Obama vows Western unity

The Hague :  US President Barack Obama has vowed Western unity in punishing Moscow for  annexing Crimea, ahead of crisis talks that could see Russia excluded from the G8 club of rich nations.

“Europe and America are united in our support of the Ukrainian government and the Ukrainian people, we’re united in imposing a cost on Russia for its actions so far,” Obama told journalists at Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum.

Russian troops have rapidly overrun the flashpoint Black Sea peninsula since the fall of a pro-Moscow government in Kiev a month ago.

“The national security and defence council has reached a decision, under instructions from the defence ministry, to conduct a redeployment of military units stationed in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea,” acting Ukraine president Oleksandr Turchynov told lawmakers in the face of the latest seizure. A top NATO commander has already warned that the Western military alliance was carefully watching massive Russian troop build up.

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