Russia’s top rating news program has launched an extraordinary attack
on Prime Minister Tony Abbott and hinte¢d he is part of a “cynical” and
“deliberate” western plot to blame Russia for the MH17 tragedy.
The attack aired on Russian state channel ORT at the top of its
national evening news bulletin in a special report by Mikhail Leontyev, a
well known pundit with close links to the Kremlin. It comes as Russian President Vladimir Putin joins other leaders in Brisbane this weekend for the G20 summit.
“We know that at the summit in Brisbane Australian Prime Minister
Abbott is threatening to ask our President some tough questions about
the Malaysian Boeing. Let’s try to help him,” Mr Leontyev said.
The report then showed what Mr Leontyev said were photos taken by a
non-Russian low-orbit satellite and obtained by ORT. Mr Leontyev said
the photos showed a Ukrainian Mig 29 fighter jet shooting an air-to-air
missile at the exact time and place MH17 was shot down. He said this was
consistent with Russia’s preferred version of events that a Ukraine
military jet shot down MH17.
He said that there was no evidence for the claim raised by Abbott
that MH17 was struck by a ground-to-air Buk missile fired by pro-Russian
separatists. “There was most likely no Buk and no launch,” he said.
Mr Leontyev then returned to the satellite photos and addressed
western leaders. “Gentlemen, you have these photos or others. Why wont
you show them to us? Show your cards. Because at the moment we have
every reason to believe that state crimes have been committed by those
who deliberately and cynically destroyed the plane and by those who
deliberately and cynically are hiding that fact, even though they have
all the information.”
The broadcast is the first time Russian state television has covered
the conversation between Mr Abbott and Mr Putin in Beijing this week
where Mr Abbott said he had evidence that MH17 was shot down by a
ground-to-air missile launcher operated by pro-Russian separatists in
eastern Ukraine, which returned to Russia after the accident. Mr Abbott asked Mr Putin for compensation and an apology.
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BRISBANE, Australia — President Obama edged closer to describing Russia’s military incursions in Ukraine
as an invasion, saying on Sunday that the Western campaign to isolate
Moscow would continue, though additional sanctions were unnecessary for
now.
Speaking to reporters at the end of the annual meeting of the Group of 20,
an organization of 19 industrial and emerging-market countries along
with the European Union, Mr. Obama said the Russians were supplying
heavy arms to separatists in Ukraine in violation of an agreement Russia signed with Ukraine a few weeks ago.
“We’re
also very firm on the need to uphold core international principles,” he
said, “and one of those principles is you don’t invade other countries
or finance proxies and support them in ways that break up a country that
has mechanisms for democratic elections.”
Mr. Obama, who met President Vladimir V. Putin
of Russia at an economic meeting in Beijing last week and again at the
summit meeting here this weekend, said he warned him that if the
Russians did not change course in Ukraine, “the isolation that Russia is
currently experiencing will continue.” He described the exchanges as
typically “businesslike and blunt.
The
president’s words were among the toughest he has used about Russia’s
actions during the Ukraine crisis. But after meeting with European
leaders to discuss next steps, it was unclear whether the allies had the
stomach for another round of sanctions. “At this point, the sanctions
that we have in place are biting plenty good,” he said.
Russia’s aggression toward Ukraine spilled over into the Group of 20
meeting. Mr. Putin got a chilly reception from several leaders,
including from Prime Minister Tony Abbott of Australia and Prime
Minister Stephen Harper of Canada, who told him, “I guess I’ll shake
your hand, but I have only one thing to say to you: You need to get out
of Ukraine.”
Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain also condemned Mr. Putin’s actions, saying the Russian leader was at a “crossroads.”
“If
he continues to destabilize Ukraine, there’ll be further sanctions,
further measures, and there will be a completely different relationship
between European countries and America on the one hand, and Russia on
the other,” Mr. Cameron said during a news conference in Brisbane.
Mr.
Putin himself put a positive spin on events, saying before leaving
Brisbane that virtually every issue discussed had been helpful — even
the issue of new sanctions over Ukraine — and that he was leaving early
only because he had a long flight home.
“Our
work took place in a very constructive spirit and produced results,” he
told reporters, according to a transcript on the Kremlin website.
