“We are not going anywhere,” Ambassador Sergey Kislyak told “Fox News Sunday.”
Kislyak made his remark as thousands of Russian troops occupy eastern Ukraine and several weeks after Russian President Vladimir Putin annexed Crimea, the eastern peninsula of Ukraine.
Ukraine has been wracked with political turmoil and violence for several months, with residents in February ousting their Moscow-backed president.
A United Nations-backed truce reached late last week between the Kiev government and pro-Russian troops was broken Sunday morning with a shootout at a checkpoint manned by pro-Russia insurgents in eastern Ukraine that left one person dead and others hospitalized with gunshot wounds.
The identity of the attackers remained unclear. Russia blamed militant Ukrainian nationalists and the Ukrainian government said the attack near the city of Slovyansk was staged by provocateurs from outside the country.
The armed clash appeared to be the first since an international agreement was reached in Geneva to ease tensions in eastern Ukraine, where armed pro-Russia activists have seized government buildings in at least 10 cities.
Kislyak repeatedly told Fox News that peace in that region cannot be achieved until “all” militia groups drop their weapons.
He also attempted to downplay President Obama’s vow last week that additional economic sanctions will be imposed if Putin forces continue to fuel the unrest in Eastern Europe.
“We can withstand the pressures,” said Kislyak, suggesting the United States had returned to a Cold War mentality that has no place in the 21st century.
[foxnews.com]
20/4/14
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Pro-Russian groups in the eastern Ukrainian town of Sloviansk have declared a curfew after three people were reportedly killed in a gunfight.....
ReplyDeleteThe curfew, which will start in the eastern Ukrainian city from midnight on Sunday until 6.00 a.m. (0400GMT), was announced after the fatal clashes on Saturday night.
The gunfight came as pro-Russian groups continued to occupy government buildings in Sloviansk, shattering a fragile Easter truce that had been announced by Kiev on Friday.
Locals said the fight was between members of far-right Ukrainian party Right Sector and pro-Russian groups in the city.
The Security Service of Ukraine gave a death toll of one dead, while Russian media reported that at least three people had been killed.
Russia's foreign ministry blamed the killings on the Right Sector, while the party dismissed the charges as "propaganda" and "lies".
On Thursday, Russia, Ukraine, US and the EU signed an agreement in Geneva that militias and paramilitary units in the country would be disarmed.
http://www.aa.com.tr/en/rss/316145--pro-russian-groups-declare-curfew-in-sloviansk
20/4/14
Overnight Shootout in Ukraine’s Slaviansk - Victims and Calls to Send Russian Peacekeepers...
ReplyDeleteA curfew has been announced in the eastern Ukrainian city of Slaviansk after a group of unknown gunmen launched a deadly attack on a checkpoint near the city early Sunday as people were celebrating Easter.
Before the incident, unknown attackers opened fire in downtown Slaviank, injuring two local citizens. Both of them are in a satisfactory condition, doctors at the central city hospital said.
The leader of self-defense forces, Vyacheslav Ponomaryov, known as “acting Slaviansk mayor,” said the attack came in violation of the cease-fire announced ahead of Easter celebrations across Ukraine on Sunday and called on Russia to send its peacekeepers to the region.
Ukraine’s Interior Ministry confirmed that three people, including two local citizens, were killed and three others were injured in the overnight shootout. Two of the injured received medical aid and refused to be admitted to hospital.
The attackers, estimated by the ministry at around 12, fled the crime scene and headed to the neighboring Kharkiv region, taking the injured and killed people with them.
Shells and foreign-made explosives, a map of Slaviansk, as well as insignia of the Ukrainian far-right movement Right Sector were reportedly found at the scene of the attack..................http://en.ria.ru/world/20140420/189273860/Overnight-Shootout-in-Ukraines-Slaviansk---Victims-and-Calls-to.html
20/4/14