US Warns Russia Over Crimea Involvement There are contingencies in place in case Russian forces move further east into Ukraine, US Secretary of State John Kerry says US Secretary of State John Kerry has warned Russia that there are contingencies in place in case Russia moves further east into Ukraine. Washington and Europe were preparing a tough response to a Sundays referendum on whether or not Crimea should stay within Ukraine or become part of Russia, Mr Kerry told US politicians. If there is no sign of any capacity to be able to move forward and resolve this issue, there will be a very serious series of steps on Monday in Europe and here with respect to the options that are available to us, he warned. Our choice is not to be put in the position of having to do that. Our choice is to have a respect for the sovereignty and independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine, the diplomat told the US Senate appropriations committee. I dont think theres much doubt given the circumstances what the vote is going to be. This is not a question mark. The question mark is: is Russia prepared to find a way to negotiate with Ukraine, with the contact group, with the countries involved, in order to resolve this in a way which respects their legitimate interests ... in a way which doesnt violate international law? Mr Kerry said the US estimated there were currently about 20,000 Russian troops on the Crimea peninsula, below the 25,000 allowed under an agreement with Moscow on stationing its bases there. And he stressed that for the time being Russia did not have the assets ... necessary to be able to march in and take over Ukraine, although he accepted that could change. He was speaking ahead of a trip to London for talks with Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov - the two men have clashed in recent weeks on how to end the crisis over Ukraine, with Mr Lavrov so far rejecting a series of US proposals. The US Secretary of States warning to Russia came after President Vladimir Putin said his country was not to blame for the crisis over Ukraines Crimea region.
Posted on: Thu, 13 Mar 2014 16:26:15 +0000
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