Justice Ministry of Ukraine wants to ban two pro-Russian parties
Washington. US Secretary of State John Kerry on Monday urged Russia to take “concrete steps” to implement an agreement on defusing the crisis in Ukraine, AFP reports.
The accord, struck last week in Geneva, was meant to lower the heat on the worst confrontation between Washington and Moscow since the Cold War, but each side has accused the other of violating it. In a phone call with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Kerry said the steps should include “publicly calling on separatists to vacate illegal buildings and checkpoints, accept amnesty and address their grievances politically,” State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said, as cited by the agency. “He also called on Russia to speak out against the seizing of journalists and other innocents as hostages,” she said.
US President Barack Obama has threatened to slap more sanctions on Moscow, beyond ones already imposed by the United States and the European Union targeting the inner circle of Russian President Vladimir Putin, if the pact is not implemented soon. White House press secretary Jay Carney insisted Washington was ready to make good on its threat, warning that “if progress is not made in coming days we will impose further costs” on Russia.
Carney however declined to provide a deadline for action.