Obama Warns Russia Against ‘Meddling’ in Ukraine

'Deeply Concerned' as Russia Takes Up Positions Near Naval Base

After US-backed protesters imposed regime change in the Ukraine, the Crimean Peninsula, which is majority Russian, has exploded in a round of secessionist protests, sparking allegations from the new pro-US government that Russia is spearheading the whole thing and “invading” them.

President Obama, always willing to believe a good story that allows him to intervene, today expressed “deep concerns” about Russia, warning them they would pay a heavy cost for “meddling” in Ukraine.

So far Russia has held some military exercises along the border with Ukraine, and took up defensive positions around their naval base in the Crimea. They insist everything they’ve done is in keeping with long-standing military agreements with Ukraine’s government.

The main US concern is less anything Russia is doing, but the fact that there is a growing secessionist movement in the Crimea that is likely to win a referendum on splitting off, and US comments have centered around the inviolable nature of Ukraine’s 1991 borders, which it insists all nations must accept unconditionally.

Interestingly, the US anger at Ukraine secessionism was completely missing in action only a week ago, before the pro-Russian government’s ouster, when pro-West protesters in the city of Lviv were pushing for secession and the establishment of an independent Halych-Volyn that would encompass much of the western half of the EU. Apparently it’s not as funny when the other side does it.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.