Ukraine crisis: Kerry accuses Russia of 'destabilisation' Skip to main content

Ukraine crisis: Kerry accuses Russia of 'destabilisation'


Kerry: 'Subterfuge and sabotage by Russia'

Ukraine crisis

US Secretary of State John Kerry has accused Russia of "distraction, deception and destabilisation" in eastern Ukraine.

In a strongly worded statement, he called on Moscow to help defuse the crisis there or face further sanctions.

Earlier, Russia called on the US to make Kiev stop raids on pro-Moscow separatists in the east.

Russia ordered new military exercises on its border following the raids, drawing condemnation from Ukraine.

Mr Kerry was speaking amid an increasing war of words between the US and Russia over events in eastern Ukraine.

At the scene

image of Beth McLeod  
Beth McLeod BBC News, Washington
 
This was unusually blunt language from America's top diplomat. John Kerry countered what he called "President Putin's fantasy about what is playing out on the ground", laying out the case in prosecutorial style that Russia is co-ordinating the unrest in eastern Ukraine.

Rather than speaking on behalf of the US, John Kerry repeatedly referred to how "the world" judged Russia's actions. His message was that Moscow is isolated and nobody believes the Kremlin's version of events.

But strong words were all that Mr Kerry directed at Russia. He stopped short of announcing new sanctions although he said "costs" for Russia would only grow.

The US has been preparing additional sanctions against Russia for weeks, and speaking in Japan, President Barack Obama said they were now "teed up".

Pro-Russian separatists are occupying key buildings in a dozen eastern Ukrainian towns, defying the central government.

Mr Kerry praised the interim authorities in Kiev, saying they had honoured the agreement struck in Geneva on 17 April to de-escalate the crisis.

But he said Russia had "put its faith in distraction, deception and destabilisation".

"Not a single Russian official has publicly gone on television in Ukraine and called on the separatists to support the Geneva agreement, to support the stand-down, to give up their weapons and get out of the Ukrainian buildings," he said.

He accused Russian media of promoting President Vladimir Putin's "fantasy" about events in Ukraine and said Moscow continued to "fund, co-ordinate and fuel a heavily-armed separatist movement in Donetsk".

"This is a full-throated effort to actively sabotage the democratic process through gross external intimidation that has been brought inside Ukraine," he said.

Mr Kerry said US intelligence was confident that Russia was "playing an active role in destabilising eastern Ukraine" with personnel, weapons, money and operational planning".
He added that the window for Russia to change course was closing and that if it did not choose to de-escalate, the US was ready to impose further sanctions.
Ukraine map
Earlier, the Russian foreign ministry urged the US to use its influence with Kiev to "convince it to refrain from rash steps that will plunge Ukraine even deeper into the depths of crisis".
The Geneva agreement states that illegal armed groups, including those who have seized public buildings, must return home.

The morning raids by Ukrainian commandos on pro-Russian checkpoints around the town of Sloviansk left at least two separatists dead.
Oleg Boldyrev reports from the scene of the operation near Sloviansk

On hearing of the attacks, President Putin warned there would be "consequences", adding: "If Kiev has really begun to use the army against the country's population... that is a very serious crime against its own people".

On Wednesday Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused the US of "running the show" in Ukraine.

Moscow has tens of thousands of troops along its side of the border.

Russian television quoted the ambassador to the UN, Vitaly Churkin, as saying that Moscow would have "international-legal grounds" to deploy "peacekeepers" to Ukraine, as it had during the Russia-Georgia conflict of 2008.
One of the checkpoints taken out by Ukrainian forces near Sloviansk, 24 April One of the checkpoints taken out by Ukrainian forces near Sloviansk
Pro-Russian activist at Krasny Linam near Sloviansk, 24 April The pro-Russians continue to control many checkpoints in the area, including here at Krasny Linam
Ukraine's acting President, Olexander Turchynov, 24 April Ukraine's acting President, Olexander Turchynov, told Russia to stop its "blackmail"
Ukrainian helicopter drops leaflets over Sloviansk, 24 April A Ukrainian helicopter drops leaflets over Sloviansk
 
Ukraine's acting President, Olexander Turchynov, called on Russia to pull back its troops and end what he called its "blackmail".

Foreign Minister Andriy Deshchytisa said Ukrainian forces would fight the Russians if they had to.

In other developments on Thursday:
  • The funeral took place in Horlivka of pro-Ukrainian politician Volodymyr Rybak, who was abducted and killed in Donetsk region
  • US journalist Simon Ostrovsky, held by pro-Russian separatists in Sloviansk, has been freed
  • Slovakia and Ukraine could sign a deal on gas supplies on Monday, allowing for a "reverse flow" to reduce Kiev's dependence on Russia
Unrest began in Ukraine last November over whether the country should look towards Moscow or the West.

Last month Russia annexed Ukraine's mainly ethnic-Russian Crimea. It followed a referendum in the region that backed joining the Russian Federation but which the West and Kiev deemed illegal.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-27152019
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Chronology of the Press in Burma

1836 – 1846 * During this period the first English-language newspaper was launched under British-ruled Tenasserim, southern  Burma . The first ethnic Karen-language and Burmese-language newspapers also appear in this period.     March 3, 1836 —The first English-language newspaper,  The Maulmain Chronicle , appears in the city of Moulmein in British-ruled Tenasserim. The paper, first published by a British official named E.A. Blundell, continued up until the 1950s. September 1842 —Tavoy’s  Hsa-tu-gaw  (the  Morning Star ), a monthly publication in the Karen-language of  Sgaw ,  is established by the Baptist mission. It is the first ethnic language newspaper. Circulation reached about three hundred until its publication ceased in 1849. January 1843 —The Baptist mission publishes a monthly newspaper, the Christian  Dhamma  Thadinsa  (the  Religious Herald ), in Moulmein. Supposedly the first Burmese-language newspaper, it continued up until the first year of the second Angl
Post a Comment
Read more

ARSA claims ambush on Myanmar security forces

Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) on Sunday claimed responsibility for an ambush on Myanmar security forces that left several wounded in northern Rakhine state, the first attack in weeks in a region gutted by violence. Rakhine was plunged into turmoil last August, when a series of ARSA raids prompted a military backlash so brutal the UN says it likely amounts to ethnic cleansing of the Muslim Rohingya minority. The army campaign sent some 650,000 Rohingya fleeing for Bangladesh, where refugees have given harrowing accounts of rape, murder and arson at the hands of security forces and vigilantes. Myanmar's military, which tightly controls information about Rakhine, denies any abuses and insists the crackdown was a proportionate response to crush the "terrorist" threat. ARSA have launched few attacks in recent months.  But the army reported that "about ten" Rohingya terrorists ambushed a car with hand-made mines and gunfire on Friday morning
Post a Comment
Read more

Thai penis whitening trend raises eyebrows

Image copyright LELUXHOSPITAL Image caption Authorities warn the procedure could be quite painful A supposed trend of penis whitening has captivated Thailand in recent days and left it asking if the country's beauty industry is taking things too far. Skin whitening is nothing new in many Asian countries, where darker skin is often associated with outdoor labour, therefore, being poorer. But even so, when a clip of a clinic's latest intriguing procedure was posted online, it quickly went viral. Thailand's health ministry has since issued a warning over the procedure. The BBC Thai service spoke to one patient who had undergone the treatment, who told them: "I wanted to feel more confident in my swimming briefs". The 30-year-old said his first session of several was two months ago, and he had since seen a definite change in the shade. 'What for?' The original Facebook post from the clinic offering the treatment, which uses lasers to break do
1 comment
Read more