Editor's Note: The following are U.S. President Barack Obama's remarks about Ukraine, starting at the 14-minute mark and lasting for 90 seconds, at his G20 press conference on Sept. 5 in Hangzhou, China.
“We also spent time talking about Ukraine. There is a Minsk agreement that arose out of the Normandy negotiations between Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany. But it hasn’t been implemented. I have made very clear that until it is implemented, the United States is not going to pull down sanctions, that it is important for both sides to try to seize this opportunity in the coming weeks, to finalize an agreement and to figure out a sequence in which that document is put into effect. There was agreement, not just between myself and Mr. (Vladimir) Putin, but with Chancellor (Angela) Merkel and President (Francois) Hollande, that that effort should increase in urgency over the next several weeks. That was constructive but not conclusive. And we’ll have to see whether we can actually get this done or whether in fact President Putin, despite talking about wanting a negotiation and solution, is comfortable with this constant low-grade conflict along the Russia-Ukraine border.”
U.S. President Barack Obama’s press conference on Sept. 5 at the G20 Summit in China.
