A White House spokesman told reporters Monday that the Obama administration is telling Russia to stop intervening in eastern Ukraine, and is threatening more sanctions if Moscow does not comply.
He said if Russia moves into eastern Ukraine either overtly or covertly, it would be considered "a very serious escalation."
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry spoke with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, on Monday, in the latest of a long series of discussions about Ukraine. A State Department spokeswoman said Kerry told Lavrov that Sunday's events in eastern Ukraine did not appear to be "spontaneous." Kerry called on Russia to "publicly disavow the activities of separatists, saboteurs and provocateurs."
- The Pentagon confirmed that a U.S. warship is headed to the Black Sea to provide support to European allies in the region. The ship is expected to arrive within a week.
- NATO announced Monday that it is limiting Russian diplomats' access to NATO headquarters in Brussels to the Russian ambassador, his deputy and two support staffers, because of the conflict over Crimea.
Earlier, Ukraine's acting prime minister accused Russia of backing the protests in the cities of Donetsk, Luhansk and Kharkiv.
Arseniy Yatsenyuk told a Cabinet meeting Monday that Russia is behind the unrest. He said the demonstrations are clearly part of a plan to destabilize the situation and allow "foreign" troops to cross the border and seize Ukrainian territory.
Ukraine's acting president, Oleksandr Turchnyov, also blamed Russia for Sunday's demonstrations and accused it of "playing out the Crimean scenario." He vowed anti-terrorist measures will be carried out.
Russia's foreign ministry responded that Ukraine should stop blaming Russia for its problems. Moscow repeated its call for constitutional reform and allocation of more power to Ukraine's regional governments............[voanews.com]
7/4/14
--
-
Related:
Lavrov Urges NATO to Stop "Groundless Whipping-Up of Tension". -The full text of the article
Lavrov: US and EU line on Ukraine "unproductive and dangerous".
Les Etats-Unis ne reconnaîtront pas le référendum à Donetsk
Donetsk Oblast legislators decide to hold referendum on region’s future before May 11
GR
FR
DE
ES
IT
RU
EU
Lawrow und Kerry vereinbaren Treffen....Zurück an den Verhandlungstisch...
ReplyDeleteAngesichts der Eskalation der Situation im Osten der Ukraine haben sich die Regierungen in Washington und Moskau auf direkte Gespräche verständigt. An dem Treffen innerhalb der nächsten zehn Tage sollten auch Vertreter der Europäischen Union und der Ukraine teilnehmen, gab das US-Außenministerium bekannt. Darauf hätten sich Außenminister John Kerry und sein russischer Amtskollege Sergej Lawrow telefonisch verständigt.
Demnach wird Kerry persönlich an dem Treffen teilnehmen. Offen blieb, ob auch Lawrow mit am Tisch sitzen wird und wo verhandelt wird. Das russische Außenministerium gab noch keine Stellungnahme ab.......http://www.tagesschau.de/ausland/ukraine-russland106.html
7/4/14