Obama tries to ease Eastern Europe doubt about U.S. commitment

WARSAW – As fresh fighting erupted in eastern Ukraine, President Barack Obama sought Tuesday to reassure allies in Eastern Europe with a new offer of military aid to bolster security and counter what he called “provocative actions” by Russia.

Obama promised to ask Congress for money to beef up U.S. air, land and sea presence, and to increase military exercises and training in the region. The president said he wants U.S. naval forces to increase deployments to the Black and Baltic seas and to deepen NATO partnerships with countries in the region, including Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.

Obama, who arrived in Poland for the first stop of a four-day trip to Europe, aimed to soothe anxiety that has grown among Russia’s neighbors since Moscow this year seized the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine.

European security is the “cornerstone of our own security and it is sacrosanct. … It is a commitment that is particularly important at this point in time,” Obama said, standing in front of four U.S. F-16 fighter jets.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian authorities claimed significant progress in their off-and-on fight against Russian separatists in the east of the country, but the separatists said the claims were exaggerated.

Parliament speaker Oleksandr Turchynov said Ukrainian army and security forces stormed a secret “terrorist” camp in the Donetsk region, killing scores of people, and officials also claimed to have inflicted major damage on separatists near the city of Slovyansk.

“Today in the morning, many terrorists were destroyed in the camp they had secretly set up in the industrial zone near the town of Severodonetsk” in Donetsk, Turchynov told a session of parliament.

“Now our anti-terrorist operation forces are conducting … active measures aimed at liberating Severodonetsk.”

There were widely conflicting reports about heavy fighting near Slovyansk, the Donetsk city that has been the epicenter of the pro-Russia rebellion. Some Russian-speaking Ukrainians, assisted by heavily armed Russians who have streamed across the border, are seeking to secede from Ukraine, following the lead of Crimea, which was annexed by Russia this year.

A Ukrainian government official, Vladislav Seleznev, said Ukrainian forces had killed as many as 300 secessionists on the outskirts of Slovyansk.

The head of the pro-Russia group holding Slovyansk, however, said only two of his men were killed in the fighting, and 12 wounded.

Vyacheslav Ponomaryov also said his separatist forces had shot down a Ukrainian SU-25 combat jet and an MI-24 helicopter and burned six Ukrainian army armored vehicles. Seleznev denied that had occurred.

None of the claims could be independently confirmed.

The Kremlin has denied that it has aided the secessionist movement, but Russian nationals have been identified among the separatists, and they have been heavily armed with military weapons.

Some European officials say Washington has let its commitment to defend allies slide as the Obama administration has focused on competing priorities in the Middle East and Asia.

Obama offered to call on Congress to create a “European reassurance fund” of up to $1 billion that would bolster NATO readiness, particularly in its eastern flank. Obama also reiterated U.S. concerns that North Atlantic Treaty Organization members fall short of their targets for funding their militaries.

Obama’s visit to Poland comes as the former Communist nation is celebrating its 25th anniversary since its first free elections. The anniversary and the Solidarity movement that spurred the peaceful shift were repeatedly held up by both Polish and U.S. leaders as a model for the fledgling government in Ukraine.

“Poles know better than most how precious freedom is,” Obama said.

He warned of additional economic sanctions and political isolation for Russia if President Vladimir Putin does not respect Ukraine’s sovereignty and new government.

Obama attended a dinner at the Royal Palace honoring former Solidarity movement leaders, including former Polish President Lech Walesa, who has said the U.S. president has shirked his responsibilities.

Walesa, in an interview with CNN that aired Tuesday, said that the world lacks “politically moral leadership” and that Americans “should finally start acting like a superpower again.”