On a busy day of diplomatic activity, President Barack Obama and the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, agreed on Saturday that Russia would face “additional consequences” if it intervened in Ukraine without permission from the Ukrainian government, the White House said. In a statement about a call between Obama and Merkel that took place while Obama was aboard Air Force One, flying to Massachusetts for a scheduled vacation, the White House said: “The two leaders agreed that any Russian intervention in Ukraine, even under purported ‘humanitarian’ auspices, without the formal, express consent and authorisation of the government of Ukraine is unacceptable, violates international law, and will provoke additional consequences.” Fighting in eastern Ukraine continues in a crisis dating from the fall in February of Viktor Yanukovych’s pro-Russian Kiev government. Russia subsequently occupied and annexed Crimea; in July a Malaysia Airlines plane, Flight MH17, was brought down over Ukraine by a missile the US believes was fired by pro-Russia separatists. The White House added that the two leaders also reiterated their commitment to urge Russia to seek a political solution to the crisis in Ukraine. According to a statement from Russia’s foreign ministry, the foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, spoke by telephone with his US counterpart, the secretary of state, John Kerry, and called for “urgent measures for preventing an impending humanitarian catastrophe in south-eastern regions” of Ukraine. The statement said: “John Kerry confirmed such work is being carried out with the Kiev authorities.” Kerry was in Burma on Saturday. He pressed his host country on human rights and sought to address tensions between local powers and China over the South China Sea. On Saturday morning, on the South Lawn of the White House, Obama delivered a statement regarding air strikes against Islamist militants in Iraq and humanitarian airdrops to Yazidi refugees on Mount Sinjar. Obama detailed calls that morning with the British prime minister, David Cameron, and the French president, François Hollande about contributing to the aid effort in Iraq.
The White House later said Obama and Cameron were calling for an immediate cessation of hostilities between Israel and Hamas in Gaza and pressing for action that would lead to a permanent ceasefire.
Obama has spent at least part of his summer in Martha’s Vineyard each year he has been president except 2012, when he was running for re-election. This year he will break his vacation midway through, with a two-day return to Washington.
Advisers have been cagey about why the president is returning to Washington, saying only that he plans to hold in-person meetings at the White House.
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