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11 Mar 2014
International leaders continue talks on Ukraine as crisis lingers
FXStreet (Łódź) - Tension is mounting ahead of the referendum on the future of Crimea, scheduled for Sunday, as various officials, the last one being the US ambassador in Kiev, have already stated that the outcome of the vote would not be recognized, as it is “illegitimate.”
“Any increase of the autonomy of Crimea should be done not under the barrel of a gun, but in a clear, transparent and constitutional process,” the US ambassador Geoffrey Pyatt said on Monday.
During the weekend Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov invited United States Secretary of State John Kerry to discuss ways of solving the Ukraine crisis, but the visit has been postponed. According to the Russians this was Kerry's decision, but according to the Washington state department Kremlin was refusing to discuss American proposals, as they included negotiations with the new Ukrainian government which Moscow doesn't want to recognize.
Meanwhile, the new authorities in Kiev are worried with, as they believe, Russia's attempts to create a pretext for an intervention in Ukraine. Yesterday the Russian foreign ministry suggested that the Ukrainian government was linked to a series of incidents close to the country's eastern borders, such as firing towards unarmed demonstrators in Kharkiv or arresting Russian journalists.
Furthermore, Polish PM Donald Tusk expressed his concerns about German reliance on Russian oil and gas, which prevented the country from strongly opposing Moscow's actions against Ukraine and could in effect “limit European sovereignty.”
Chancellor Angela Merkel will visit Warsaw on Wednesday to discuss the situation. Tusk signaled that the main topic of the talks would be “how Germany is able to correct some economic actions so that dependence on Russian gas doesn't paralyse Europe when it needs...a decisive stance."
Also on Wednesday Ukraine Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk is due to hold a meeting with Obama at the White House on how to peacefully resolve the situation in Crimea.
“Any increase of the autonomy of Crimea should be done not under the barrel of a gun, but in a clear, transparent and constitutional process,” the US ambassador Geoffrey Pyatt said on Monday.
During the weekend Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov invited United States Secretary of State John Kerry to discuss ways of solving the Ukraine crisis, but the visit has been postponed. According to the Russians this was Kerry's decision, but according to the Washington state department Kremlin was refusing to discuss American proposals, as they included negotiations with the new Ukrainian government which Moscow doesn't want to recognize.
Meanwhile, the new authorities in Kiev are worried with, as they believe, Russia's attempts to create a pretext for an intervention in Ukraine. Yesterday the Russian foreign ministry suggested that the Ukrainian government was linked to a series of incidents close to the country's eastern borders, such as firing towards unarmed demonstrators in Kharkiv or arresting Russian journalists.
Furthermore, Polish PM Donald Tusk expressed his concerns about German reliance on Russian oil and gas, which prevented the country from strongly opposing Moscow's actions against Ukraine and could in effect “limit European sovereignty.”
Chancellor Angela Merkel will visit Warsaw on Wednesday to discuss the situation. Tusk signaled that the main topic of the talks would be “how Germany is able to correct some economic actions so that dependence on Russian gas doesn't paralyse Europe when it needs...a decisive stance."
Also on Wednesday Ukraine Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk is due to hold a meeting with Obama at the White House on how to peacefully resolve the situation in Crimea.