US EUROPE AFRICA ASIA 中文
    World / US and Canada

    Biden pledges to stand by new Ukrainian leaders

    By Agencies in Kiev (China Daily) Updated: 2014-04-23 06:58

    Russia urges Washington to influence Kiev in honoring deal

    US Vice-President Joe Biden said the United States stood beside Ukraine's new pro-Western leaders on Tuesday in the face of "humiliating threats" as Washington and Moscow traded blame over the crisis in the ex-Soviet country.

    "You face very daunting problems, and some might say, humiliating threats," Biden told a group of lawmakers in a meeting at Ukraine's parliament.

    Biden pledges to stand by new Ukrainian leaders 

    US Vice-President Joe Biden meets with Ukraine's acting president Oleksander Turchinov in Kiev on Tuesday. Valentyn Ogirenko / Reuters

    The US promised a new $50 million aid package for Ukraine political and economic reforms. Washington would "stand with" Ukraine ahead of a presidential poll scheduled for May 25 that "may be the most important election in Ukrainian history", Biden said.

    His symbolic two-day visit to Kiev came as US officials said that the onus was firmly on Moscow to fulfill an accord struck last week aimed at reducing tensions in the worst East-West confrontation since the Cold War.

    Under the deal signed by Ukraine, Russia, the US and the European Union in Geneva, all militias in the country were supposed to disarm and give up control of seized state property.

    Washington and Kiev have put the onus on pro-Kremlin militants holding buildings in the east, while Moscow said the responsibility fell to pro-Western nationalists camping out in Kiev.

    The split over Ukraine was on display in a crunch phone call between US and Russian diplomatic chiefs, with each side putting a radically different spin on the conversation aimed at reviving the Geneva accord.

    US Secretary of State John Kerry called on Moscow to put pressure on the pro-Russian separatists, which Washington sees as backed by the Kremlin.

    But Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov urged Washington to influence the Ukrainian government, which Moscow accuses of "grossly breaching" the Geneva deal.

    Kerry told Lavrov that "concrete steps" to defuse the crisis should include "publicly calling on separatists to vacate illegal buildings and checkpoints, accept amnesty and address their grievances politically", said US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki.

    US ambassador to Kiev Geoffrey Pyatt told journalists on Monday that "the ball is really in Moscow's court" over making the agreement work and said Washington would take "days not weeks" to assess the implementation of the accord.

    In Moscow, the foreign ministry said Lavrov had asked Kerry to "pressure Kiev to stop hotheads from provoking a bloody conflict and to encourage the Ukrainian authorities to strictly fulfill their obligations".

    Lavrov also accused Ukraine's government of an "inability and unwillingness" to rein in Pravy Sektor ("Right Sector"), an ultra-nationalist group the separatists blamed for a deadly attack on Sunday on one of their checkpoints near the flashpoint town of Sloviansk.

    Funerals of at least two pro-Moscow rebels killed in the gunbattle were set to take place in the town on Tuesday in an emotive ceremony that could stoke additional anger in the east.

    Threat of sanctions

    US President Barack Obama has threatened more sanctions on Moscow if the Geneva accord is not implemented soon, beyond those already imposed by the US and the EU.

    White House press secretary Jay Carney said on Monday that Washington was ready to make good on its threat, warning that "if progress is not made in coming days we will impose further costs".

    Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said on Tuesday that Russia was ready to face a new round of sanctions.

    "I am sure we will be able to minimize their consequences," Medvedev said in a televised speech to the parliament.

    AFP-AP

    (China Daily 04/23/2014 page12)

    Trudeau visits Sina Weibo
    May gets little gasp as EU extends deadline for sufficient progress in Brexit talks
    Ethiopian FM urges strengthened Ethiopia-China ties
    Yemen's ex-president Saleh, relatives killed by Houthis
    Most Popular
    Hot Topics

    ...
    中文字幕在线观看| 本免费AV无码专区一区| 久久综合精品国产二区无码| 日韩人妻无码中文字幕视频| 日韩精品少妇无码受不了| 最近的2019免费中文字幕| 欧美日本道中文高清| 免费A级毛片无码A∨中文字幕下载| 一级片无码中文字幕乱伦 | 中文字幕国产第一页首页| 久久久久亚洲AV无码专区网站| 亚洲成AV人在线观看天堂无码| 中文字幕在线资源| 免费A级毛片无码A∨中文字幕下载 | 精品无码国产一区二区三区AV| 人妻无码精品久久亚瑟影视| 国产成人三级经典中文| 中文字幕精品无码一区二区| 丰满人妻AV无码一区二区三区| 亚洲AV无码成人精品区在线观看| 区三区激情福利综合中文字幕在线一区| 熟妇人妻中文a∨无码| 亚洲精品人成无码中文毛片 | 下载天堂国产AV成人无码精品网站| 人妻中文字幕无码专区| 中文人妻无码一区二区三区| 精品亚洲成A人无码成A在线观看| 亚洲AV中文无码乱人伦在线视色| 婷婷中文娱乐网开心| 亚洲AV中文无码字幕色三| 日韩亚洲不卡在线视频中文字幕在线观看 | 中文字幕免费视频一| 一本久中文视频播放| 欧美中文字幕在线| 亚洲国产人成中文幕一级二级 | 国产精品99久久久精品无码| 亚洲欧美中文日韩V在线观看 | 无码人妻久久一区二区三区免费丨| 亚洲AV无码乱码国产麻豆穿越| 亚洲va无码手机在线电影| 台湾无码一区二区|