Obama says more sanctions 'teed up' against Russia over Ukraine
TOKYO (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama said on Thursday that more sanctions were "teed up" against Russia if it does not deliver on promises in an agreement in Geneva last week to ease tensions in Ukraine.
"So far at least we have seen them not abide by the spirit or the letter of the agreement in Geneva," he said at a joint news conference after a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
"We have prepared for the possibility of applying additional sanctions," he said.
He said that Russia could avoid further sanctions by changing course but that the evidence so far had not left him hopeful that Moscow would do so.
"There's always the possibility that Russia, tomorrow, or the next day, reverses its course and takes a different approach," he said.
(Reporting by Mark Felsenthal; Writing by Edmund Klamann; Editing by Louise Ireland and Dominic Lau)
