Joint Document On De-Escalation Of Ukraine Crisis Adopted In Geneva,
But Kiev Pushes With Military Operation
By Countercurrents
19 April, 2014
Countercurrents.org
Russia, the US, the EU and Ukraine have adopted a joint document on the de-escalation of the Ukraine crisis, Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov said, after talks in Geneva.
However, the Kiev authority said: Military operations in east Ukraine will continue.
Media reports on Ukraine said:
The joint document on Ukraine crisis adopted in Geneva calls for all illegal armed groups to lay down arms and a wide amnesty.
The document calls for an “immediate start of a nationwide national dialogue within the framework of the constitutional process, which must be inclusive and accountable,” Lavrov said.
The most important agreement reached during the talks, according to Lavrov, states that the Ukrainian crisis “must be resolved by the Ukrainians themselves concerning an end to the conflict” including those related to “detaining protesters, occupying buildings” and, in the long run “the start of true constitutional reform.”
“Among the steps that have to be taken are: the disarmament of all the illegal armed groups, and the return of all the occupied administrative buildings,” Lavrov told journalists at the Thursday briefing.
“An amnesty for all the protesters must take place, except of those who committed grave crimes,” the Foreign Minister added.
The issue of illegal armed groups and seized buildings concerns all the regions of Ukraine, Lavrov stressed.
“It is impossible to solve the problem of illegally seized buildings in one region of Ukraine when the illegally seized buildings are not freed in another,” he said.
“Those who took power in Kiev as a result of a coup - if they consider themselves as representing the interests of all the Ukrainians - must show the initiative, extend a friendly hand to the regions, listen to their concerns, and sit down with them at the negotiation table,” Lavrov said.
He said the document does not give any guidelines on the future political system of Ukraine.
“We did not use any terms… There are federations where the rights of the regions are limited, and there are unitary states in name only where the regions have broad authority,” he explained.
The goal of the meeting was to send a signal to the Ukrainians that they are responsible for stability in the country and must ensure that “each region can protect its history and language,” Lavrov stressed.
“Only then will Ukraine be a strong state, a proverbial bridge between the East and the West,” Lavrov said.
Lavrov denied a Russian military presence in Ukraine and criticized the Ukrainian military deployment.
"The only difference is that our servicemen are not used against our own people," said Lavrov. "And Ukrainian servicemen have been mobilized by an illegal order to suppress a mass protest."
"There are no excessive Russian troops on Ukrainian or any other soil that would violate any international treaty," Lavrov said. "We have no wish to insert our military forces into Ukraine, where our fraternal nation lives." “This is against the fundamental interests of the Russian Federation,” Lavrov said.
He said an estimated 40,000 Russian troops are positioned on the Ukrainian border.
He described an aggression by Kiev on the "Russian-speaking people."
Lavrov called the reported restrictions on Russian men crossing into Ukraine "outrageous" and "discriminatory."
But Lavrov said Moscow found a note of hope in the talks.
Lavrov was asked about Ukraine's intention to remain a neutral state, not part of any military bloc.
Lavrov said there's a law in Ukraine that declares it a neutral state and said Russia "was determined to preserve this status."
"As for neutrality in the political or military terms, I don't really understand what political neutrality means... I'm not sure really it can exist in the modern world."
Only the police and the army should have the weapons," Lavrov said.
The Russian side on Thursday provided US and EU representatives with documents passed on from south-eastern Ukrainians, which contain “a thorough vision of how their interests should be reflected in the new [Ukrainian] constitution.”
The OSCE’s (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe) monitoring mission must play “the leading role” in assisting the Ukrainian authorities to resolve the crisis, Lavrov stressed, adding that Russia “will support” the mission’s work.
According to the Russian top diplomat, the Americans now have a “decisive influence” on the Kiev authorities, which should be used for resolving the crisis.
Lavrov stressed: Moscow’s chief concern is that the rights of all the Ukrainian regions including those with Russian-speaking majorities, must be taken into account in the constitutional reform.
Calling the recent NATO statements on Ukraine’s neutrality “unacceptable,” Lavrov stressed that pushing for changes in the country’s non-aligned status will “undermine the efforts to resolve the crisis” in Ukraine.
“The fact that Ukraine has chosen non-aligned status and enshrined it in its law must be respected by all and there should not be any attempts to doubt it or to erode its meaning,” the Russian foreign minister stressed.
Kerry’s threat
The US secretary of state John Kerry said the agreement "represents a good day's work" but would have little meaning if it was not followed by action on all sides to calm the situation.
He threatened that if the US and EU did not see progress, new sanctions would follow.
With a tone of warning, the US president and the German chancellor have agreed that the US and Europe are prepared to take further measures if this de-escalation does not occur in short order.
They also stressed their support for Ukraine’s May 25 presidential elections.
Without referring to facts the US president said: "It is our belief that Russia's hand is in the disruption and chaos that we've been seeing."
However, he said Russia has shown signs of cooperating in de-escalation.
Obama said on the Ukraine deal: I don't think we can be sure of anything at this point.
US “non-lethal” aid to Kiev
At the same time, the US has pledged non-lethal aid to the Ukrainian military – medical supplies, helmets, water purification devices and generators.
Meaning of Kiev visit by the CIA boss
Speculation continues to swirl over the visit to Kiev at the weekend by CIA boss John Brennan.
