Обама заявил, что в 2014 году было трудно предсказать ситуацию на Украине

What is happening now in Ukraine was difficult to predict "eight to ten years ago," former US President Barack Obama said in an interview with NBC. The situation in 2014, when Crimea became part of RUSSIA during his presidential term, is different from the current one, he noted.

“The situations <...> are different. But I think what we see over and over again is a reminder why it is important not to take our own democracy for granted,” he said in response to a journalist’s question if he thinks he could behave differently after annexation of Crimea to Russia.

Obama noted that "the danger was always present," but then it was still impossible to predict "an invasion of Ukraine."

Obama in 2014 imposed personal sanctions against Russians due to "violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine" and gave the Treasury the right, after consultations with the State Department, to expand the list. Military and investment cooperation between Washington and Moscow was terminated. Since then, the sanctions have been tightened several times.

Representatives of the opposition Republican Party accused Obama of insufficient rigidity. Republican senators called for "more direct consequences" for Russia.

On February 24, 2022, the Russian military operation in Ukraine began. Vladimir Putin called the “demilitarization and denazification” of the neighboring state its goal . Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has declared martial law and severed diplomatic relations with Moscow. The United States, as well as the EU, Great Britain and other countries, have introduced several packages of tough sanctions against Russia since the outbreak of hostilities, affecting the financial sector, industry, business and other areas.