Do you support U.S. diplomatic efforts that challenge Russian advances in Crimea?
"As Russia dispatched more forces and tightened its grip on the Crimean Peninsula on Sunday, President Obama embarked on a strategy intended to isolate Moscow and prevent it from seizing more Ukrainian territory even as he was pressured at home to respond more forcefully," reports Peter Baker in the New York Times.
Working the telephone from the Oval Office, Mr. Obama rallied allies, agreed to send Secretary of State John Kerry to Kiev and approved a series of diplomatic and economic moves intended to “make it hurt,” as one administration official put it. But the president found himself besieged by advice to take more assertive action.
Ukrainian recruits for a self defense group receive instructions from a commander in Kiev's Independence Square.Ukrainian Government Rushes to Dampen Secessionist SentimentMARCH 2, 2014
Ukrainian soldiers on Sunday guarded the entrance to the Ukrainian military base in the village of Perevalnoye, in Crimea.Putin Engages in Test of Will Over UkraineMARCH 2, 2014
Unidentified armed men outside a Ukrainian military base in the village of Perevalnoye, in Crimea. Masks and uniforms of soldiers are mostly shorn of markings.In Crimea’s Phantom War, Armed Men Face Unseen FoeMARCH 2, 2014
“Create a democratic noose around Putin’s Russia,” urged Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina. “Revisit the missile defense shield,” suggested Senator Marco Rubio, Republican of Florida. “Cancel Sochi,” argued Representative Mike Rogers, the Michigan Republican who leads the Intelligence Committee, referring to the Group of 8 summit meeting to be hosted by President Vladimir V. Putin. Kick “him out of the G-8” altogether, said Senator Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, the Democratic whip.
Today's Question: Do you support U.S. diplomatic efforts that challenge Russian advances in Crimea?
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