Obama in sticky situation as US-Russia deal sputters

WASHINGTON - US President Barack Obama is in a tough spot after a US-Russia deal to de-escalate the Ukrainian crisis stalled amid weeks of critics'charges that the president is too timid in dealing with Russia.

The agreement reached last week called on pro-Russian demonstrators to vacate occupied buildings, squares and streets in Ukraine. But it has so far been ignored, calling into question the Obama administration's competence in finding a solution.

"This puts the Obama administration in a very difficult position because it makes the president look weak when agreements aren't respected," Darrell West, vice-president and director of governance studies at the Brookings Institution, told Xinhua.

That perception could hurt the president if it takes hold in the United States, West said. "The public could view that Obama is being taken to the cleaners by the Russians," he added.

Indeed, if the deal does not stick, Obama and European allies will be forced to turn threats of sanctions into action, some analysts said.

"If the agreements aren't implemented, it will force the US and Europe to ratchet up the sanctions and get tougher on Russia," West said.

While the Obama administration has talked tough, threatening Russia with sanctions after what the White House called an illegal deployment of Russian troops in the Crimea, the president has failed to follow words with concrete action, critics said.

Sanctions thus far have amounted to refusing to grant visas to a handful of Russians, critics say, adding that what they bill Obama's non-confrontational stance is weakening the US position on the world stage.

Bill O'Reilly, host of the political commentary program The O' Reilly Factor on the Fox News Channel, one of the country's most widely viewed news shows, said Obama has projected weakness on the world stage for how he is handling the situation.

US Democrats want no part of confrontation and some Republicans are isolationists as well. This stance has resulted in a "weakening of presidential power," O'Reilly said.

The comments came after veteran Republican senator John McCain' s remark last month that Obama's "feckless" foreign policy had invited the crisis in Ukraine, echoing other Republican critics who called Obama weak and indecisive.

Still, West said Obama is following a graduated approach toward Russia, adding that current sanctions were meant to convey displeasure, but can be broadened as Russia engages in actions not supported by the international community.