Obama To Press EU On Russia Sanctions, Meet Abadi At G7
U.S. President Barack Obama will urge EU leaders at the upcoming Group of Seven (G7) summit to maintain economic sanctions against Russia over its involvement in eastern Ukraine.
The White House said Obama -- who will arrive in southern Germany for the two-day summit on June 7 -- will also hold talks with Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi during the meetings with leaders from the world's top industrial countries.
U.S. officials said Obama and Abadi will discuss the "situation on the ground [in Iraq]" and the U.S. effort "to support Iraqi forces."
The United States leads a coalition of countries conducting air strikes against Islamic State (IS) targets in Iraq and Syria and is also helping to train Iraqi forces.
Obama will also hold bilateral meetings with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister David Cameron at the summit, which will be held at a chateau south of Munich.
Based on reporting by Reuters and AFP
That concludes our live-blogging of the Ukraine crisis for Thursday, June 4, 2015. Check back here tomorrow morning for more of our continuing coverage.
U.S. officials to discuss Ukraine strategy, Russia sanctions:
Defense Secretary Ash Carter is summoning top U.S. defense and diplomatic officials to Germany June 5 to assess the effectiveness of NATO's strategy toward Moscow in response to the Ukraine crisis.
About two dozen generals and diplomats will discuss privately whether the political will is still in place in Europe to maintain sanctions on Russia.
While they will also discuss military options, including directly arming Ukraine, Carter "believes very strongly that the economic sanctions are the most important part of putting leverage on Russia right now," one official told dpa.
Carter admitted June 3 that so far the sanctions have not had the desired effect.
"We have to take another look at what we are doing here," he told troops in Stuttgart, descrying the "sad turn" taken by Russia in the last year.
The meeting comes as a major battle erupted in eastern Ukraine, breaking the fragile February cease fire agreement. (Reuters, AP, dpa)