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Calling it a global "moment of testing," President Barack Obama appealed to Europeans on Wednesday to recommit to the war-won ideals of freedom and human dignity, declaring that people voicing those values will ultimately triumph in Ukraine.

Painting a historical arc across the major global clashes of the last century and beyond, Obama said young people born today come into a world more devoid of conflict and replete with freedom than at any time in history even if that providence isn't fully appreciated. He urged the 28-nation NATO alliance to make good on their commitments to the collective security that has fostered prosperity in the decades since the Cold War concluded.

"We must never forget that we are heirs to a struggle for freedom," Obama said, adding that the Ukraine crisis has neither easy answers nor a military solution. "But at this moment, we must meet the challenge to our ideals, to our very international order, with strength and conviction."

Drawing on modern struggles, like gay rights, as well as the ethnic cleansing and world wars of a bygone era, Obama sought to draw a connection between the U.S. experiment in democracy and the blood spilled by Europeans seeking to solidify their own right to self-determination.

"I come here today to say we must never take for granted the progress than has been won here in Europe and advanced around the world," Obama said.

Indeed, the Europe that Obama confronted on Wednesday was taking little for granted.

Calm on the continent has been upended by Russian President Vladimir Putin's foray into the Ukrainian region of Crimea. Defying the global community, Moscow annexed that peninsula this month, stoking fears among Russia's other neighbors as Europe was plunged back into an East-West mentality that many had thought was left behind at the end of the last century.

"If the Russian leadership stays on its current course, together we will ensure that this isolation deepens," Obama said. At the same time, he acknowledged that military force would not dislodge Russia from Crimea or prevent further encroachment, holding out the allies' combination of pressure and an open door to diplomacy as the path to peace.

In his remarks at a cultural center in Brussels, Obama sought to shape a unifying theme out of a weeklong foreign trip whose original purposes have been eclipsed by a burst of diplomatic maneuvering over the conflict with Russia. In stops so far in the Netherlands and Belgium, Obama has sought to coordinate the European and American response to Putin, despite some Europeans' misgivings about enacting anti-Russian sanctions that could backfire and the American public's reluctance to embroil the U.S. in another faraway conflict.

Earlier Wednesday, Obama pledged to defend U.S. allies during a meeting with NATO's secretary general, and on Monday he held an emergency meeting with leaders of major economies focused on tightening economic pressure on Moscow.

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Obama Urges Europe to Retrench Amid Ukraine Crisis

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President Barack Obama and European Union leaders presented a unified front Wednesday against Russia's annexation of Crimea, promoting trans-Atlantic trade as an antidote to Russia's influence in the region and a way to help Europe become less dependent on Moscow for energy.

Obama said if Russian leaders thought they could drive a wedge between Europe and the United States "they clearly miscalculated."

Obama spoke during a news conference at the Council of the European Union, after a working lunch with European Council President Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso that participants said was dominated by discussion of Ukraine. Van Rompuy called Russia's action in Crimea "a disgrace in the 21st century, and we will not recognize it."

Obama said coordination between the U.S. and Europe on economic sanctions against Russia has been excellent and warned that if Russia continues on its current course, "the isolation will deepen."

The leaders also expressed confidence they would complete a Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership that seeks to remove trade barriers between the 28-nation bloc and the U.S. Obama noted the arrangement would have a Ukraine connection because it could provide a counterweight to Russian energy leverage in Europe.

Obama said some countries have legitimate questions about whether free trade deals will benefit them in the long-term. But he cautioned skeptics to wait to see what's negotiated before reaching conclusions.

The president said some suspicions about the so-called TTIP have been unjustified. He declared that he has fought for consumer and environmental protections during his political career and will not sign legislation that would weaken those protections.

"I'm confident we can actually shape a trade deal" that is acceptable to critics on consumer protections and climate issues, he said.

Obama's own relations with Europe have been hurt by revelations of communications prying by the U.S. National Security Agency. Van Rompuy said E.U. leaders conveyed their concerns directly to Obama in their meeting, and the president agreed to take aggressive steps to address the issue. Van Rompuy called for "equal treatment of E.U. and U.S. citizens."

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Obama Plays up US-Europe Bond Amid Russia Tension

WASHINGTON President Obama's new plan for the National Security Agency would significantly curb its authority, ending its vast collection of Americans' telephone records, but at the same time give the spy agency access to millions of cellphone records it currently does not reach.

The compromise, which would require Congress' approval, won praise Tuesday from prominent lawmakers, including leading defenders and critics of the agency. But it faces a lengthy legislative process during which the agency will continue to collect and store the records of millions of U.S. telephone calls.

At a news conference in The Hague, where he took part in a world meeting on nuclear security, Obama said the Justice Department and intelligence agencies had given him "an option that I think is workable" and that "addresses the two core concerns that people have" about the most controversial surveillance program revealed by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.

