U.S. President Barack Obama is taking a wait-and-see approach on Ukraine, following the agreement crafted in Geneva by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry with his counterpart, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
The Ukraine crisis may yet derail White House hopes to re-energize Asia policy, as the President is set to travel to that region later in the week.
Our Washington correspondent Priscilla Huff has a preview:
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The Obama administration has described Russia's actions in Ukraine, and specifically in Crimea as unacceptable.
But Jeremy Shapiro, visiting fellow in Foreign Policy at Brookings, notes, exactly what Russia has done is unclear.
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Another thing Putin has done is demonstrate a new model for agression in which he has created considerable ambiguity about whether an agression has taken place. which has made the response more difficult.
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The White House wants any form of agression to cease.
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obviously, Russia right now still has its forces amassed along the Ukrainian-Russian border as a gesture of intimidation. And it is our belief -- and not ours alone -- but I think broad portions of the international community believe that Russia’s hand is in the disruptions and chaos that we’ve been seeing in southern and eastern Ukraine. But there is an opportunity for Russia to take a different approach. We are encouraging them to do so.
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Earlier, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry crafted an agreement with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
The deal called for pro-Russian demonstrators to stop occupying Ukrainian government buildings, and to focus on a political process that is inclusive of all factions in Ukraine, as well as bolstering Ukraine's faltering economy.
Steven Pifer of the Brookings Instutition says, in a few days, it will be time for the US and its European allies to face up to what are next steps, if Russia does not fullfil its commitments under the deal.
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So, I think the question for the West will be if you get into a situation where five days from now, it pretty much looks like today, does the west conclude that in fact, there is an invasion of sorts going on in Eastern Ukraine and that its appropriate to react? And then that may in turn have implications on the Asia aspects of this because that will probably pull a bit more of the president's attention back toward Europe.
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one nagging question has been how well can U.S. President Barack Obama focus on re-energizing a rebalance toward Asia when the Ukraine crisis tops the headlines nearly every day.
Jonathan Pollack is one of the Asia scholars at the Brookings Institution
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It should not, in my view, dominate the agenda that President Obama discusses on the trip. It is not at present uppermost as an issue for the region as a whole
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While Asia may not be putting the Ukraine crisis at the top of the agenda, the Obama administration is clearly continuing to priorize the issue...
Just as U.S. President Barack Obama flies across the Pacific Ocean toward Asia, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden is expected to fly in the opposite direction, across the Atlantic Ocean and onto Ukraine for a visit.
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