Obama says strains over Ukraine not leading to new Cold War with Russia

U.S. President Barack Obama speaks to reporters about new sanctions imposed on Russia as he departs the White House in Washington on July 29, 2014. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts

By Steve Holland and Anna Yukhananov

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama escalated U.S. economic sanctions against Russia on Tuesday for its aggression against Ukraine but dismissed suggestions the growing chill in U.S.-Russian relations marked the start of a new Cold War.

The United States and the European Union, in a carefully coordinated action, announced targeted new sanctions against Russian banks, energy and defense firms.

It was the West's most serious response yet to what it calls Russian instigation of and continuing support for the separatist uprising in the east and the shootdown of a Malaysian passenger jet on July 17 over eastern Ukraine.

Obama, speaking at the White House, said the sanctions would have a "greater impact on the Russian economy than we've seen so far" in a drive to force Moscow to stop backing the separatists.

Until now, Europe had stopped short of tougher steps against Russia for fear of retaliation. Obama said the new sanctions were a sign of "the waning patience Europe has with nice words from President (Vladimir) Putin that are not matched by actions."

Senior U.S. officials voiced growing alarm about a Russian troop buildup on the border with eastern Ukraine and a continued supply of heavy weaponry to the separatists.

These are signs that, so far at least, the sanctions are not forcing Putin to back down despite the damage the sanctions are doing to the Russian economy.

"It's not a new Cold War," Obama told reporters. "What it is, is a very specific issue related to Russia's unwillingness to recognize that Ukraine can chart its own path."

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U.S. President Barack Obama speaks to reporters about new sanctions imposed on Russia as he departs …

Still, Obama did not seem inclined to provide lethal military aid to Ukraine, saying the Ukraine military was "better armed than the separatists" and the issue at hand was "how to prevent bloodshed in eastern Ukraine."

But Republican Senator Marco Rubio, while applauding the new sanctions, voiced hope that Obama, along with European allies, "will also significantly increase our assistance, including military support, to the Ukrainian government."

"Russia’s continued aggression against Ukraine cannot go unanswered, and we need to do much more to make clear that we and the rest of the free world stand with the people of Ukraine at this important moment,” Rubio said in a statement.

FIVE BANKS NOW UNDER U.S. SANCTIONS

The new targets for sanctions included VTB, the Bank of Moscow, the Russian Agriculture Bank and the United Shipbuilding Corp., the Treasury Department said.

The sanctions on the three banks prohibit U.S. citizens or companies from dealing with debt carrying maturities longer than 90 days, or with new equity.

Five of the six largest state-owned banks in Russia are now under U.S. sanctions.

Also targeted was United Shipbuilding Corp, a shipbuilding company based on St. Petersburg, in a move that freezes any assets it may hold in the United States and prohibits all U.S. transactions with it.

The Commerce Department classified United Shipbuilding Corp as a defense technology company.

The new sanctions block the exports of specific goods and technologies to the Russian energy sector. The Commerce Department said it will deny any export, re-export or foreign transfer of items for use in Russia's energy sector that may be used for exploration or production of deepwater, Arctic offshore or shale projects that have the potential to produce oil.

Obama also formally suspended credit that encourages exports to Russia and financing for economic development projects in Russia. He warned there would be additional costs to Russia should Moscow not back down.

"Obviously, we can't, in the end, make President Putin see more clearly," Obama said. "Ultimately, that's something President Putin has to do on his own."

The Ukraine crisis has set back U.S. relations with Russia to near-Cold War levels. Ties were further strained this week by U.S. charges that Russia had violated the 1988 Cold War-era Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty designed to eliminate ground-launched cruise missiles.

White House officials refused to divulge details of the allegations but demanded immediate talks with Moscow, whose response thus far has been "wholly unsatisfactory," said White House spokesman Josh Earnest.

The new U.S. sanctions were announced during a visit to Washington by Ukraine Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin, who discussed prospects for resolving the conflict with Secretary of State John Kerry.

Both Kerry and Klimkin told reporters further pressure on Russia was essential to halt the flow of men, money and weapons into eastern Ukraine, but said the United States and Ukraine were examining possible political steps that could be taken inside Ukraine to address Russian concerns.

(Additional reporting by Eric Beech, Will Dunham, David Storey and Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Sandra Maler, Tom Brown and Andrew Hay)

Five dead, 150 feared trapped in India monsoon landslide

A major landslide on Wednesday struck a village in western India following heavy monsoon rains, killing at least five people and leaving up to 150 feared trapped, officials said.

Emergency forces rushed to remote Malin village in the Pune district of Maharashtra state, where debris from a hill collapsed onto homes in the morning while residents were sleeping.

"Five bodies have been recovered and 125 to 150 are still trapped," Satish Lalit, a spokesman for the Maharashtra chief minister's office, told AFP.

Alok Avasthy, regional commandant at the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), also said up to 150 were feared trapped by the landslide, which damaged about 50 houses.

He said that it was difficult to confirm casualties as the village has been cut off from communications. Rains were also hampering rescue operations.

Indian television station CNN-IBN said as well as five people killed in the landslide, another five have been rescued.

Television footage showed the side of a hill shaved off, with large amounts of mud, muddy water and logs piled below.

Heavy machinery has been mobilised to try to rescue those feared trapped, while about 30 ambulances rushed to the scene, local government official Saurav Rao told the Press Trust of India news agency.

"Exact number of casualties is not known as we are moving slowly to ensure that those trapped are removed safely," Rao said.

Divisional Commissioner Prabhakar Deshmukh said the rescue operation was a challenge with the area 15-20 kilometres from the nearest medical facility, but he said it should speed up once the NDRF teams arrive.

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Heavy rains have been falling for days in Maharashtra as a result of the annual monsoon.

Nearly 6,000 pilgrims, tourists and others are believed to have died when flash floods and landslides struck northern India last June.

The victims were swept away when floods caused by torrential monsoon rains hit the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand, destroying entire villages and towns.

Raging rivers flattened houses and buildings in the state, which was packed with travellers in what was a peak tourist season.

Building collapses are a common occurrence in India, especially during the rainy season, with millions living in dilapidated old structures or newly built but illegal constructions made from substandard material.

An apartment tower under construction came crashing down in the southern city of Chennai late June following heavy rains, killing 61, mostly labourers.

A similar accident on the outskirts of Mumbai last year left 74 dead.

British daily The Guardian last year gathered statistics showing that 2,651 people were killed across India in 2012 from the collapse of 2,737 structures, including houses and bridges.

Millions Globally Protest Israel’s War on Gaza

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States is condemning the shelling of a U.N. school in the Gaza Strip that was sheltering displaced Palestinians. Israel has acknowledged the shelling.

The U.S. did not say who's responsible for shelling the school. Gaza officials say Israel shelled the school, killing 15 and wounding 90. The Israeli military said it fired back after soldiers were targeted by mortar rounds launched from the vicinity of the school.

White House spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan says the U.S. is also "extremely concerned" that thousands of Palestinians aren't safe in U.N.-designated shelters in Gaza.

Meehan says the U.S. also condemns those responsible for hiding weapons in U.N. facilities in Gaza. She says the escalation shows the need for a cease-fire as soon as possible.