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| In Show of Support, Obama Meets With Ukraine Leader | In Show of Support, Obama Meets With Ukraine Leader |
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| WARSAW — President Obama met on Wednesday for the first time with the newly elected president of Ukraine and pledged American support for efforts to stabilize a country torn by corruption, economic turmoil and a violent pro-Russian insurgency broadly believed to be fomented by Moscow. | WARSAW — President Obama met on Wednesday for the first time with the newly elected president of Ukraine and pledged American support for efforts to stabilize a country torn by corruption, economic turmoil and a violent pro-Russian insurgency broadly believed to be fomented by Moscow. |
| Mr. Obama used the meeting to announce that the United States would increase nonlethal aid to Ukraine with $5 million worth of night-vision goggles, body armor and communications equipment sought by its security forces. He praised President-elect Petro O. Poroshenko, saying that Mr. Poroshenko “understands the aspirations and hopes of the Ukrainian people” and represents a better future for his country. | Mr. Obama used the meeting to announce that the United States would increase nonlethal aid to Ukraine with $5 million worth of night-vision goggles, body armor and communications equipment sought by its security forces. He praised President-elect Petro O. Poroshenko, saying that Mr. Poroshenko “understands the aspirations and hopes of the Ukrainian people” and represents a better future for his country. |
| “I have been deeply impressed by his vision,” Mr. Obama told reporters at the end of the 70-minute session. “The United States is absolutely committed to standing behind the Ukrainian people, not just in the coming days and weeks but in the coming years.” | “I have been deeply impressed by his vision,” Mr. Obama told reporters at the end of the 70-minute session. “The United States is absolutely committed to standing behind the Ukrainian people, not just in the coming days and weeks but in the coming years.” |
| Mr. Obama started the second day of a four-day trip to Europe with an introduction to Mr. Poroshenko — a meeting that gave the American president a chance to take a personal measure of the leader now charged with pulling Ukraine back from the brink of political and economic collapse. Mr. Poroshenko was elected on May 25 and will be inaugurated on Saturday, with Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. in attendance. | Mr. Obama started the second day of a four-day trip to Europe with an introduction to Mr. Poroshenko — a meeting that gave the American president a chance to take a personal measure of the leader now charged with pulling Ukraine back from the brink of political and economic collapse. Mr. Poroshenko was elected on May 25 and will be inaugurated on Saturday, with Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. in attendance. |
| American officials have come away from their initial dealings with Mr. Poroshenko hopeful that he has the capacity to overhaul a dysfunctional system. A billionaire known as the chocolate king of Ukraine for his confection business, Mr. Poroshenko, a former foreign minister, speaks colloquial English and has made clear that he is determined to integrate his country into Europe. | American officials have come away from their initial dealings with Mr. Poroshenko hopeful that he has the capacity to overhaul a dysfunctional system. A billionaire known as the chocolate king of Ukraine for his confection business, Mr. Poroshenko, a former foreign minister, speaks colloquial English and has made clear that he is determined to integrate his country into Europe. |
| At the same time, Mr. Poroshenko has dealt with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia in the past, and American officials hope he may be able to improve ties with the Kremlin. Mr. Putin has said he recognizes the choice of the Ukrainian electorate, but he has not yet scheduled a meeting with Mr. Poroshenko and denies sponsoring the separatists who have been waging a low-grade civil war in eastern Ukraine. | At the same time, Mr. Poroshenko has dealt with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia in the past, and American officials hope he may be able to improve ties with the Kremlin. Mr. Putin has said he recognizes the choice of the Ukrainian electorate, but he has not yet scheduled a meeting with Mr. Poroshenko and denies sponsoring the separatists who have been waging a low-grade civil war in eastern Ukraine. |
| Mr. Poroshenko talked at length with Secretary of State John Kerry during a dinner sponsored by the Polish government on Tuesday night and again on Wednesday morning. Mr. Kerry plans to follow the meetings here by sitting down in Paris on Thursday with Foreign Minister Sergey V. Lavrov of Russia to discuss Ukraine as well as the joint Russian-American venture to remove chemical weapons from Syria. | Mr. Poroshenko talked at length with Secretary of State John Kerry during a dinner sponsored by the Polish government on Tuesday night and again on Wednesday morning. Mr. Kerry plans to follow the meetings here by sitting down in Paris on Thursday with Foreign Minister Sergey V. Lavrov of Russia to discuss Ukraine as well as the joint Russian-American venture to remove chemical weapons from Syria. |
| Beyond finding a way to ease the security issues in eastern Ukraine, where violence has continued to flare, American officials said that the most important way they could aid Mr. Poroshenko is to help him put the country on a stronger economic footing and deal with its reliance on Russia for energy. | Beyond finding a way to ease the security issues in eastern Ukraine, where violence has continued to flare, American officials said that the most important way they could aid Mr. Poroshenko is to help him put the country on a stronger economic footing and deal with its reliance on Russia for energy. |
| The International Monetary Fund has stepped in with a rescue package and the United States has chipped in, but Ukraine is still negotiating with Moscow over unpaid natural gas bills. | The International Monetary Fund has stepped in with a rescue package and the United States has chipped in, but Ukraine is still negotiating with Moscow over unpaid natural gas bills. |
