U.S. President Barack Obama holds a news conference at the conclusion of the G7 Summit in the Bavarian town of Kruen, Germany June 8, 2015. REUTERS

US President Barack Obama accused President Vladimir Putin of wrecking Russia’s economy in a doomed drive to recreate the glories of the Soviet empire and G7 leaders said they could step up sanctions against Moscow if violence in Ukraine escalated.

At the conclusion of a Group of Seven summit in the Bavarian Alps, leaders expressed concern about an upsurge in fighting in eastern Ukraine, where Russian-backed separatists have clashed with Kiev’s troops in violation of a ceasefire agreed in April.

The strongest rhetoric came from Obama, who told a news conference the Russian people were suffering severely because of Putin’s policies.

It was the second summit of the group of leading industrial nations to exclude Russia since Putin was frozen out of what used to be the G8 after Moscow’s annexation of Crimea last year, a move the G7 condemned in their communique as ‘illegal’.

“He’s got to make a decision,” Obama said of Putin. “Does he continue to wreck his country’s economy and continue Russia’s isolation in pursuit of a wrong-headed desire to recreate the glories of the Soviet empire, or does he recognise that Russia’s greatness does not depend on violating the territorial integrity and sovereignty of other countries.”

The Kremlin played down Putin’s absence from the summit, saying he preferred “other formats” that were more effective and better reflected the balance of global economic power.

“It’s impossible now to get together in seven or eight people and effectively discuss global problems,” RIA news agency quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying.

US lacks ‘complete strategy’ to help Iraq fight IS: Obama

President Barack Obama, reprising a phrase that caused uproar in Washington last year, said on Monday the United States does not yet have a ‘complete strategy’ for training Iraqi security forces to re-conquer territory seized by Islamic State fighters.

Speaking to reporters after meeting Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on the sidelines of a Group of Seven (G7) nations summit in Germany, Obama said more progress was needed to stem the flow of foreign fighters into Syria and Iraq.

All countries in an international coalition waging an air campaign against the Sunni Islamist militants were ready to do more to train Iraqi security forces if that would help.

“We want to get more Iraqi security forces trained, fresh, well-equipped and focused and (Prime Minister) Abadi wants the same thing so we’re reviewing a range of plans for how we might do that,” Obama told a news conference.