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‘No Common Vision’ Russian Says After Talks With Kerry U.S.-Russia Talks On Ukraine Fail To Ease Tension
(about 4 hours later)
LONDON — An 11th-hour bid by Secretary of State John Kerry to ease the escalating crisis over the Kremlin’s intervention in Crimea ended in failure on Friday, raising the likelihood of sanctions against Russia and deepening the most serious East-West rift since the end of the Cold War.LONDON — An 11th-hour bid by Secretary of State John Kerry to ease the escalating crisis over the Kremlin’s intervention in Crimea ended in failure on Friday, raising the likelihood of sanctions against Russia and deepening the most serious East-West rift since the end of the Cold War.
American officials said they had presented a range of ideas in the talks with Mr. Kerry’s counterpart, Sergey V. Lavrov, on how a compromise over Crimea might be achieved, including arrangements for giving the peninsula maximum autonomy and imposing measures to safeguard the rights of the Russian-speaking population. American officials said they presented a range of ideas on how a compromise over Crimea might be achieved, including arrangements to expand the peninsula’s autonomy and safeguard the rights of the Russian-speaking population.
But American officials said Mr. Lavrov appeared to have little leeway to negotiate, and that it seemed that President Vladimir V. Putin was determined that the referendum in Crimea should proceed on Sunday. But the officials said that Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, appeared to have little or no leeway to negotiate and that President Vladimir V. Putin was determined that Crimea’s referendum on seceding from Ukraine should proceed on Sunday.
“I presented a number of ideas on behalf of the president,” Mr. Kerry said in a news conference after the talks concluded. “After much discussion, the foreign minister made it clear that President Putin is not prepared to make any decision on Ukraine until after the referendum on Sunday.” “I presented a number of ideas on behalf of the president,” Mr. Kerry said in a news conference after the talks. “After much discussion, the foreign minister made it clear that President Putin is not prepared to make any decision on Ukraine until after the referendum on Sunday.”
Mr. Kerry stopped short of declaring the Russian decision to annex Crimea a fait accompli. But to many experts Mr. Lavrov’s behavior suggested that Mr. Putin’s decision to annex the peninsula was all but made. Mr. Kerry refused to treat Russia’s possible annexation of Crimea as a fait accompli, holding out hope that Mr. Putin might yet decide to resolve the crisis diplomatically after the referendum.
That has left the two sides on a collision course and Western officials have suggested that sanctions could be imposed as early as Monday. But to many experts, Mr. Lavrov’s apparent lack of even minimal authority to explore a political compromise suggested that Mr. Putin’s decision to annex the peninsula was all but final.
“There will be consequences if Russia does not find a way to change course,” Mr. Kerry said. That has left the two sides on a collision course, and Western officials have suggested that sanctions could be imposed as early as Monday.
One apparently positive development was Mr. Lavrov’s public assurance that Russian would not intervene miltiariy in eastern Ukraine, a statement that came after Mr. Putin stirred anxieties by calling a snap military exercise near Ukraine. But Mr. Kerry suggested that assurance was something less than ironclad, noting that Mr. Lavrov had offered similar assurances before Russian troops intervened in Crimea. “There will be consequences” if Ukraine’s sovereignty is violated, President Obama told reporters as Mr. Kerry and Mr. Lavrov were meeting.
The marathon talks were held at Winfield House, the official residence of the American ambasador here, which boasts one of the largest private gardens in London. The two diplomats took a couple of long walks during their one-on-one talks. Mr. Putin’s decision to call a snap exercise involving thousands of troops near Ukraine’s borders this week had raised fears that Russia might deepen the crisis by intervening militarily in eastern Ukraine on the pretext of defending ethnic Russians, just as it had in Crimea.
As the talks continued, Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs tweeted a photo of Mr. Kerry and Mr. Lavrov ambling through the grounds as they gently kicked a soccer ball. “Break is over. Match Continues,” the caption read. “Russia is aware of its responsibility for the lives of compatriots and fellow citizens in Ukraine and reserves the right to take people under protection,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Throughout the talks, Mr. Lavrov held firm to Russia’s positions on the crisis, denouncing the ouster of Ukraine’s former president, Viktor F. Yanukovych, as a coup, refusing to recognize the new government, opposing the creation of a “contact group” and reiterating Crimea’s right to self-determination. In London, Mr. Lavrov gave public assurances that Russia “does not have any plans to invade Eastern or Southern Ukraine” despite the buildup of Russian forces in regions along the Ukrainian border. But Mr. Kerry said the Russian foreign minister offered similar assurances in the days before the Kremlin sent troops into Crimea.
