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| Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott (R) stands near Russian President Vladimir Putin after officially welcoming him to the G20 leaders summit in Brisbane November 15, 2014. CREDIT: REUTERS/DAVID GRAY |
ALEXEI ANISHCHUK AND JANE WARDELL | Reuters
Western leaders warned Vladimir Putin at a G20 summit on Saturday that he risked more economic sanctions if he failed to end Russian backing for separatist rebels in Ukraine.
Russia denied any involvement in an escalation of the separatist war in eastern Ukraine, where more than 4,000 people have been killed since April, but faced strong rebukes from leaders including U.S. President Barack Obama and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
"I guess I’ll shake your hand but I have only one thing to say to you: you need to get out of Ukraine," Harper told Putin at the summit in Brisbane, Australia, according to his spokesman Jason MacDonald.
Putin's response to the comment was not positive, MacDonald said in an email, without elaborating.
A source in Putin’s delegation told Reuters that the Russian president would leave the summit early, skipping a working breakfast on Sunday, because he needed to return to meetings in Moscow.