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Kerry and Lavrov have further discussion of quadripartite meeting on Ukraine
10 April 2014
(LPAC)—While Victoria Nuland was telling the U.S. Helsinki Commission that the U.S. does not have high expectations for 4-way talks between the U.S., Europe, Ukraine and Russia, Kerry and Lavrov discussed such a meeting in a telephone call today, April 9, initiated by the U.S. side according to the Russian Foreign Ministry as reported by Voice of Russia. The Russian minister and the U.S. secretary discussed "international assistance to the resolution of the acute political crisis in Ukraine, including a multilateral meeting between Russia, the US, the European Union and Ukrainian representatives," the Foreign Ministry said. Lavrov said Russia would attend a quadripartite meeting on Ukraine with the United States, the European Union and the Ukrainian authorities only if it helped Kiev foster contacts with all political and regional forces inside the country. The West has suggested holding a meeting on the situation in Ukraine. "April was named as a tentative date," he recalled and stressed that Russia’s position was simple. "This is an internal Ukrainian crisis, and those who are holding the reins of power in Kiev now must invite all regions, all political forces to start a dialogue on the constitution, on the language and all other aspects." "While exchanging opinions about the developments in southeast Ukraine the heads of Russian and U.S. diplomacy called for renouncing any use of force and for directing the situation to a political and legal channel through talks. In this context the Russian side once again stressed that there is no alternative to the involvement of all the regions in the process of constitutional reform," a ministry report says. All Ukrainian regions must be involved in respectful dialogue in order to find an equitable compromise to resolve the ongoing political crisis in Ukraine, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Wednesday. "We are monitoring the situation while trying to determine the prospects of its settlement, but it’s clear that it could be resolved only through fair and respectful dialogue involving all regions," Lavrov told reporters. "We want to know first what are the goals of this meeting," Lavrov told reporters, confirming that the timetable of the talks has not been determined. "If it’s about calling on new Kiev authorities to finally start taking care of their country — we are all for it," the minister said. "But if they ask us to sit at the negotiations table and give Ukraine cheap gas or something else — then it probably doesn’t make any sense," Lavrov said. (William Wertz) |