Mr. Kerry said he had advanced proposals to “freeze” destabilizing military moves while talks proceeded, and hoped Mr. Lavrov would transmit them to Mr. Putin. But it was unclear if the Russian president was interested in considering them.
One Western official, who asked not to be named in order to discuss intelligence reports, said that the military maneuvers Mr. Putin ordered this week were an exercise in “political coercion, at a minimum.”
Adding to the worries are reports that large numbers of Russians are being bused to the eastern Ukrainian cities of Kharkiv, Luhansk and Donetsk so that they can agitate against the new Ukrainian government under the supervision of Russian intelligence officers, the Western official said.
The marathon talks were held at Winfield House, the official residence of the American ambassador here, which sits in Regent’s Park amid one of the largest private gardens in London. The two diplomats took a couple of long walks away from their delegations to talk one-on-one.
At one point when Mr. Lavrov appeared to be at the limit of his instructions, he took a break to make a call to Moscow. After the talks resumed, Russia’s Foreign Ministry tweeted a photo of Mr. Kerry and Mr. Lavrov ambling through the grounds as they gently kicked a soccer ball.
“Break is over. Match continues,” the caption read.
Still, no significant headway was made.
For his part, Mr. Putin spoke by telephone with the United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, on Friday, the Kremlin said in a statement, and emphasized that the decision to hold the referendum on Crimea’s status “fully complies with international law and the United Nations Charter.”
Though Western officials acknowledge there is strong sentiment in Crimea for rejoining Russia, they say the referendum is illegal under Ukrainian law and is being held in the presence of as many as 20,000 Russian troops.
American officials said that United States and European sanctions against Russia would be put in effect early next week if the referendum took place on Sunday, and that more economic sanctions would be imposed if Russia escalates the conflict or annexes Crimea.
On Friday evening, the White House announced that Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. would go to Poland and Lithuania next week to reassure leaders in Eastern Europe and the Baltics of American and NATO support after the Crimea referendum. Mr. Biden is scheduled to meet with the Polish president and prime minister on Tuesday. A day later, he will meet in Vilnius with the presidents of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia — all former Soviet satellites rattled by the recent Russian moves in Ukraine.
A major question for the United States and its partners is whether Mr. Putin’s strategy is limited to protecting Russian interests in Crimea or is the first move in a broader campaign to undermine Ukraine’s new government and weaken its authority over the eastern portion of the country.
Mr. Lavrov did not shed any light on that question, but he did blame Western nations for aggravating the crisis.
“We don’t have a common vision of the situation,” Mr. Lavrov said during his appearance after the talks, which he nonetheless called helpful in clarifying the seemingly intractable positions. “Our differences remain.”“We don’t have a common vision of the situation,” Mr. Lavrov said during his appearance after the talks, which he nonetheless called helpful in clarifying the seemingly intractable positions. “Our differences remain.”
Mr. Lavrov also compared Crimea to territories that other nations have gone to great lengths to protect, saying that for Russia the peninsula “means immeasurably more than the Comoros for France or the Falklands for Britain.”Mr. Lavrov also compared Crimea to territories that other nations have gone to great lengths to protect, saying that for Russia the peninsula “means immeasurably more than the Comoros for France or the Falklands for Britain.”
He refused to say whether Russia would move to recognize Crimea as an independent state or to absorb it as a region of the Russian Federation. Instead, he repeated President Vladimir V. Putin’s pledge to “respect the choice” of voters in a referendum on secession on Sunday, after which Russia would announce its next steps. “It makes no sense to speculate at this point,” he said. “We’ll just have to wait and see.” He refused to say whether Russia would move to recognize Crimea as an independent state or to absorb it as a region of the Russian Federation. Instead, he repeated Mr. Putin’s pledge to “respect the choice” of voters in the referendum on Sunday, after which Russia would announce its next steps.
