海角大神

The United States and Europe must stand firm in rejecting Russia鈥檚 aggression against Ukraine and its annexation of Crimea not just because they challenge the principles a peaceful and prosperous Europe is built on, President Obama said Wednesday in Brussels, but also because they thwart "universal values" of freedom and self-determination that stir all humanity.

The president鈥檚 speech 鈥� the format Mr. Obama has favored for delivering big messages in foreign places 鈥� came at the end of a day during which the American leader visited for the first time two pillars of trans-Atlantic relations: NATO headquarters and the executive offices of the European Union.

At both institutions Obama discussed with leaders the steps that Western powers must be ready to take 鈥� including broad sanctions on Russian economic sectors such as the dominant energy industry and banking and finance 鈥� if Russia moves to 鈥渆ngage in further incursions into Ukraine,鈥� as he put it at EU headquarters.

Obama assured his audience of about 2,000 diplomats, officials, and university students at Brussels鈥� Palais des Beaux-Arts that the West has no intention of meeting Russia鈥檚 aggression with military force. But in a clear warning to Moscow, he pledged expanded Western measures to match continued Russian aggression.聽

鈥淚f the Russian leadership stays on its current course,鈥� he said, 鈥渢his isolation will deepen.鈥�

The president sought in his speech to take the case for a firm stand against Russia鈥檚 actions beyond a mere geopolitical fight to a defense of the values and rules that a war-traumatized world forged from the ruins of World War II.

鈥淲e meet here at a moment of testing for Europe and the United States, and for the international order that we have worked for generations to build,鈥� Obama said. After World War II, 鈥淎merica joined with Europe to reject the dark forces of the past鈥� and to build a 鈥渘ew architecture of peace,鈥� he said.

Among the principles that took root are the convictions that borders can鈥檛 be changed by nations that would bully their weaker neighbors, and that international law cannot be disregarded with impunity, he said. 鈥淚n the 21st聽century the borders of Europe cannot be redrawn with force,鈥� Obama said.

Yet principles that over time have come to be taken for granted in Europe and the US are suddenly being challenged. 鈥淩ussia鈥檚 leadership is challenging truths that only a few weeks ago seemed self-evident,鈥� he said.

Russia and the challenge its actions pose to a hard-won international order were the focus of Obama's speech. But at another level it sought to reassure a Europe shaken by recent American policies and revelations 鈥� Obama鈥檚 "Asia pivot," National Security Agency spying on US allies 鈥� and to affirm a recommitment to trans-Atlantic ties.

Obama painted a picture of deep and lasting ties, sometimes forged in blood. He noted that earlier in the day he had visited the Word War I cemetery at Flanders Field, where hundreds of American soldiers are buried. Remembering where Europe was a century ago (or even six decades ago) is an important part of resisting any tugs to fall backward, he said.聽

To ignore the 鈥渓essons of the past,鈥� Obama said, would 鈥渁llow the old ways to regain a foothold.鈥� 聽

Obama wrapped up his speech with a special message to American and European young people, telling them never to take for granted the values of freedom and individual rights that allow them to live full lives 鈥� or to assume that those values can never be threatened.

He said it would be tempting for young people to see Ukraine as 鈥渞emoved from our daily lives鈥� or to think 鈥渢hat there is more than enough to worry about in the affairs of your own country.鈥� But he said it would be up to today鈥檚 young people to protect and safeguard the 鈥渦niversal鈥� principles that have spread around the world in recent decades.

鈥淲e live in a world in which our values are going to be challenged again and again by forces that would drag us back,鈥� he told the young people in the audience. 鈥淵ou can help us to choose a better history.鈥