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| Biden Offers Strong Support to Ukraine and Issues a Sharp Rebuke to Russia | Biden Offers Strong Support to Ukraine and Issues a Sharp Rebuke to Russia |
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| KIEV, Ukraine — Vowing that the United States would never recognize Russia’s “illegal occupation” of Crimea, Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. on Tuesday reiterated America’s support of Ukraine, declared that “no nation has the right to simply grab land from another” and called on Russia to stop supporting masked gunmen who have seized government buildings across the east of the country. | |
| Mr. Biden’s remarks, made during a meeting with Ukraine’s interim prime minister, Arseniy P. Yatsenyuk, signaled strong American backing for the shaky new government in Kiev that Moscow does not recognize and condemns as the illegitimate fruit of a putsch engineered by the West. | Mr. Biden’s remarks, made during a meeting with Ukraine’s interim prime minister, Arseniy P. Yatsenyuk, signaled strong American backing for the shaky new government in Kiev that Moscow does not recognize and condemns as the illegitimate fruit of a putsch engineered by the West. |
| In recent weeks, officials in Washington, including President Obama, have issued a string of warnings to Russia threatening increasingly harsh economic sanctions if the Kremlin does not help to de-escalate the crisis in eastern Ukraine. But those seem to have gone largely unheeded. | In recent weeks, officials in Washington, including President Obama, have issued a string of warnings to Russia threatening increasingly harsh economic sanctions if the Kremlin does not help to de-escalate the crisis in eastern Ukraine. But those seem to have gone largely unheeded. |
| Mr. Biden’s stern words, accompanied by a pledge of a further $50 million in American aid and help to break Ukraine’s dependency on Russian energy supplies, underscored how little trust now exists between Washington and Moscow, despite their joint role in brokering an international accord on Thursday in Geneva that sought, so far with little effect, to defuse the crisis. | Mr. Biden’s stern words, accompanied by a pledge of a further $50 million in American aid and help to break Ukraine’s dependency on Russian energy supplies, underscored how little trust now exists between Washington and Moscow, despite their joint role in brokering an international accord on Thursday in Geneva that sought, so far with little effect, to defuse the crisis. |
| Illustrating the volatility of the standoff in eastern Ukraine, the country’s acting president on Tuesday called for a renewed effort to force the pro-Russian militants from the buildings they are holding after a failed attempt last week. In that effort, a column of 21 armored vehicles was commandeered by pro-Russian forces with the aid, the West says, of Russian special forces operatives. | Illustrating the volatility of the standoff in eastern Ukraine, the country’s acting president on Tuesday called for a renewed effort to force the pro-Russian militants from the buildings they are holding after a failed attempt last week. In that effort, a column of 21 armored vehicles was commandeered by pro-Russian forces with the aid, the West says, of Russian special forces operatives. |
| “I call on the security agencies to relaunch and carry out effective antiterrorist measures,” the acting president, Oleksandr V. Turchynov, said in a statement, “with the aim of protecting Ukrainian citizens living in eastern Ukraine from terrorists.” | “I call on the security agencies to relaunch and carry out effective antiterrorist measures,” the acting president, Oleksandr V. Turchynov, said in a statement, “with the aim of protecting Ukrainian citizens living in eastern Ukraine from terrorists.” |
| Mr. Turchynov was reacting to a statement on Tuesday by the self-proclaimed mayor of Slovyansk, who said that one of the “brutally tortured” bodies found in a river there this week was that of Volodymyr Rybak, an official from the nearby town of Gorlovka and a member of the president’s political party. | Mr. Turchynov was reacting to a statement on Tuesday by the self-proclaimed mayor of Slovyansk, who said that one of the “brutally tortured” bodies found in a river there this week was that of Volodymyr Rybak, an official from the nearby town of Gorlovka and a member of the president’s political party. |
| The pro-Russian mayor, Vyachislav Ponomaryov, attributed the killings to Right Sector, a Ukrainian nationalist group, but he did not offer any evidence to back his claim. | The pro-Russian mayor, Vyachislav Ponomaryov, attributed the killings to Right Sector, a Ukrainian nationalist group, but he did not offer any evidence to back his claim. |
| Mr. Ponomaryov also announced that members of Slovyansk’s pro-Russian militia had detained Simon Ostrovsky, an American video journalist from Vice News, and were holding him in the captured headquarters of the Ukrainian Security Service in Slovyansk. | Mr. Ponomaryov also announced that members of Slovyansk’s pro-Russian militia had detained Simon Ostrovsky, an American video journalist from Vice News, and were holding him in the captured headquarters of the Ukrainian Security Service in Slovyansk. |
| In an emailed statement, Vice said it “is aware of the situation and is in contact with the United States State Department and other appropriate government authorities to secure the safety and security of our friend and colleague, Simon Ostrovsky.” | In an emailed statement, Vice said it “is aware of the situation and is in contact with the United States State Department and other appropriate government authorities to secure the safety and security of our friend and colleague, Simon Ostrovsky.” |