He brushed aside the threats of sanctions and other punitive measures made by President Obama and European leaders, saying that Mr. Kerry “made no threats regarding Russia.” He said the sanctions that have been widely discussed by officials and reported in the news media would be “a counterproductive instrument.” Mr. Lavrov brushed aside the threats of sanctions and other punitive measures, made by President Obama and European leaders, saying sanctions that have been widely discussed by officials and reported in the news media would be “a counterproductive instrument.”
For his part, Mr. Putin spoke by telephone with the United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, on Friday, the Kremlin said in a statement, and emphasized that the decision to hold the referendum on Crimea’s status “fully complies with international law and the United Nations Charter.” Western nations have called the referendum illegal. In Kiev, Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, and Senator Richard J. Durbin, Democrat of Illinois, called on the United States to quickly ship American weapons to Ukraine to fortify its army for a potential war with Russia.
Mr. Ban did not say anything specific about the referendum, but he warned of “a great risk of a dangerous downward spiral.” The Ukrainian Army has only “a few thousand combat-ready troops,” Senator McCain said. “They would be overwhelmed by the Russians if it came to that. One of their urgent requests is to have us supply them with weapons. I’ll be urging our administration to arrange for that as quickly as possible.”
In Washington, Mr. Obama again warned Russia against further escalation. “We continue to hope for a diplomatic outcome,” he told reporters even as Mr. Kerry and Mr. Lavrov were meeting. But he added, “there will be consequences” if Ukraine’s sovereignty is violated. The senators led a bipartisan delegation on a visit to Independence Square, the site of protests that led to the ouster of President Viktor F. Yanukovych, to show support for the interim government on Ukraine. They laid flowers on a barricade turned into a memorial and toured Institutska Street, where many protesters were killed in clashes last month.
Even as Russia announced additional military exercises, including flights by fighter jets in the Mediterranean, the Foreign Ministry in Moscow issued a statement blaming the new authorities in Kiev for losing control of the country and reiterated Mr. Putin’s vow to defend Russian “compatriots” in Ukraine. “It’s pretty sobering to come here,” said Senator Jeff Flake, an Arizona Republican. “I saw the bullet holes in the lampposts. It speaks to the great determination of the Ukrainian people. And that determination will be needed in the coming weeks and months.”
The statement, released on the ministry’s website, cited violence during competing rallies in the eastern city of Donetsk on Thursday night that left one person dead and many others injured. The statement attributed the violence to “right-wing groups” that supported the government in Kiev, though reports from witnesses and even footage on state television suggested that pro-Russian protesters had attacked their rivals.
“Russia is aware of its responsibility for the lives of compatriots and fellow citizens in Ukraine and reserves the right to take people under protection,” the ministry’s statement said.
In Kiev, meanwhile, a senior United Nations official said the body planned to send monitors throughout Ukraine, including Crimea, to investigate reports of human rights violations.
“Warning signs about systemic human rights violations were neglected for many years, including the concerns and recommendations of international human rights bodies,” said Ivan Simonovic, the assistant secretary for human rights. “There are serious concerns about the weakness of rule of law institutions, lack of accountability and ensuing impunity for human rights violations. Reports of torture and ill-treatment are also numerous.”
Adding to the worries are reports that large numbers of Russians are being bused to the eastern Ukrainian cities of Kharkiv, Luhansk and Donetsk so that they can agitate against the new Ukrainian government under the supervision of Russian intelligence officers, the Western official said.
The outlines of the sort of political settlement the United States is seeking emerged on Wednesday when Mr. Obama and Ukraine’s interim prime minister, Arseniy P. Yatsenyuk, suggested that they would be willing to support expanded autonomy for Crimea if Russia were prepared to reverse its military intervention. Mr. Yatsenyuk also said his government would affirm an agreement that permits Russia to maintain a naval base there.
A bipartisan delegation of eight United States senators led by John McCain, Republican of Arizona, and Richard J. Durbin, Democrat of Illinois, came to Kiev’s Independence Square, the site of the protests, to show support for the interim government. They laid flowers on a barricade turned into a memorial and toured Instituska Street, where many protesters were killed in clashes last month.
“It’s pretty sobering to come here,” said Senator Jeff Flake, an Arizona Republican. “I saw the bullet holes in the lamp posts. It speaks to the great determination of the Ukrainian people. And that determination will be needed in the coming weeks and months.”