The President spoke today with Prime Minister Cameron of the United Kingdom to discuss the situations in Ukraine, Afghanistan, and Iraq, as well as the status of the P5+1 talks with Iran taking place in Vienna.
On Ukraine, the President and Prime Minister expressed concern about the increasing tensions and ongoing violence in eastern Ukraine and agreed upon the need for Russia to take immediate steps to de-escalate the situation. These steps have already been clearly conveyed to Russia and include the need to enforce a bilateral ceasefire to be observed by the Russian-supported separatists, an immediate halt to the flow of Russian weapons and fighters across the border, the establishment of an effective OSCE border-monitoring mechanism, a roadmap for Contact Group talks, and the release of all hostages. So far, neither the United States nor the United Kingdom have seen progress on complying with these conditions. The President and Prime Minister agreed Europe and the United States should take further coordinated measures to impose costs on Russia if it does not take immediate steps toward de-escalation.
Concerning Afghanistan, the President and Prime Minister welcomed recent progress toward resolving the election impasse and agreed to continue to urge all parties to play constructive and helpful roles leading to the peaceful and democratic transition of power in Afghanistan. On P5+1 talks with Iran, the two leaders agreed on the need for Iran to take the necessary steps to assure the international community that its nuclear program will be exclusively peaceful and reaffirmed their commitment to make progress toward a sustainable agreement. With regard to Iraq, the President and Prime Minister agreed to keep working with all parties to form an inclusive and representative government that can work to promote the interests of all Iraqis.