WASHINGTON (AP) – President Barack Obama says U.S. sanctions against Russia over its actions in Ukraine are straining the Russian economy, which has “ground to a halt.”
He also said Wednesday that if Russia invades eastern Ukraine, it would pose a whole different set of questions for the U.S.
Western officials on Wednesday warned that a Russian military buildup on Ukraine’s border could herald a major incursion to protect the pro-Moscow separatists fighting Ukrainian forces.
Obama was asked about the impact of U.S. sanctions on the same day of reports that Russia plans to move to ban agricultural imports from the U.S.