by Michael Yoakum
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America
PARIS, France – Secretary of State John Kerry met with with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Paris Wednesday to discuss peaceful solutions to the standoff in Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula. The meeting came just a day after Lavrov announced that economic sanctions by the US would not change the position of the Russian government.
Despite their differences, Kerry noted before the meeting that all parties agreed that the situation should be resolved diplomatically rather than militarily.
“All parties agreed today that it is important to try to resolve these issues through dialogue,” said Kerry.
The talks were described as “very constructive” and Kerry considered them to be the beginning of negotiation that would hopefully lead to a peaceful solution. Despite the Secretary’s optimism, the Russian Foreign Minister refused to have a one-on-one meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart, opting instead to travel home.
While speaking in to press after the meeting, Kerry renewed his call for Russian forces to withdraw from the Crimean peninsula and allow UN monitors in to the region. Whether or not Russia will heed such a call, Kerry added that the parties agreed to meet again.
“We agreed to continue intense discussions in the coming days with Russia, with Ukrainians, in order to see how we can help normalize the situation, stabilize it and overcome the crisis,” he said.
While Kerry traveled to Paris, President Obama continued to communicate with EU leaders, collaborating with German Chancellor Angela Merkel Tuesday on a resolution to the situation. Their proposal would require Russian forces to partially withdraw, limiting their deployment to 11,000 troops.
The President also directed remarks to Russian President Vladimir Putin Tuesday, saying that Russia was not “fooling anybody” by denying Russia deployed forces to Crimea.
France 24 reports that sources confirm President Obama will not be attending an upcoming G8 summit scheduled to be held in Sochi, Russia unless the situation in Crimea improves.
For more information, please see:
Bloomberg News – Kerry Makes Push to Ease Ukraine Tension in Lavrov Talks – 5 March 2014
CNN – Kerry: Ukraine talks will continue – 5 March 2014
France 24 – US-Russia to hold Ukraine talks in Paris – 5 March 2014
MSNBC News – Kerry Says Russia and Ukraine Willing to Keep Talking – 5 March 2014
The Washington Post – Kerry says ‘Russia is going to lose’ if Putin’s troops continue to advance in Ukraine – 2 March 2014
