The Sunday morning news shows were filled with pundits calling for U.S. military intervention in the conflict between Ukraine and Russia. In response, President Obama said Monday in the Philippines that there will be no boots on the ground in Ukraine.
“Frankly, most of the foreign policy commentators that have questioned our policies would go headlong into a bunch of military adventures that the American people have no interest in participating in. Do people actually think us sending some additional arms into Ukraine could deter the Russian army?”
Obama made his remarks during his four-country tour of Asia, according to Forbes. The president asked rhetorically:
“Why is it that everybody is so eager to use military force after we’ve just gone through a decade of war at enormous costs to our troops and to our budget?”
The Associated Press reports Obama announced Monday additional sanctions against Russia:
The measures, including asset freezes and visa bans, affect people close to the Kremlin, and Western leaders hope those hurt by the sanctions will pressure Russian President Vladimir Putin to limit his reach in Ukraine and de-escalate the crisis there.
On Tuesday, the European Union joined the United States on imposing increasingly stringent sanctions against Russia, according to the Washington Post:
The European measures froze the E.U.-based assets of 10 Russian officials and five Ukrainians, all of whom the European Union linked to unrest in eastern Ukraine. They were also banned from travel to the 28 E.U. nations.
