Talks in London between Kerry and Lavrov end with impasse on Ukraine By Anne Gearan and Kathy Lally, Published: March 14 LONDON — An eleventh-hour U.S. effort to resolve the growing confrontation with Russia over Ukraine failed Friday, and Moscow shipped more troops and armor into the flash-point Crimea region ahead of a planned vote on breaking away from Ukraine and rejoining Russia. Secretary of State John F. Kerry warned against a “backdoor annexation” by Russia of the strategic Black Sea peninsula. But Kerry conceded that six hours of talks here with Russia’s top diplomat neither stopped Sunday’s vote nor opened a new diplomatic path for Moscow to step back from the Cold War-tinged standoff. The most significant U.S. and European sanctions against Russia since the collapse of the Soviet Union appeared all but certain. “We don’t have a common vision of the situation,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said after the crisis talks. No agreements were reached, Lavrov told reporters. He stressed that Russia insists on Crimea’s right to hold the referendum. He said Russia would decide after the vote on how to respond. When pressed about whether Russia would annex Crimea after the vote, he said, “There are no what-ifs in politics.” Voters in Crimea will decide whether to secede from Ukraine and join Russia or remain part of Ukraine with greater autonomy. The vote will be held under the eyes of Russian troops who effectively took control of Crimea late last month after protesters overthrew the Ukrainian government. The Crimean regional parliament has already voted to leave Ukraine, and the traditionally pro-Russian population of Crimea is expected to approve the idea as well.
Posted on: Sat, 15 Mar 2014 04:46:55 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015