German chancellor: Putin might be out of touch with reality


Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany told U.S. President Obama by telephone on Sunday that after speaking with Mr. Putin she was not sure he was in touch with reality, people briefed on the call said. ‘In another world,’ NYT quotes Ms Merkel as saying.

As Russia dispatched more forces and tightened its grip on the Crimean Peninsula, Mr Obama embarked on a strategy intended to isolate Moscow and prevent it from seizing more Ukrainian territory even as he was pressured at home to respond more forcefully. In addition to Ms Merkel, Mr Obama spoke with his counterparts from Britain and Poland on Sunday and won agreement from all the other G-8 countries to suspend preparations for the Sochi meeting and find ways to shore up the economically fragile Ukrainian government. The administration also canceled a trade mission to Moscow and a Russian trip to Washington to discuss energy while vowing to also scrap a naval-cooperation meeting with Russia, the paper says.
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