FOREVER YOUNG UPDATE----RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Worried about Moscows intentions, President Barack Obama urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to pull his troops back from the border with Ukraine during an hourlong phone call Friday. The Russian leader, who initiated the call, asserted that Ukraines government is allowing extremists to intimidate civilians with impunity. The White House and the Kremlin offered starkly different summaries of the call, which occurred while Obama was traveling in Saudi Arabia. The contrasting interpretations underscored the chasm between how Moscow and Washington perceive the escalating international standoff sparked by Russias annexation of Crimea away from Ukraine. White House officials described the call as frank and direct and said Obama had urged Putin to offer a written response to a diplomatic resolution to the Ukraine crisis that the U.S. has presented. Obama told the Russian leader that Ukraines government is pursuing de-escalation despite Russias incursion into Crimea, urging Putin to support that effort. He urged Moscow to scale back its troop build-up on the border with Ukraine, which has prompted concerns in Kiev and Washington about a possible Russian invasion in eastern Ukraine. The Kremlin, on the other hand, said Putin had drawn Obamas attention to a rampage of extremists in Ukraine and suggested possible steps by the international community to help stabilize the situation in Ukraine. In a statement, the Kremlin said Putin also pointed at an effective blockade of Moldovas separatist region of Trans-Dniester, where Russia has troops. Russia and the local authorities have complained of Ukraines recent moves to limit travel across the border of the region on Ukraines southern border. There were fears in Ukraine that Russia could use its forces in Trans-Dniester to invade. Both nations said Secretary of State John Kerry planned to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to discuss further steps. That meeting could come as soon as Tuesday or Wednesday, when Kerry is scheduled to be in Brussels for a meeting of NATO foreign ministers. Obama, in a CBS News interview aired Friday but recorded before the call, said Russia is amassing troops along the Ukrainian border under the guise of military exercises. It may simply be an effort to intimidate Ukraine, or it may be that theyve got additional plans, Obama said. And in either case, what we need right now to resolve and de-escalate the situation would be for Russia to move back those troops and to begin negotiations directly with the Ukrainian government, as well as the international community. Putins unexpected outreach to Obama came the same day that former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych pushed for a vote to determine the status of each of the countrys regions — a call serving the Kremlins purpose of turning Ukraine into a loosely knit federation and raising the threat of more unrest in Ukraines Russian-speaking eastern provinces. The fugitive leader fled to Russia last month after three months of protests in Ukraine. Meanwhile, Russias defense minister said the Ukrainian military withdrawal from Crimea was complete — another sign that U.S. efforts to dissuade Russia from absorbing the peninsula have thus far been unsuccessful. In follow-up discussions between Kerry and Lavrov, the U.S. will seek to determine whether the Russians are serious about pursuing diplomacy, said a White House official, who wasnt authorized to discuss the situation by name and spoke on condition of anonymity. The official said Obama and Putin discussed the latest draft of a document that Kerry and Lavrov have been working on to lay out ways to de-escalate the conflict. ___ Lederman reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Matthew Lee in Saudi Arabia and Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow contributed to this report...[DRDM]
Posted on: Sat, 29 Mar 2014 11:31:31 +0000
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