Photos: Hacking victims

The first concern, Obama said, was that the government not control a vast archive of U.S. telephone call data. Currently, the NSA collects records of virtually all land-line telephone calls in the U.S. and stores them for five years.

Under the administration proposal, the government would no longer keep that archive. Instead, all telephone companies, including cellphone providers, would be required to keep call records for 18 months, the current industry standard.

The second concern, Obama said, was that the NSA be allowed to search only those phone records under a specific court order. Previously, a blanket court order required telephone companies to turn call records over to the NSA, but no judge scrutinized analysts' decisions about which numbers to look at.

In February, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court approved Obama's request to require judicial approval for each search. The new proposal would write that requirement into law, with an exception for emergencies.

U.S. intelligence agencies have to "win back the trust, not just of governments but more importantly of ordinary citizens" around the world, Obama said. Doing so is "not going to happen overnight because I think that there's a tendency to be skeptical of government and to be skeptical, in particular, of U.S. intelligence services," he added.

The new plan should help make Americans more comfortable with the surveillance program, he said. Obama repeated his belief that "some of the reporting here in Europe, as well as the United States, frankly, has been pretty sensationalized," and he said that U.S. intelligence analysts had exercised their authority judiciously. But such power could be abused in the future, he said.

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Obama's NSA compromise plan wins initial praise

President Obama still is disputing Mitt Romney's campaign trail claim that Russia is America's "number one geopolitical foe," despite the international firestorm created by Vladimir Putin's annexation of Crimea.

The president, speaking at a press conference capping a two-day nuclear security summit at The Hague, was asked about Romney's claim, which the former Republican presidential nominee made during his 2012 race against Obama.

"Russia is a regional power that is threatening some of its immediate neighbors, not out of strength, but out of weakness," Obama said. "Russia's actions are a problem -- they don't pose the number one national security threat to the United States."

Obama said he continues to be more worried about a "nuclear weapon going off in Manhattan."

The comment was the latest in a long-running political tiff that was revived by Russia's actions in Ukraine. Romney was derided by Democrats for calling Russia a top foe in the 2012 race, but the former nominee defended himself in an interview on Sunday, in light of the Ukraine crisis. Romney, speaking with CBS' "Face the Nation," said it is Obama who is being nave.

"There's no question [about] the president's naivet with regards to Russia," he said.

Speaking on "Hannity" Tuesday night, Romney reiterated his comments.

"I think the American people understand the facts: Russia is the nation in the world that has opposed us at the U.N. when we wanted to put tougher sanctions on North Korea, opposed us at the U.N. when we wanted to put tougher sanctions on Iran, sides with Assad, in fact, sides with some of the world's worst actors," Romney said. "In terms of who's playing politically against America, of course it's Russia, and of course, the president recognizes it. He may not want to say it."

In case there was any question where Obama now stands on the matter, when a reporter tweeted Tuesday that Obama wouldn't say Romney was right, White House adviser Dan Pfeiffer tweeted back: "[Obama] said he was wrong cuz he was."

Meanwhile, Obama continued to warn Putin not to advance any farther into Ukraine. As for the annexation of Crimea, Obama said it is "not a done deal" in that the international community does not recognize it -- but he acknowledged "there's no expectation that they will be dislodged by force."

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Obama still disputes Romney's claim that Russia top 'geopolitical foe' - Romney: Obama should have seen Ukraine coming ...

In the wake of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, EU governments and the Obama administration see a deep and broad free-trade deal as the best way to create jobs, removing burdens and customs duties on businesses.

But eight months into the talks, public hostility has grown toward the idea of unfettered trans-Atlantic commerce, while negotiators remain far apart on many issues.

Reports of the scale of U.S. National Security Agency spying in Europe have combined with concerns about the potential damage to food safety and the environment under a free-trade pact.

Obama said he had campaigned all his career for consumer rights and environmental protection and would not be party to an agreement that lowered standards. Protesters were reacting to distorted rumors around the trade talks, he said.

In both the United States and Europe, unions worry about job losses or reductions in working standards, and say a trade pact will serve the interests only of multinational companies.

Trans-Atlantic ties

Obama began his visit to Belgium by visiting the Flanders Field American war cemetery, visiting the graves of some of the 368 U.S. service members, most killed during World War I.

His visit and the symbolism of trans-Atlantic unity had added resonance at a time when tensions in Europe are running high because of Russia's military occupation and annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region.

Read MoreEurope 'held hostage' by Russian nat gas: Hamm

"This hallowed ground reminds us that we must never, ever take our progress for granted. We must commit perennially to peace, which binds us across oceans," Obama said.

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Obama to EU: Cut reliance on Russian gas