Obama rules out using force to dislodge Russia forces in Crimea

US President Barack Obama calls on Russia once again to de-escalate the crisis over Ukraine or face the consequences of more sanctions.

15:21 26 March 2014

US President Barack Obama has once again urged Russia to de-escalate the crisis over Ukraine but ruled out using force to dislodge Russian forces in Crimea.

In a statement made after Ukraine’s defence minister resigned over the crisis, he said: “Every Nato ally has assurances that Nato will uphold article security protections. We have a strong Nato treaty, so if it happens to our allies, we will act together.”

He added: “Russia is a regional power that is threatening some of its immediate neighbours, not out of strength but out of weakness.”

“We have considerable influence on our neighbours. We generally don't need to invade them in order to have a strong cooperative relationship with them,” he jibed.

“The facts on the ground are that the Russian military controls Crimea. There is no expectation that they will be dislodged by force. There is no simple solution to what has taken place in Crimea,” he said.

On Tuesday, General lhor Tenyukh has tendered his resignation. He told MPs: "Given that some may not like the actions I am taking ... I will not cling to my post," Mr Tenyukh told MPs. "If the leadership has a different view of developing events and other candidates, I, acting defence minister General Tenyukh, offer my resignation."