Melik Kaylan writes in Forbes magazine:
“According to my sources, and based on my experience of reporting on the Russian invasion of Georgia, the US-Ukraine information exchange would go a lot further than simply tracking numbers and motions of Russian tanks and soldiers. The operative term here is ‘non-lethal’ help – that remains Washington’s official position. But in today’s digital and virtual battlefield, the game can be over before the first shot gets fired. And if Moscow’s mastery over the digital domain can be countered, Putin might think twice about risking the expensive hardware that he has invested billions in upgrading since the Georgian war.
Putin: Kiev is pulling Ukraine into an abyss
Russian president Vladimir Putin expressed his hope during his questions and answers sessions on national TV Thursday that there would be a way of coming to a “mutual understanding” with Ukraine.
He denied that Russian forces had been sent to Ukraine and said Kiev was pulling the country into an “abyss”.
The Russian president said:
"We were once promised in Munich that after the unification of Germany no expansion of NATO would happen to the east. Then it started to expand by adding former Warsaw pact countries, former USSR countries. I asked: Why are you doing that?
"They told me it is not your business; people and nations have the right to chose how they defend themselves. Will they drag Ukraine into NATO? If NATO goes there, Russia will be pushed out from the area around the Black Sea. This is pushing out Russia from this important part of the world. Let’s not be afraid of anything, but we should take that into account, and respond accordingly."
The Russian president said east Ukraine – "Kharkiv, Lugansk, Donetsk, Odessa" - was historically part of Russia. He railed against NATO expansion.
Russian president Vladimir Putin and Turkish prime minister Tayyip Erdogan spoke on issues including involving the Muslim, Turkic-speaking Tatar minority, the Kremlin said.
In a telephone call initiated by the Turkish side, Putin and Erdogan also discussed bilateral ties between the two Black Sea nations including in the energy sector.
In Ukraine
With a hostile approach, Ukraine informed the Russian airline Aeroflot of new tight restrictions on the entry of Russian men to Ukraine. The Russian foreign ministry demanded an explanation.
In eastern Ukraine, armed men took over a television tower on Thursday and switched it to Russian channels playing an almost non-stop stream of sound-bites from a marathon TV phone-in by Russian president Vladimir Putin.
A leader of pro-Russian protesters inside the Donetsk regional government building tells Reuters his side would not leave until supporters of Ukraine's new government quit their camp around Kiev's main square, known as the Maidan.
"If it means all squares and public buildings then I guess it should start with the Maidan in Kiev. We'll see what they do there before we make our decision here," the leader, Alexander Zakharchenko, told Reuters by telephone.
Ukrainian nationalists and other groups who helped overthrow the elected president in Kiev two months ago have maintained barricades around the Maidan. Many have said they will not leave until they are satisfied by the result of a presidential election to be held on May 25.
UK’s soft spot
David Cameron and William Hague talk tough but are reluctant even to impose the kind of economic sanctions the Obama administration is threatening.
BP, with a 20% stake in Russian state-controlled oil company Rosneft, is reported to have warned British ministers about the potential impact of Russian retaliation. BASF, the chemical group, is reported to have expressed concern to German ministers. Europe imports 30% of its gas from Russia.
US senators’ advocacy for arms to Kiev
The US senator John McCain not only thinks the US should arm pro-Kiev fighters, and also thinks the current EU sanctions pertaining to the Ukraine crisis are laughably soft. He also thinks Moldova, one of Ukraine's neighbors to the south, should move to join the EU. McCain led a senatorial delegation to Moldova.
Four US senators visited Moldova Thursday to lend support to the former Soviet republic's move toward the European Union, while Russian president Vladimir Putin urged Ukraine to end a blockade of the country's separatist province Trans-Dniester.
The US senators John McCain, John Barrasso, John Hoeven and Ron Johnson met with Moldovan Prime Minister Iurie Leanca to discuss energy security and how to attract US investments to Moldova.
The US senators' visit came as Putin complained about NATO expansionism. "Will they drag Ukraine into NATO?" Putin said today. "If NATO goes there, Russia will be pushed out from the area around the Black Sea."
The text of the Geneva joint statement of April 17, 2014:
The Geneva meeting on the situation in Ukraine agreed on initial concrete steps to de-escalate tensions and restore security for all citizens.
All sides must refrain from any violence, intimidation or provocative actions. The participants strongly condemned and rejected all expressions of extremism, racism and religious intolerance, including anti-semitism.
All illegal armed groups must be disarmed; all illegally seized buildings must be returned to legitimate owners; all illegally occupied streets, squares and other public places in Ukrainian cities and towns must be vacated.
Amnesty will be granted to protestors and to those who have left buildings and other public places and surrendered weapons, with the exception of those found guilty of capital crimes.
It was agreed that the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission should play a leading role in assisting Ukrainian authorities and local communities in the immediate implementation of these de-escalation measures wherever they are needed most, beginning in the coming days. The US, EU and Russia commit to support this mission including by providing monitors.
The announced constitutional process will be inclusive, transparent and accountable. It will include the immediate establishment of a broad national dialogue, with outreach to all of Ukraine’s regions and political constituencies, and allow for the consideration of public comments and proposed amendments.
The participants underlined the importance of economic and financial stability in Ukraine and would be ready to discuss additional support as the above steps are implemented.
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