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Shaky quiet over eastern Ukraine after first day of unity talks U.S., allies preparing for ‘wider’ sanctions against Russia, Britain’s Hague says
(about 5 hours later)
DONETSK, Ukraine — A shaky quiet fell over eastern Ukraine early Thursday, one day after the first round of talks on Ukrainian national unity broke up amid grandstanding and accusations in the region’s tensest standoff since the Cold War. LONDON — British Foreign Secretary William Hague called this week’s national-dialogue meeting in Kiev “clearly successful” but said the United States and Europe are continuing preparations for “wider economic and trade sanctions” against Russia if it interferes in Ukraine’s May 25 nationwide elections.
The ad hoc talks, not attended by pro-Russian militants, were backed by the West and ostensibly by Russia. Those at the negotiating table included officials from the interim government, religious and business leaders, two former Ukrainian presidents, a German diplomat, as well as some lawmakers and mayors from the east and other regions who are skeptical of the government. Hague, who hosted a meeting here on Ukraine with his counterparts from the United States, Germany, France and Italy, spoke as a shaky quiet fell over eastern Ukraine after the ad hoc talks in Kiev. Pro-Russian militants who have continued to occupy public buildings and skirmish with government forces in the east did not join the discussions.
Broadcast live on television, the talks mostly laid bare the gulf between those Ukrainians who support the interim Kiev government and those who do not. They broke up quickly with agreement in principle to hold another round in Donetsk, the capital of a region that pro-Russian separatists have declared a sovereign republic. Ukraine’s interim government said it hoped to hold a second such meeting in the next several days in Donetsk, the capital of a region that separatists have declared a sovereign republic. The talks marked the tenuous start of a negotiating process being conducted under the auspices of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
Nevertheless, the talks marked the tenuous start of a negotiating process being conducted under the auspices of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, a Vienna-based body that includes the United States, Russia and several European powers. As the Kiev talks were underway, officials in Moscow appeared to soften their stance, at least publicly. In an interview with Bloomberg Television, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Russia has “no intention” of sending troops into eastern Ukraine, despite Western fears that it will invade after the presidential and mayoral elections set for later this month.
An OSCE peace plan calls for both sides to end the violence that has marked by deadly skirmishes between Ukrainian forces and well-armed pro-Russian militants in eastern Ukraine, the industrial heartland of the country. In return for amnesty, the separatists would have to lay down their arms and end the occupation of government buildings. Both sides would also then engage in negotiations on explosive topics such as the decentralization of power and the legal status of the Russian language. Although Westerns nations have threatened additional sanctions against Russia, Hague said they were not willing to give an “exact definition” of what would provoke them or what form the measures would take.
It remained doubtful, however, that the pro-Russian separatists would join the fledgling talks even if asked. Denis Pushilin, co-chairman of the self-proclaimed “Donetsk People’s Republic,” who proclaimed a sovereign country after a chaotic referendum in the region Sunday, expressed wariness that negotiations might be moved to the city. “If we set a red line, Russia knows that it can go up to that red line,” he said at a news conference. “Efforts to disrupt the election may take many different forms. That’s not something we can define in advance,” but it will be “what determines the attitude of the whole Western world” toward Russia.
“Is it possible? It’s possible,” Pushilin told Russia’s RT television network. “But we have no intentions of taking the first steps in this because we don’t trust Kiev.” He said separatists would be willing to discuss the exchange of hostages and the removal of “occupation forces” from the region. In separate comments, Secretary of State John F. Kerry said, “If Russia or its proxies disrupt the election, the United States and those countries represented here today in the European Union will impose sectoral economic sanctions as a result.”
In Moscow, officials appeared to soften their stance, at least publicly. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned in an interview with Bloomberg Television that Ukraine was closer than ever to civil war and said that any attempt by its government to join NATO would be “an issue” for Moscow. Asked whether the West would be watching for direct Russian interference or hold Moscow accountable for the actions of the pro-Russian separatists, Kerry said a judgement would be made according to “attitude and behavior.”
But he also said that Russia has “no intention” of sending troops into eastern Ukraine, despite Western fears that Moscow will invade after Ukraine’s presidential and mayoral elections, set for May 25. “I’m not going to start laying out the whole series of definitions except to say to you that it is clear what proxies mean. If Russia or its proxies disrupt the elections . . . that is when and if there would be additional sanctions,” he said.
