KIEV, Ukraine — In a demonstration of support for Ukraine’s fledgling government and a new swipe at Russia, Secretary of State John Kerry visited Kiev on Tuesday with an offer of $1 billion in an American loan guarantee and pledges of technical assistance. Trudging through a damp mist, Mr. Kerry’s first stop was an emotional visit to an array of improvised memorials where protesters opposed to what was then Ukraine’s pro-Kremlin government were gunned down last month. Mr. Kerry placed a lighted candle at one of the shrines, which were draped with flowers and photos of some of the victims, met with religious leaders and listened to Ukrainians who beseeched him for help. “We hope Russian troops will leave Crimea, and we also hope for your assistance,” a Ukrainian woman told Mr. Kerry as he walked along Instytutska Street. “We are trying very hard,” Mr. Kerry responded. “We hope Russia will respect the election that you have.” Continue reading the main story Related Coverage Ukrainian troops waited during talks with Russian forces at the military airport in the Crimean village of Belbek on Tuesday. video Video: Confrontation in CrimeaMARCH 4, 2014 President Vladimir V. Putin broke his silence over the Ukraine crisis on Tuesday. Assailing U.S. and Kiev, Putin Keeps Open Option of ForceMARCH 4, 2014 Angela Merkel and Vladimir Putin in 2012. Russia’s struggling economy could provide Germany with diplomatic leverage. News Analysis: As Prime Russian Trading Partner, Germany Appears Crucial to Ending CrisisMARCH 3, 2014 Markets Rebound on Hopes of Tension Easing in UkraineMARCH 4, 2014 But there was no indication that Russia was prepared to reverse its intervention in Crimea, and Mr. Kerry later warned that Russia’s president, Vladimir V. Putin, might be preparing to expand the scope of his country’s military operation into eastern Ukraine. Continue reading the main story Video Play Video Video|1:47 Credit Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters Kerry Condemns Russian Action in Crimea Speaking in Kiev on Tuesday, Secretary of State John Kerry also defended Ukraine’s fledgling government. “It is clear that Russia has been working hard to create a pretext for being able to invade further,” Mr. Kerry said at a news conference at the American Embassy here. “Here in the streets today I didn’t see anybody who feels threatened except for the potential of an invasion by Russia,” Mr. Kerry said. He expressed hope that Mr. Putin “would step back and listen carefully that we would like to see this de-escalated.” “We are not looking for some major confrontation,” Mr. Kerry said. He took issue with Mr. Putin’s version of events, which justified Moscow’s military action in Crimea by saying it was to defend that region’s Russian population. “It is not appropriate to invade a country and at the end of a barrel of a gun dictate what you are trying to achieve,” Mr. Kerry said. “That is not 21st century, G-8, major-nation behavior.” The centerpiece of the American aid package is the $1 billion loan guarantee, which is intended to cushion Ukrainian households as the new government undertakes the wrenching economic changes demanded by the International Monetary Fund and contends with the reduction of energy subsidies from Russia, which has challenged the new government’s legitimacy and occupied the Crimean Peninsula. The United States will also send technical experts to help Ukraine’s national bank and finance ministry, provide advice on how to fight corruption and train election monitors to help establish the legitimacy of Ukraine’s coming election. American officials are offering assistance in recovering “stolen assets,” an allusion to the billions of dollars reported to have been spirited out of the country by former President Viktor F. Yanukovych and powerful businessmen. Continue reading the main story Latest Updates 5:12 P.M. Video of Putins Complete News Conference 4:42 P.M. Subtitled Video of a Tense Confrontation in Crimea 1:20 P.M. At Polands Request, NATO Meets on Ukraine Crisis More Updates » The United States will also provide technical advice so that Ukraine might lodge complaints with the World Trade Organization should Russia try to use trade as a political weapon. Economic sanctions to punish Russia for its military intervention in Crimea are likely within days, according to a senior State Department official traveling with Mr. Kerry. “I think there will be movement on sanctions very likely later in this week,” said the State Department official, who could not be identified under the agency’s protocol for briefing reporters on Mr. Kerry’s trip. The barricades that protesters erected during their struggle against Mr. Yanukovych, who fled last month, were still visible during Mr. Kerry’s visit to the shrines. Continue reading the main story Related in Opinion Room for Debate: The Group of 8 Minus One?MARCH 3, 2014 More than 80 protesters were shot to death by the police in clashes as an uprising spiraled out of control in mid-February and the Yanukovych government authorized deadly force. Continue reading the main story Continue reading the main story As he gazed at the shrines, Mr. Kerry asked what Ukrainians thought about Mr. Putin’s claim that he had to intervene in Crimea because the Russian-speaking population there was in danger. “We don’t have any threat,” a woman shot back. “They are making it up.” After his visit to the shrines, Mr. Kerry met Ukraine’s interim leaders, including Prime Minister Arseniy P. Yatsenyuk, Acting President Oleksandr V. Turchynov, as well as leaders of the Rada or Ukrainian Parliament. Continue reading the main story Video Play Video Video|3:07 Credit Gabriella Demczuk/The New York Times Obama Warns Russia on Ukraine President Obama said any intervention militarily in Ukraine would be “deeply destabilizing.” The Obama administration has been pursuing a multiple-track strategy of providing assistance to Ukraine, ratcheting up the economic pressure on Moscow and offering Russia an “off ramp” by suggesting that international monitors might be sent to Ukraine to ensure that the rights of the Russian-speaking population are protected while Russian troops returned to their barracks. The American-backed loan guarantees is contingent on backing from the Congress but there has been growing support among lawmakers for firm action. Alluding to Ukraine’s upcoming negotiations with the I.M.F., Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew said in a statement that the loan guarantee was “aimed at protecting the most vulnerable Ukrainian houses from the impact of the needed economic adjustment.” But the guarantee was also intended to help Ukraine cope with Russian pressure. Gazprom, Russia’s state-controlled natural gas company, said on Tuesday that it would cancel a discount for natural gas supplies to Ukraine, as of April 1. Russia had offered the discount in December after Mr. Yanukovych decided to strengthen ties with Moscow instead of the European Union. “We are going to work with Congress on providing a $1 billion loan guarantee aimed at helping insulate Ukraine from the effects of reduced energy subsidies based on what transpired in Russia,” said a State Department official who was traveling with Mr. Kerry. Russia could try to counter such economic efforts by raising gas prices to Ukraine even further. If that happened, the United States might be funneling aid to Ukraine that would end up in Russian banks. “The Russians are major holders of Ukrainian debt,” the senior American official acknowledged. “So in any scenario in which Ukraine is getting financial assistance, some of the money very likely is going to end up in the hands of Russian institutions. I think there is probably no way of avoiding that. “ There were no signs that the moves by the United States and its partners have prompted a rethinking on the part of Moscow. The State Department official said that Russia was continuing to solidify its control over Crimea and that there was a “continued inflow of Russian troops” there. The Russian force in Ukraine has now grown to 16,000, according to Ukrainian officials. And the senior American officials said there were reports that Russian helicopters had approached Ukrainian airspace, and Ukrainian jets had scrambled to intercept them. In addition, a key element of the American plan to reverse the Russian intervention — sending international monitors — seems to have no particular appeal for the Kremlin. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe is sending an initial group of 10 monitors to Ukraine. The United States and other Western nations would like to see the number of monitors increased so that they can widen their visits to include not only eastern Ukraine but eventually Crimea while Russian troops return to their barracks. But Russia has not supported such a move.
Posted on: Tue, 04 Mar 2014 23:05:42 +0000
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