WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama on Thursday sought to solidify top congressional leaders behind his strategy to isolate Russia and support Ukraine after Moscow's annexation of Crimea.
The comparatively rare talks between the president and leaders from both parties in the House of Representatives and the Senate on a foreign policy issue took place after the president signed a bill providing Kiev with $1 billion in loan guarantees.
A White House official said Obama briefed House Speaker John Boehner and the chamber's top Democrat Nancy Pelosi, as well as Senate leader Harry Reid and Republican minority leader Mitch McConnell on his consultations with top world leaders in Europe last week amid the worst East-West crisis since the end of the Cold War.
Obama highlighted the "coordinated international effort to support Ukraine and isolate Russia for its violation of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity," a White House official said.
While there has been some sharp Republican criticism of Obama's past policy towards Russia, there is bipartisan hostility towards President Vladimir Putin in Washington and a willingness to unveil further sanctions should he send forces now massed on the border deeper into Ukraine.
Obama spoke to Putin a week ago and Secretary of State John Kerry met his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in London this week, but US efforts have yielded no de-escalation of the crisis.
Obama also briefed the congressional leaders on his meetings last week with Saudi King Abdullah and Pope Francis.
Earlier, the White House warned Russia not to use energy supplies as a tool of coercion after Moscow cancelled the last remaining discount on gas supplies to Ukraine -- in a move that caused prices to shoot up.
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