At his last press conference as president of the United States on Jan.18, Barack Obama recommended that his successor, Donald Trump, separate nuclear weapons talks with Russia from the issue of sanctions over Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Obama said that sanctions shouldn’t be lifted until Russia ends its war against Ukraine and respects the nation’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
“It is important for the U.S. to stand up for the basic principle that big countries don’t go around and invade and bully smaller countries. It is important for us to continue to be on the right side of these issues because if we, the largest, strongest country and democracy in the world, are not willing to stand up on behalf of these values, then certainly China, Russia and others will not.”
Trump, who will take office on Jan. 20, said that he would consider lifting sanctions against Russia if they agreed to cut their number of nuclear arms.
While Obama expressed hope that Trump would be able to restart the talks with Russia regarding the START II Treaty which would see both countries reduce their nuclear stockpiles, he advised his successor not to confuse the reasons why the sanctions had been imposed on Russia in the first place.
Obama said that the sanctions had been imposed not because of nuclear weapons issues but Russia’s invasion of the Donbas and Crimea. They would, therefore, be removed as soon as Russia stops occupying Ukrainian territory and meddling in Ukrainian affairs and ends its support of military surrogates “who have violated basic international laws and international norms.”
“I think it would probably best serve, not only American interests but also the interests of preserving international norms if we made sure that we don’t confuse why these sanctions have been imposed with a whole set of other issues,” Obama said.
