Despite the hopes raised by the telephone conversation between US President Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, the two countries failed to make headway in their talks in Paris on Sunday to defuse tensions and help resolve the Ukraine crisis.
However, after four hours of parleys that saw the two sides put forth divergent proposals, the hopes were kept alive with US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey lavrov agreeing to hold further talks.
“We have some ideas. We have proposals that both sides made,” Kerry said after the meeting, adding: “We agreed to consider the ideas and the suggestions that we developed tonight and to continue our discussions soon.” lavrov also spoke of “very, very constructive” discussions.
Kerry’s renewal of the US demand that Russia pull back its troops massed on the border with Ukraine did not elicit any positive response from lavrov other than the assertion that Russia has “absolutely no intention of, or interest in, crossing Ukraine’s borders”.
“The Russian troop buildup is creating a climate of fear and intimidation in Ukraine. It certainly does not create the climate that we need for dialogue,” Kerry told reporters after the meeting.
While conceding that the troops are on Russian soil, Kerry said: “The question is not one of right or legality; the question is one of strategic appropriateness and whether it’s smart at this moment in time to have that number of troops massed on a border when you’re trying to send a message conceivably that you want to deescalate and begin to move in the other direction.”
Russia has already brushed aside the demand by the US and its European allies that Moscow undo its recent annexation of Crimea. Making clear it has no intention to withdraw from there, Russia’s Ambassador to the US, Sergey Kislyak, told ABC News on Sunday: “Crimea is a part of the Russian Federation.”
During the deliberations in Paris, lavrov is reported to have made the case for Ukraine being turned into a loose federation of regions that should be allowed to choose their own economic, financial, social, linguistic and religious models, thus advancing the demand of the sizeable Russian-speaking populace in eastern Ukraine.
Echoing lavrov’s comments, Kislyak said in his TV interview that Ukraine needs “a revision of the constitution that would include a mechanism where the regions would be heard and their views would be taken on board”.
Kerry, however, ruled out any discussion on Ukraine’s future without the presence of Ukraine at the table. “The United States is consulting with Ukraine at every step of this process, and we will not accept a path forward where the legitimate Government of Ukraine is not at the table. This principle is clear: No decisions about Ukraine without Ukraine,” Kerry said.
Asserting that the US and the international community stand in firm support of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, he said: “We will continue to support the people of Ukraine’s right to choose their own future.” He maintained that the Ukrainian Government “has demonstrated remarkable restraint in the face of enormous pressure”.
Meanwhile, in an indication that Washington does not trust Russian assurances that it would not invade Ukraine, the Pentagon on Sunday urgently sent back its top European Commander Gen Philip Breedlove. The general was in Washington to testify before US Congress, but Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel decided to rush him back of Russia’s “lack of transparency” about troop movements along the Ukraine border.