US must press Ukraine to end offensive: Russia FM
Iran Press TV
Sat Jun 14, 2014 8:11PM
Russia's foreign minister has demanded the United States put pressure on Ukrainian officials to immediately stop their military operations against protesters in eastern and southern provinces.
According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, Sergei Lavrov in a telephone call with his American counterpart John Kerry on Friday 'urged the United States to use its influence with the Kiev authorities to nudge them toward a more realistic assessment of the situation, making them realize the hopelessness of using force to resolve a domestic conflict.'
Lavrov also in a recent interview with TVC channel said that Ukraine's crisis cannot be solved without holding talks with representatives of protesters in eastern and southern parts of the country.
'[Western countries] are still trying to present the situation as the need to settle the problem between Russia and Ukraine, closing their eyes to the fact that the essence of the crisis is the problem connected with the Kiev authorities' failure to establish a respectful dialogue with citizens living in the south and east ... ,' Lavrov underlined.
Ukraine's mainly Russian-speaking parts in the south and the east have been the scene of deadly clashes between pro-Russia protesters and the Ukrainian army since Kiev launched military operations in the southeastern regions in mid-April in a bid to root out the protests there.
The violence intensified after the Donetsk and Lugansk regions declared independence from Ukraine on May 12 following referendums, in which the regions' residents voted overwhelmingly in favor of independence from Kiev. The vote was called illegal by Ukrainian authorities.
HRM/NN/AS
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