Readout of the President’s Call with Prime Minister Rutte of the Netherlands
President Obama spoke this afternoon with Prime Minister Rutte of the Netherlands. The Prime Minister thanked the President for his visit to the Dutch Embassy in Washington earlier in the day and said it was greatly appreciated by the Dutch people. Both leaders agreed that once the remains of the victims have been properly repatriated, the main priority must be to secure the crash site in order to allow for a full and transparent international investigation. The President welcomed the action taken today by the European Union’s Foreign Affairs Council strongly condemning the actions leading to this tragedy and preparing additional sanctions against those destabilizing Ukraine. The President and Prime Minister noted their concerns about further evidence that Russia is continuing to send weapons and fighters across the border to support the separatists, while continuing to mass its own forces. Both agreed the EU and United States must remain united with regard to events in Ukraine and that Russia will face increasing costs if it continues its support for violent separatists and fails to cease its efforts to destabilize Ukraine.