Kerry and Fabius on Ukraine
Secretary of State John Kerry and France’s foreign minister, Laurent Fabius, discussed tensions between Ukraine and Russia.
Credit Pool photo by Brendan Smialowski
PARIS
— Amid a flurry of diplomatic consultations aimed at preserving a
fragile cease-fire in eastern Ukraine, Secretary of State John Kerry
said Thursday that Russia faced the prospect of toughened sanctions
unless it took steps over the coming “hours” to pressure armed
separatists in eastern Ukraine to give up the fight.
Mr.
Kerry’s warning added new pressure a day before a European Union
meeting in Brussels during which leaders were expected to consider
imposing more economic sanctions on Russia, and in which President Petro
O. Poroshenko of Ukraine was expected to sign a free-trade accord that
his predecessor, Viktor F. Yanukovych, scuttled last fall, setting off
months of civil unrest.
While
President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia has voiced support for the
cease-fire and for peace talks between the Ukrainian government and
pro-Russian separatist rebels, the United States has expressed doubts
that Mr. Putin is genuinely committed to ending the violence.
“We
are in full agreement that it is critical for Russia to show in the
next hours, literally, that they are moving to help disarm the
separatists, to encourage them to disarm, to call on them to lay down
their weapons and begin to become part of a legitimate political
process,” Mr. Kerry said after meeting in Paris with Laurent Fabius, the
French foreign minister. In a news conference at NATO headquarters on
Wednesday, Mr. Kerry also warned that sanctions were being prepared. But
it was not certain that the European Union would enact new sanctions on
Friday if Mr. Putin failed to take major steps to defuse the conflict.
While
Mr. Fabius made a point similar to Mr. Kerry’s, saying that
“commitments” had been made on “de-escalation” of the crisis in a
lengthy four-way call on Wednesday between Mr. Putin and the leaders of
Germany, France and Ukraine, he offered a longer time frame, adding that
France hoped these promises would be fulfilled “today and in the coming
days.”
Although
the United States has been vocal in threatening additional sanctions,
its European allies are juggling competing concerns, including business
interests in their own countries, which have far more economic dealings
with Russia than does the United States. Mr. Putin has also been adept
in taking limited steps that have stirred debate among the Europeans
about the need for tougher sanctions.
In
Ukraine, sporadic skirmishing between government forces and rebels
continued in the east on Thursday, including a firefight near a
strategically important airfield in Kramatorsk. The cease-fire has been
tentative at best, and on Wednesday Mr. Poroshenko said that 18
government soldiers had been killed by rebels since he ordered the halt
in military operations last Friday.
The
former president Leonid M. Kuchma, who was tapped by Mr. Poroshenko to
coordinate talks with the rebels, said Thursday that another meeting
aimed at resolving the conflict would take place on Friday. After the
first session on Monday, rebel leaders agreed to adhere to Mr.
Poroshenko’s cease-fire, but that truce is to end Friday night.
Kiev
has refused to call the talks “negotiations,” because Mr. Poroshenko
has said he will not bargain with leaders of the violent rebellion. In a
statement on Thursday, Viktor V. Medvedchuk, a former chief of staff to
Mr. Kuchma and personal friend of Mr. Putin’s, who has helped arrange
the talks, urged Mr. Poroshenko to rethink that view.
“It
is important to understand that to have a truly productive dialogue,
negotiations should be conducted with those who really control the
situation in Donetsk and Luhansk and the armed resistance,” Mr.
Medvedchuk said.
He
added: “Kiev, inviting to the negotiating table only government
officials and political elites, should ask a simple question: Can they
enforce signed memorandums? If not, then the peace plan will be another
unviable initiative by the central government.”
Mr.
Putin and the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, spoke again by
telephone on Thursday. In a statement, the Kremlin said the two leaders
had discussed how to monitor compliance with terms of the cease-fire as
well as “the need to extend the truce, to organize a regular contact
group and to release the individuals held by force.”
Mr.
Poroshenko on Thursday said pointedly that Russia had not yet done
enough to end the violence and implement a peace plan, and that it was
still allowing fighters and arms to cross the border into Ukraine.
“Sadly, so far, Moscow’s support has been insufficient,” he said in a
speech in Strasbourg, France, to European lawmakers. “From this podium, I
urge Russia once again to resolve the situation. Please support the
peace plan with deeds and not just words. With deeds, we can stop the
deaths of civilians and military people.”
“We
await these actions,” he added. “Strengthen the border control; stop
the illegal infiltration of military vehicles into Ukraine; stop
recruiting mercenaries; and finally, pull back military forces from the
border. The people of Ukraine do not want war or anarchy.”
The
agreement to be signed Friday by Mr. Poroshenko calls for the
establishment of a “deep and comprehensive free-trade area” between
Europe and Ukraine. Two other former Soviet republics, Georgia and
Moldova, are expected to sign similar agreements on Friday.
The
goal, according to European Union documents, is to “significantly
deepen political and economic ties between the signatories with a
long-term perspective of closer political association and economic
integration.”
Russia
has been opposed to closer ties between the ex-Soviet republicans and
the West, saying that the agreements are aimed at a broader military and
strategic alliance that could lead to further expansion of NATO, which
Russia opposes.
Europe’s
ultimate goal of strengthening ties with Ukraine will be virtually
impossible to achieve without a peace deal to end the separatist
violence and the resolution of an ongoing dispute between Russia and
Ukraine over the cost of natural gas — including how much Ukraine owes
in unpaid bills.
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