Ukraine
was not a topic for the broad meetings but had come up repeatedly
during his one-on-one sessions with other world leaders. Mr. Putin said
he had gotten across his point of view that sanctions hurt both those
who impose them and those who are targeted.
The
foreign ministers of the European Union plan to meet in Brussels on
Monday to discuss the sanctions and the situation in Ukraine, where
sightings of suspected Russian military convoys have fueled speculation
that a new rebel offensive is near.
“It
might sound strange to you, but I think there are good hopes for being
able to settle this situation,” Mr. Putin said, without delving into
specifics. He did express surprise, however, that the Ukrainian
government in Kiev was moving to sever all financial ties with the
breakaway regions of Luhansk and Donetsk, calling it “an economic
blockade.”
“Why
are the authorities in Kiev now cutting off these regions with their
own hands? I do not understand this,” he said, adding that this was not
the right way to go about saving money. “I do not think this is a fatal
blow, though,” he added.
Mr.
Putin denied that he was leaving early because he had been singled out
for criticism at the summit meeting, attributing his departure to his
work ethic. The flight from Brisbane to Vladivostok was nine hours, then
he needed another nine to reach Moscow, he explained.
“We
still have to get home and be ready for work on Monday,” the president
said. “It would be nice to be able to sleep for four or five hours.”
The
summit meeting was also shadowed by concerns about the state of the
military campaign against the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria,
which Mr. Obama has said is at too early a stage to say whether the
United States and its coalition allies are winning.
Mr.
Obama denied reports that he had ordered a formal review of the
strategy against the militants in Syria. He said that while the White
House was constantly reviewing its tactics in both Syria and Iraq, the
basic elements of the strategy remained in place.
Rebuffing
a growing chorus of skeptics of his strategy, the president said the
United States would never make “common cause” with President Bashar
al-Assad of Syria in the campaign against the Islamic State, also known
as ISIS or ISIL, because that would alienate the country’s Sunni Muslim
population.
“We
have communicated to the Syrian regime that when we operate, going
after ISIL in their air space, that they would be well advised not to
take us on,” Mr. Obama said. “Beyond that, there’s no expectation that
we are in some ways going to enter an alliance with Assad. He is not
credible in that country.”
At
the same time, he said, the United States was not exploring ways to
remove Mr. Assad from office — a recognition that the campaign against
the Islamic State fighters had given Mr. Assad breathing room. Any
lasting political settlement in Syria, he said, would have to involve
Iran and Turkey, as well as the Assad government’s primary patron,
Russia.
While
Mr. Obama continued to rule out the use of American ground troops in
the campaign — and said the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen.
Martin E. Dempsey, had not recommended using them, either — he said
there were cases in which troops might be necessary. After declining to
speculate about those scenarios, he did just that.
“If
we discover that ISIL had gotten possession of a nuclear weapon,” Mr.
Obama said, “and we had to run an operation to get it out of their
hands, then yes, you can anticipate that not only would Chairman Dempsey
recommend sending U.S. ground troops to get that weapon out of their
hands, but I would order it.”
Mr.
Obama’s comments came at the end of a hectic weeklong trip to Asia that
produced a landmark climate-change agreement with China, progress on a
number of trade negotiations and a return visit for the president to
Myanmar, during which he admonished its military-dominated government
that it needed to keep the reform process on track.
“If you ask me, I say that’s a pretty good week,” he said. “I intend to build on that momentum when I return home tomorrow.”
Reviewing
his trip, the president appeared particularly proud of the pact between
the United States and China to develop a common position on additional
reductions in carbon emissions before the next round of global climate
talks in Paris in 2015.
The
president said there was “no excuse” for both developed and developing
nations not to come together “to achieve a strong global climate
agreement next year.”
With
the American economy currently outperforming those of Europe and Japan,
Mr. Obama came into this meeting with a stronger hand than he has had
in previous meetings. Administration officials said they had succeeded
in pushing a message of growth-oriented policies into the leaders’
communiqué issued at the end of the meeting.
The
communiqué is usually more balanced between the virtues of growth and
austerity. But, Mr. Obama said, “all the G-20 countries announced
strategies to increase growth and put more people to work.”
