US Secretary of State to meet Putin and Lavrov
US Secretary of State John Kerry is to hold talks in Russia – his first visit to the country since the start of the crisis in Ukraine in early 2014, BBC News reports.
The secretary of state landed in Sochi, where he was due to meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov before talks with Putin.
Obviously, the United States would not have proposed such a meeting without a good reason. The Russian-backed regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria is reportedly dropping chlorine bombs on civilians again, despite a Russian-brokered deal requiring Syria to destroy its chemical-weapons stockpiles. Still, the Russians were evidently quite pleased with the results of the discussion. At the same time, he said that Russia and the U.S. agree that implementing the Minsk agreement on negotiating a political solution is the only way forward.
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During the meeting that lasted for nearly four hours, Putin reaffirmed Russia’s readiness “to a most wide cooperation, to the closest interaction (with the U.S.) on the basis of equality, mutual respect of interests and stances, ” according to Lavrov.
Russia last month announced it would lift a five-year ban on delivery of an air defense missile system to Iran, drawing a hasty rebuke from the United States.
Nemtsov’s former colleague and friend, ex-prime minister Mikhail Kasyanov, said Nemtsov wanted to compile the report to offer an alternative source of information for Russians who are overwhelmingly dependent on state television.
“This is an enormous moment of opportunity for the conflict…to find a path of certainty and resolution, ” said Kerry, expressing hope that Putin would fulfil his obligations. It is reasonable to assume that Putin would push for an easing of sanctions in such conversations to restore confidence in the Russian economy. Russia, meanwhile, has bristled at Washington’s pledge to provide Ukraine with military assistance in the form of hardware and training.
Many Russian citizens engaged in fighting in eastern Ukraine have freely admitted where they come from, but stopped short of confirming they are fighting under Moscow’s orders.
Given its weak position and the broad set of options before the United States, Moscow would likely distrust a big show of good faith from Washington.
“When you see the huge human cost that’s been inflicted upon the people of Ukraine, it does nothing except continue our resolve to oppose what Putin has done, ” said Nicholson, who visited a military hospital in Kyiv where Ukrainian soldiers wounded in fighting against pro-separatist rebels are being treated.
“We have communicated with Russia and made it very clear that they should get out of Ukraine, ” the minister added.
The report says Russia spent more than 53 billion roubles or around 1 billion dollars – supplying a separatist rebellion in east Ukraine and at least 220 Russian soldiers have been killed there.
Putin has refused to budge on Ukraine, despite a ceasefire agreement re-negotiated in February in Minsk, but has signalled readiness to mend ties with Washington and Brussels as Russia chafes under biting Western sanctions.
In turn, he directly linked fulfillment of the peace accords with the lifting of Western economic sanctions against Russia.
But the statement echoed the defiant tone of earlier ministry comments that blamed Washington for strains in relations and said Moscow would not back down on matters critical to its national interests.
The top US diplomat would also discuss the civil war in Syria, now in its fifth year, where American officials believe the tide may be turning against Assad, long a Moscow ally.