Foreign Policy

Tough Talk

By Geoffrey Norman
Published March 24, 2014 8:23am ET
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Tough Talk
President Obama is keeping up the rhetorical pressure on Russia. As Justin Sink of the Hill reports: President Obama vowed Russia would “pay a price” for its annexation of Crimea as he kicked off a week of talks with European leaders focused largely on the crisis in Ukraine. Europe and America are united in our support of the […]

President Obama is keeping up the rhetorical pressure on Russia. As Justin Sink of the Hill reports:

President Obama vowed Russia would “pay a price” for its annexation of Crimea as he kicked off a week of talks with European leaders focused largely on the crisis in Ukraine. Europe and America are united in our support of the Ukrainian government and Ukrainian people,” Obama said. “We are united in imposing a cost on Russia for its actions so far.”

Those costs will almost certainly not be of a military nature. This is a matter of both intentions and capabilities. NATO isn’t militarily in shape to back up that kind of tough talk, our European allies having neglected their forces. As Philip Seib, writing at DefenseOne.com notes:

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Barack Obama Blog Europe European Union Foreign Policy Geoffrey Norman Military NATO Russia TWS Archive Ukraine