| “They’re very interested in making sure that economic support is in place,” Mr. Obama said Tuesday. “They’re very concerned about making sure that energy is in place as winter comes up.” | “They’re very interested in making sure that economic support is in place,” Mr. Obama said Tuesday. “They’re very concerned about making sure that energy is in place as winter comes up.” |
| “The I.M.F. package and the international assistance, including ours, that has been forthcoming is going to be critical, I think, in these early months of the new government’s efforts to solidify its position and also to reach out to skeptics and say there’s the prospect for a better life,” Mr. Obama added. “But that has to translate into concrete action. And so we’re going to spend a lot of time on the economics of Ukraine.” | “The I.M.F. package and the international assistance, including ours, that has been forthcoming is going to be critical, I think, in these early months of the new government’s efforts to solidify its position and also to reach out to skeptics and say there’s the prospect for a better life,” Mr. Obama added. “But that has to translate into concrete action. And so we’re going to spend a lot of time on the economics of Ukraine.” |
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| After the meeting, Mr. Obama gave an address at a ceremony commemorating the 25th anniversary of the first partially free elections in Poland, which led to the eventual end of Communist rule, and he linked those momentous events to Ukraine’s own political revolution in recent months. | After the meeting, Mr. Obama gave an address at a ceremony commemorating the 25th anniversary of the first partially free elections in Poland, which led to the eventual end of Communist rule, and he linked those momentous events to Ukraine’s own political revolution in recent months. |
| “The Ukrainians of today are the heirs of Solidarity — men and women like you who dared to challenge a bankrupt regime,” Mr. Obama told a crowd in Castle Square under overcast skies. “When your peaceful protests were met with an iron fist, Poles placed flowers in the shipyard gate. Today, Ukrainians honor their fallen with flowers in Independence Square.” | “The Ukrainians of today are the heirs of Solidarity — men and women like you who dared to challenge a bankrupt regime,” Mr. Obama told a crowd in Castle Square under overcast skies. “When your peaceful protests were met with an iron fist, Poles placed flowers in the shipyard gate. Today, Ukrainians honor their fallen with flowers in Independence Square.” |
| He held out Poland as a model for Ukraine. Where the two countries were in similar economic positions at the end of the Cold War, Poland has become far more prosperous. Poland’s gross domestic product is nearly $14,000 per capita, compared with Ukraine’s, which, at under $3,600, is the second-lowest of 41 countries in Europe measured by I.M.F. data. | He held out Poland as a model for Ukraine. Where the two countries were in similar economic positions at the end of the Cold War, Poland has become far more prosperous. Poland’s gross domestic product is nearly $14,000 per capita, compared with Ukraine’s, which, at under $3,600, is the second-lowest of 41 countries in Europe measured by I.M.F. data. |
| Mr. Obama’s meeting with Mr. Poroshenko came a day after he arrived in Warsaw, where he vowed to spend as much as $1 billion to bolster training and joint exercises in Central and Eastern Europe, where many feel jittery about Russia’s revived assertiveness in the region. But Polish leaders were disappointed that Mr. Obama is not sending more troops in the short term or establishing a permanent base in the long term. | Mr. Obama’s meeting with Mr. Poroshenko came a day after he arrived in Warsaw, where he vowed to spend as much as $1 billion to bolster training and joint exercises in Central and Eastern Europe, where many feel jittery about Russia’s revived assertiveness in the region. But Polish leaders were disappointed that Mr. Obama is not sending more troops in the short term or establishing a permanent base in the long term. |
| After his speech in Castle Square, Mr. Obama departed for Brussels to meet with other members of the Group of 7 industrial powers: Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan. Their gathering was originally scheduled as a Group of 8 summit meeting to be hosted by Mr. Putin in Sochi, Russia, but that meeting was called off when Russia was suspended from the group after its annexation of Crimea. | After his speech in Castle Square, Mr. Obama departed for Brussels to meet with other members of the Group of 7 industrial powers: Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan. Their gathering was originally scheduled as a Group of 8 summit meeting to be hosted by Mr. Putin in Sochi, Russia, but that meeting was called off when Russia was suspended from the group after its annexation of Crimea. |
| Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, speaking to the German Parliament hours before flying to Brussels for the Group of 7 meeting, said Russia needed to do more to prevent violence in eastern Ukraine and gave her clearest warning to date that failure to act would lead to tougher sanctionsagainst Moscow. | |
| Mr. Putin “has to make his influence felt” with pro-Russian separatists who have attacked and seized government offices in eastern Ukraine and do more to prevent weapons flowing into Ukraine across porous Russian borders, Ms. Merkel said. | Mr. Putin “has to make his influence felt” with pro-Russian separatists who have attacked and seized government offices in eastern Ukraine and do more to prevent weapons flowing into Ukraine across porous Russian borders, Ms. Merkel said. |
| “If all this does not stop,” she told Parliament, “then we will not shy away from imposing new sanctions,” under the so-called Stage 3 of measures approved by the European Union in early March after Russia annexed Crimea. So far, the Europeans and the United States have punished individuals but not whole sectors of the Russian economy, which could happen under those more severe Stage 3 sanctions. | “If all this does not stop,” she told Parliament, “then we will not shy away from imposing new sanctions,” under the so-called Stage 3 of measures approved by the European Union in early March after Russia annexed Crimea. So far, the Europeans and the United States have punished individuals but not whole sectors of the Russian economy, which could happen under those more severe Stage 3 sanctions. |