Obama calls Russia a ‘regional power,’ warns of more sanctions if it expands military moves -- THE HAGUE — President Obama acknowledged Tuesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s annexation of Crimea would be difficult to reverse, as Russia’s government announced plans to significantly increase forces on the Black Sea peninsula and create new ways to minimize the effect of Western economic sanctions. -- Concluding a summit here on nuclear security, Obama warned that broader Russian military intervention in neighboring countries would trigger further economic sanctions that would disrupt the global economy but hit Russia the hardest. He pointedly called Russia a “regional power” acting out of political isolation and economic uncertainty. -- Obama dismissed criticism that a perception of U.S. retreat abroad had prompted Putin to seize the Crimea region this month, an act the United States and Europe have said was a violation of Ukrainian and international law. But Obama made clear that Western nations are not contemplating a military response, unless Putin pushes into NATO member nations on Russia’s western border. -- “There’s no expectation that they will be dislodged by force,” Obama said in a news conference with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, who hosted the Nuclear Security Summit. “And so what we can bring to bear are the legal arguments, the diplomatic arguments, the political pressure, the economic sanctions that are already in place, to try to make sure that there’s a cost to that process.” -- Obama has sought to galvanize European support here for broader sanctions against Russia should Putin expand his military campaign into eastern Ukraine or Moldova. The United States and six allied powers agreed to deepen Putin’s political isolation this week by effectively suspending Russia’s membership in the Group of Eight industrial nations. -- Obama has sought to galvanize European support here for broader sanctions against Russia should Putin expand his military campaign into eastern Ukraine or Moldova. The United States and six allied powers agreed to deepen Putin’s political isolation this week by effectively suspending Russia’s membership in the Group of Eight industrial nations. -- Obama will take his lobbying effort on Wednesday to Brussels, where he is scheduled to attend the European Union summit and meet with officials from NATO, the collective defense alliance for which he reaffirmed American support here. -- He is also scheduled to give what advisers call the “signal speech” of his European trip on the challenges facing what is known as the transatlantic partnership, among them Russian military ambitions that he described as a secondary concern to the United States. - More, Washingtonpost, at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/ousted-by-g-8-russia-says-it-will-remain-at-the-table-of-larger-g20/2014/03/25/2f70284a-b404-11e3-b899-20667de76985_story.html?hpid=z4