WASHINGTON — President Obama’s complex relationship with Europe faces new challenges during a weeklong trip as he tries to persuade allied leaders to hold firm in efforts to punish Russia for its incursion into Ukraine.
The deepening dispute between East and West is expected to dominate his visit, which begins Monday in the Netherlands. The four-country trip was long-planned, but now provides the United States and Europe a well-timed chance to present a united front against Russian President Vladimir Putin.
But behind the scenes, Obama will be gauging how far the still economically shaky European Union is willing to go in punishing Russia, one of its largest trading partners. He’ll also be confronted with other European frustrations with the United States that are bubbling just below the surface.
Some European officials, chief among them German Chancellor Angela Merkel, are still smarting over revelations of National Security Agency spying on the continent. There is also lingering resentment among EU leaders over what it sees as Obama’s snubbing of the alliance.
‘‘There’s an anger there, there’s a frustration,’’ said Heather Conley, a Europe analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. She added that while the Ukraine crisis may ‘‘mute’’ some of Europe’s irritation with Obama, ‘‘it doesn’t solve it.’’
In the Netherlands, Obama will join world leaders at the Nuclear Security Summit and head a hastily arranged meeting of the Group of Seven — the United States, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan.
The latter meeting will focus on boosting financial support for Ukraine’s fledgling government, while also serving as a symbol of the West’s efforts to isolate Moscow. Russia often joins the G-7 nations for Group of Eight meetings, including a summit Putin is supposed to host this summer. Those plans are now in doubt.
Russia is participating in the nuclear summit, but Putin will not attend.
Obama’s focus on Ukraine will continue in Brussels, the headquarters for the European Union and NATO. A later stop in Rome will feature a highly anticipated meeting with Pope Francis. Then it’s on to Saudi Arabia for a fence-mending visit with the important Gulf ally.
Initial punishments from the United States and European Union did little to stop Russia from annexing the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine. Western officials are now warily watching Russia build up its troop presence elsewhere along the former Soviet state’s border.
Russian officials say those troops are simply participating in military exercises. But Obama’s national security adviser, Susan Rice, said that given Russia’s ‘‘past practice . . . we are watching it with skepticism.’’
The United States has warned that further Russian incursions could result in broader penalties targeting the Russian economy. But administration officials acknowledge that American sanctions wouldn’t have the same kind of bite as European penalties, given Europe’s deeper economic ties with Russia.
That puts Obama in the position of seeking cooperation from the sometimes unwieldy European Union, the 28-country bloc that has often bristled at what its leaders see as snubs by the American president.