a resolution to the war in Ukraine

    During a joint press conference with UK Prime Minister David Cameron, US President Barack Obama called for a resolution to the war in Ukraine.

    “We have to continue to invest in NATO so that we can meet our overseas commitments, from Afghanistan to the Aegean.  We have to resolve the conflict in the Ukraine and reassure allies who are rightly concerned about Russian aggression,” the US President stated.

    Obama also stressed that all NATO member states need to work towards contributing more of …

  • Putin and Obama hold 'intense discussion'

    US President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin held "an intense discussion" on Monday on Syria and Ukraine, White House spokesman Josh Earnest stated.

    According to the Kremlin press service, the two sides agreed to "keep boosting the coordinated effort of the two countries in Syria, including through secret services and defense agencies… With this aim additional measures will be worked out for prompt reaction to the existing violation of the ceasefire regime.”

    The Presidents …

  • Obama extends sanctions against Russia

    US President Barack Obama announced on Tuesday that sanctions against Russia would be extended for another year.

    The text of Obama’s announcement was published on the White House’s website.  

    The US President extended four of his Executive Orders initially signed in 2014 that, in particular, ban economic activity between US citizens and companies with a number of Ukrainian and Russian businesses and individuals.

    “I found that the actions and policies of the Government of the Russian …

  • Obama: Ukraine is slipping away from Russia's orbit

    During his eighth and final State of the Union Address, US President Barack Obama made two brief mentions of Ukraine, a topic that had been an integral part of his foreign policy assessment during his annual address last year.

    One comment addressed the ailing Russian economy and the Kremlin's inisistence on providing military aid to separatists in eastern Ukraine and President Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria.

    "Even as their economy contracts, Russia is pouring resources to prop up Ukraine …