The crisis in Ukraine today is a direct result of pressure from Russia on the Yanukovych administration not to sign the Ukraine-EU Association Agreement. Vladimir Putin's government has taken extraordinarily unethical measures to threaten and coerce the government of Ukraine to join his trade partnerships and not the EU. And now, it is clear that secret Russian forces have been involved in the disappearance and torture of protesters in Kiev and elsewhere.
We ask President Obama to demand fresh action from the European Union, which so far has only condemned the violence. The EU needs to offer monetary assistance to Ukraine sufficient to counter the Russian threats of fuel embargos and loans to help reduce Ukraine's currency crisis. The EU must take much stronger action to defend democracy.