U.S. President and German Chancellor threatened Russia with more severe economic sanctions and spoke to the press of cyber espionage effected recent years
President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel threatened Russia today new sanctions that would target specific economic sectors , in case of worsening of the crisis in Ukraine .
During a joint press conference at the White House , Obama warned Moscow against possible " sectored " sanctions if the presidential elections of May 25 in Ukraine are disrupted or prevented by the pro - Russian rebels.
" If in fact we see that the destabilization and unrest remain so strong that prevent the elections of May 25 , we have no choice but to go ahead with severe additional sanctions ," Obama said.
German Chancellor meanwhile warned that Europe is ready to launch a "third stage" of economic sanctions against Russia , which business sectors oppose their country .
"We are ready and have prepared the stage," Merkel said. The second stage concerned individuals, while the third would focus more on economic sectors.
" May 25 is not far away at all . Not possible to stabilize the situation , sanctions are inevitable ," said the chancellor. Those measures, experts in the U.S. and Europe and evaluated, would target sectors such as finance, energy and mining, vital for the Russian economy .
The European Union on Monday added 15 names of Ukrainian and Russian representatives pro-Russian to the list of sanctioned individuals . But some governments want to go further to " increase pressure " a diplomat said Wednesday .
United States , meanwhile , extended the range of sanctions targeting mostly close friends personeros Russian President Vladimir Putin , as his energy advisor Igor Sechin and Sergei Chemezov , president of the technology group Rostec .
The two leaders stressed , however , their preference for a diplomatic solution to the crisis in Ukraine .
Ukraine goes to the polls on May 25 to elect a new president, shaken by a separatist threat in the east of pro - Russian groups encouraged by Moscow .
The Merkel -Obama meeting, the first after the revelations of spying by U.S. intelligence , came as instability and violence continued in eastern Ukraine and Kiev called on Moscow to stop a crackdown on pro -Kremlin groups.
The U.S. president also called on Russia to help the release of the observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe ( OSCE) , held in Sloviansk , eastern Ukraine by the separatists . "Russia must work to be immediately released," Obama said.
Obama today acknowledged that there are still tensions between his government and Merkel regarding espionage National Security Agency (NSA ) , so both countries plan to open a bilateral " ciberdiálogo " to resolve differences .
In a press conference after meeting at the White House for two hours with Merkel , Obama seemed to close the door on the possibility of agreeing a treaty of mutual espionage for Germany , as the German Government wants .
" It is not correct to say that the U.S. government offered an agreement not to spy ( Germany ) and then withdraw that offer," Obama corrected to a German journalist at the press conference. "We have no agreement not to spy as such with any country , with any of our closest allies ," he added .
" What we're doing with the Germans, like the French, the British or Canadians, is to review what exactly are the rules that govern the relationship with each country and make sure there are no misunderstandings ," Obama said.
The president said that Merkel has proposed to open an "American - German ciberdiálogo to fill gaps that may still exist in terms of how we operate, how German intelligence operations , and ensure that there is transparency about what we are doing and what intentions have. "
Merkel confirmed that Germany and the U.S. " They will enter that ciberdiálogo " which serve as " a forum to have more long conversations about how much we are individually , what are the technical possibilities , but also ( explain ) the ramifications of our technological advances ."
The revelation last October that a mobile phone was tapped by Merkel U.S. intelligence between 2002 and 2012 tremendously irritated the German Government , which came to threaten U.S. with the expulsion of diplomats and later tried to convince Washington to sign a treaty of mutual espionage.
"We still have some challenges to overcome," Merkel said today , but hoped that there are " possibilities " to resolve those differences " in the medium and long term."
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