President Barack Obama said a move to tie the sanctions to anything other than Russian military activity in Ukraine would represent an abandonment of American values. | Getty Obama pushes back against Trump's suggestion on Russia sanctions

Sanctions leveled against the Russian government following its annexation of Crimea and invasion into eastern Ukraine should remain tied to those issues, President Barack Obama said on Wednesday, and should not be repealed in return for a reduction of nuclear arms as President-elect Donald Trump suggested.

“I think it will probably best serve not only American interests but also the interests of preserving international norms if we made sure that we don't confuse why these sanctions have been imposed with a whole set of other issues,” Obama said Wednesday at his final news conference from the White House briefing room.


In an interview with the Times of London published on Monday, Trump suggested that he might be open to repealing sanctions that have devastated Russia’s economy in return for a drawdown of nuclear weapons. More broadly, Trump has promised a significantly softer stance on Russia than Obama has taken as president, a position that has perplexed even some in his own party.

Those sanctions were imposed following Russia’s forced annexation of Crimea away from Ukraine in 2014 and its military activity in the eastern part of that country, activity that the Kremlin denies despite evidence to the contrary. In an interview over the summer, Trump suggested that he would consider officially recognizing Crimea as part of Russia, something most Western nations have refused to do.

Obama said a move to tie the sanctions to anything other than Russian military activity in Ukraine would represent an abandonment of American values.

“It is important for the United States to stand up for the basic principle that big countries don't go around and invade and bully smaller countries,” the president said, singling out human rights, women’s rights and freedom of the press as issues the U.S. has advocated for in the international community. “It is important for us to continue to be on the right side of these issues because if we, the largest, strongest country and democracy in the world, are not willing to stand up on behalf of these values, then certainly China, Russia and others will not.”