I somehow managed to miss the following great news:
President Barack Obama on Friday said he would ban exports of goods, technology or services to Ukraine’s Crimea region, and called on Russia to end its annexation of the region.
In a statement, Obama said his order “is intended to provide clarity to U.S. corporations doing business in the region and reaffirm that the United States will not accept Russia’s occupation and attempted annexation of Crimea.”
The measures followed similar moves by the European Union this week. Canada also announced such measures on Friday.
The Cuban Embargo (which, I believe, was an important symbolic gesture even if it didn’t and couldn’t reach any goals inside Cuba*) is coming to its end. The time for a new but equally important symbolic gesture has come. This will really boost morale among Ukrainians.
Let’ hope the rest of the day brings the same kind of Christmassy news.
* It reached important goals inside the US, though. The Cuban immigrant community in the US is very successful. To an immigrant, having the new society say, “We are with you and against the regime that you fled” is very important.
Clarissa's Blog 