News story

PM phone call with President Obama: 5 March 2014

Prime Minister David Cameron spoke to President Obama earlier today to discuss the situation in Ukraine.

This was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government

Following the phone call, a Downing Street spokesperson said:

Ahead of tomorrow’s European Council, the Prime Minister spoke to President Obama earlier today to discuss the situation in Ukraine. They reiterated their grave concern over Russia’s clear violation of Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity and agreed that the international community should continue to work together to de-escalate the situation and to deter any further Russian action.

While they noted that there had not been any further serious escalations by the Russians in the last 48 hours, both agreed that the current circumstances are unacceptable - the Russian authorities had yet to withdraw their troops back to bases, still refused to recognise the interim government in Kiev and the situation on the ground remained extremely tense. They both welcomed the observer mission being undertaken by Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe at the request of the government of Ukraine.

They agreed that the EU and United States should stand united in their condemnation of Russia’s actions and make clear to President Putin that such actions would face significant consequences.

They also discussed how to encourage direct talks between Ukraine and Russia and the need to continue to support the government of Ukraine as it works to stabilise its economy and to restore stability for the Ukrainian people.

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Published 5 March 2014