Obama on Putin: 'Sometimes people don't act rationally'
The US president called his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, to ask him to stop supporting separatists in eastern Ukraine; "President Putin should want to resolve this diplomatically," Barack Obama declared at a press conference; "But sometimes people don't act rationally, and they don't always act based on medium- or long-term interests," he added.
By Roberta Rampton and Thomas Grove
WASHINGTON/MOSCOW (Reuters) - US President Barack Obama called his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, to urge him to stop supporting separatists in eastern Ukraine and seek a diplomatic solution to the crisis, which has triggered new and severe economic sanctions against Russia.
On Friday, Obama told reporters he believed the U.S. had done "everything we could do," except go to war, to deter further Russian threats to Ukraine through sanctions targeting the energy, defense, and financial sectors.
"President Putin should want to resolve this diplomatically. Get the sanctions lifted, get the economy growing again, and have good relations with Ukraine," Obama declared at a press conference.
"But sometimes people don't act rationally, and they don't always act based on medium- or long-term interests," he added.
It was the first conversation between the two leaders since July 17, when a Malaysian passenger plane was shot down in eastern Ukraine by what US officials believe was a missile launched by pro-Russian separatists.
During the call, Putin told Obama that the sanctions are "counterproductive," according to a Kremlin statement.
"The Russian leader described the intensification of Washington's sanctions as counterproductive, causing serious damage to bilateral relations and international stability in general," the Kremlin stated.
The statement also said there were "significant differences" between the two leaders, but that both emphasized the importance of an "immediate and lasting ceasefire" in eastern Ukraine.
The two leaders agreed to keep the channels of communication open, according to the White House.
In the conversation, Obama also mentioned his concern about what Washington says is a Russian violation of the 1988 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, designed to eliminate land-based cruise missiles, the White House said.
The U.S. government pledged about eight million dollars in new aid on Friday to bolster security on the Ukrainian border, a promise made by Vice President Joe Biden to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.
(Additional reporting by Steve Holland and Mark Felsenthal in Washington)