Lavrov spoke at length about Russia’s deep historical and “psychological” ties to Ukraine, even saying that Russians “do not consider [themselves] foreigners” there. But he refused to respond directly to a question about whether Russia would annex more Ukrainian territory, calling the query “hypothetical.” Russia annexed Crimea, an autonomous Ukrainian region, in March after a hastily arranged referendum there. A senior State Department official said earlier that “we have been pretty clear in being able to pinpoint and expose . . . when Moscow’s hand has been behind past disruptions.” The official added, “We’ve seen it in the past — we’ve seen personnel, we’ve seen money, we’ve seen weapons, we’ve seen coordination, we’ve seen actual actors. So all of those things are possible again in this context.”
Meanwhile, adding to the Kiev government’s challenges, Russian President Vladimir Putin signaled Thursday that his nation is one step closer to a full gas cutoff to Ukraine, which he said owes Moscow $3.5 billion for gas imports. The official also made clear that threatened sanctions on what President Obama has said would be “sectors” of the Russian economy, including mining, defense, energy and banking, are not likely to be imposed across the board, as in Iran. Instead, the official said, they would “use a scalpel rather than a hammer,” focusing on “new investment” in sanctioned sectors.
Putin’s words, in a letter addressed to European nations, echoed those of Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev earlier this week. Putin said circumstances had “forced” Russia to require Ukraine to pre-pay for any gas imports starting June 1. The European Union, whose members have far more substantial stakes in the Russian economy than does the United States, have balked at “sectoral” sanctions and complained that they would unfairly target Europe.
Russia’s state-backed Gazprom has nearly doubled its gas prices for Ukraine in the midst of the conflict, setting fees for Ukraine higher than in any European Union nation. Europe gets 15 percent of its natural gas from pipelines that pass through Ukraine. France has indicated that it is likely to go ahead with a $1.6 billion contract, signed in 2009 for delivery this year and next, to supply Russia with two Mistral-class amphibious assault ships, despite U.S. disapproval. Other European countries are concerned about existing contracts for the supply of Russian natural gas.
And Putin said Russia “remains open for continuing consultations and actions together with the European countries to stabilize the situation.” The official declined to specify whether existing contracts would be exempted from any new sanctions. “We think that there are first steps one could take that would impact Russia and that there is headroom to move beyond that,” the official said. “There are all kinds of different ways to wield a scalpel.”
Amid the talks in Kiev, the situation in the east remained tense. Armed men entered the Novokramatorsky machinery plant in Kramatorsk and made off with a heavy construction vehicle, and the pro-Ukrainian head of a school was abducted and later released. Masked gunmen also abducted the head of the district’s voting commission. But the official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to provide background information to reporters, described a far more limited approach than Obama did in his March 20 announcement that he had signed an executive order authorizing sectoral sanctions. Kerry, too, was far more expansive in testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last month, saying that “the United States and our closest partners are united in this effort despite the costs and willing to put in effect tough new sanctions . . . on key sectors of the Russian economy.
A day earlier, Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said, six soldiers were killed near Kramatorsk in one of the bloodiest clashes of the conflict. The ministry also said that a militant was killed and four others were wounded in the fighting. Local news media reported that a seventh Ukrainian soldier died of his wounds, but the reports have not been confirmed. “In energy, banking, mining — they’re all on the table . . . if Russia does not end its pressure and aggression on Ukraine.”
In Kiev, analysts conceded that it was hard to imagine the separatists surrendering their arms without a seat at the negotiating table. Yet resistance to offering them a seat appeared strong. Speaking Thursday, Kerry said he would not announce “what the precise sanctions are” but said the administration has “completed our work. We know what they are. We’re ready,” while U.S. officials have continued working with the Europeans to ensure they are on board.
“We’re ready to discuss questions, but for those who are armed and are trying to fight against their own country, to those who are holding guns and trying to dictate their own will, or, better said, the will of another country, for those we will have other methods,” Oleksandr Turchynov, the acting Ukrainian president, said at the start of the talks. “I’m not going to get into characterizations of scalpel or a sledgehammer or whatever, except to say to you that they’re effective, and if they have to go into effect, they will have an impact,” Kerry said.
Faiola reported from Kiev, and Deane reported from London. Abigail Hauslohner in Moscow contributed to this report. Anthony Faiola in Kiev, Fredrick Kunkle in Donetsk, Abigail Hauslohner in Moscow contributed to this report.