US, Europe should get tough on Russia: Clinton

WASHINGTON: Hillary Rodham Clinton said Tuesday that the US and Europe should work together to develop tougher sanctions on Russia while she backed President Barack Obama’s calls for a thorough investigation into the passenger jet that was shot down last week over Ukraine.
Clinton said in a Facebook chat from the company’s headquarters in Menlo Park, California, that tougher sanctions would make clear to Russian President Vladimir Putin “that there is a price to pay for this kind of behavior.” The former secretary of state said she agreed with Obama’s comments earlier Monday urging “immediate and full access” for investigators combing through the wreckage of the downed plane.
“We should do more to ensure a thorough investigation that not only respects those who were murdered in the attack on the plane, but also tries to find answers to who is responsible,” Clinton wrote during the question-and-answer session on the popular social media site.
Obama accused pro-Russian separatists of removing evidence and bodies from the crash site and said the burden was on Russia and Putin to compel the separatists to cooperate with the investigation. He said if Russia continues to violate Ukraine’s sovereignty, Moscow “will only further isolate itself” and the economic costs will increase.
Clinton said the US should encourage Europeans to ensure that they are less dependent upon Russian energy. She called for “more support given to the Ukrainians to guard their borders and protect themselves.” The potential 2016 Democratic presidential candidate responded to a wide-ranging list of questions on Facebook that covered her book, “Hard Choices,” domestic and foreign policy issues, her favorite book and her role as a grandmother-to-be.
Clinton said she was hopeful for a cease-fire between Hamas and Israel to end the fighting the Gaza Strip and noted that she negotiated the last cease-fire in 2012.