| Mr. Biden, echoing the view of the Ukrainian authorities that the unrest in the east has been instigated and, in some places, directly assisted by Russian military and intelligence personnel, called on Russia to “stop supporting men hiding behind masks in unmarked uniforms,” the so-called green men who have seized government buildings in at least 10 towns and cities. | Mr. Biden, echoing the view of the Ukrainian authorities that the unrest in the east has been instigated and, in some places, directly assisted by Russian military and intelligence personnel, called on Russia to “stop supporting men hiding behind masks in unmarked uniforms,” the so-called green men who have seized government buildings in at least 10 towns and cities. |
| “It’s time for Russia to stop talking and start acting — act on the commitments they made” in Geneva, Mr. Biden said, adding that Ukraine, through an amnesty law and other steps, was trying to live up to its commitment. | “It’s time for Russia to stop talking and start acting — act on the commitments they made” in Geneva, Mr. Biden said, adding that Ukraine, through an amnesty law and other steps, was trying to live up to its commitment. |
| Russia, however, blames Kiev for the slim results of the Geneva agreement, which called for the disarming of gunmen and the freeing of occupied buildings. While Washington and Kiev focus on pro-Russian militants holding buildings in the east, Moscow insists that the main reason for the continuing unrest is the Kiev government’s failure to rein in groups like Right Sector, which are still occupying City Hall and the central post office in Kiev. | Russia, however, blames Kiev for the slim results of the Geneva agreement, which called for the disarming of gunmen and the freeing of occupied buildings. While Washington and Kiev focus on pro-Russian militants holding buildings in the east, Moscow insists that the main reason for the continuing unrest is the Kiev government’s failure to rein in groups like Right Sector, which are still occupying City Hall and the central post office in Kiev. |
| Since the ouster in February of Ukraine’s pro-Moscow president, Viktor F. Yanukovych, Russia has repeatedly denounced Ukraine’s new leadership as dominated by extreme nationalists and neo-Nazis who threaten not only ethnic Russians and Russian speakers in the east but Jews and other minorities across the country. After meeting in Kiev with Ukrainian officials and local Jewish leaders, however, David Harris, executive director of the American Jewish Committee, said on Tuesday that “the government is committed in word and, we believe, in deed to fighting xenophobia and anti-Semitism.” | Since the ouster in February of Ukraine’s pro-Moscow president, Viktor F. Yanukovych, Russia has repeatedly denounced Ukraine’s new leadership as dominated by extreme nationalists and neo-Nazis who threaten not only ethnic Russians and Russian speakers in the east but Jews and other minorities across the country. After meeting in Kiev with Ukrainian officials and local Jewish leaders, however, David Harris, executive director of the American Jewish Committee, said on Tuesday that “the government is committed in word and, we believe, in deed to fighting xenophobia and anti-Semitism.” |
| Russian allegations of anti-Semites on the rampage in Ukraine, Mr. Harris said in an interview, were “a dangerous, Machiavellian game” that only endangered Jews. “This is not the first time in history that the Jewish community has been put in the middle of such a game,” he said. | Russian allegations of anti-Semites on the rampage in Ukraine, Mr. Harris said in an interview, were “a dangerous, Machiavellian game” that only endangered Jews. “This is not the first time in history that the Jewish community has been put in the middle of such a game,” he said. |
| In a statement to Ukraine’s Parliament after his meetings with Mr. Yatsenyuk and Mr. Turchynov, Mr. Biden spoke of the “humiliating threats” faced by Ukraine and said the United States was “ready to assist.” But he also emphasized that Ukraine needed to put its own house in order, calling on it to “fight the cancer of corruption that is endemic in your system right now” and to reduce its dependence on Russia for supplies of natural gas. | In a statement to Ukraine’s Parliament after his meetings with Mr. Yatsenyuk and Mr. Turchynov, Mr. Biden spoke of the “humiliating threats” faced by Ukraine and said the United States was “ready to assist.” But he also emphasized that Ukraine needed to put its own house in order, calling on it to “fight the cancer of corruption that is endemic in your system right now” and to reduce its dependence on Russia for supplies of natural gas. |
| He applauded Parliament for moving to change the Constitution to devolve more power to its diverse regions, including the mainly Russian-speaking east. | He applauded Parliament for moving to change the Constitution to devolve more power to its diverse regions, including the mainly Russian-speaking east. |
| In an effort to calm pro-Russian separatists, the government in Kiev has promised to grant more autonomy to the local authorities to run their own affairs. It has also begun preparing an amnesty law to cover pro-Russian militants who voluntarily give up their weapons and vacate seized buildings. | In an effort to calm pro-Russian separatists, the government in Kiev has promised to grant more autonomy to the local authorities to run their own affairs. It has also begun preparing an amnesty law to cover pro-Russian militants who voluntarily give up their weapons and vacate seized buildings. |
| But Kiev has balked at Russian demands for so-called federalization, a wholesale reworking of Ukraine’s state structure, viewing it as a ruse to divide the country and place big chunks of territory in the south and east, an area that President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia last week called New Russia, under Moscow’s control. | But Kiev has balked at Russian demands for so-called federalization, a wholesale reworking of Ukraine’s state structure, viewing it as a ruse to divide the country and place big chunks of territory in the south and east, an area that President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia last week called New Russia, under Moscow’s control. |