John Kerry meets Lavrov as Ukraine death toll soars past 6,000

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Source: AFP

GENEVA: US Secretary of State John Kerry held tense talks with his Russian counterpart in Geneva Monday to end fighting in Ukraine, where the UN says more than 6,000 have died in less than a year.
GENEVA: US Secretary of State John Kerry held tense talks with his Russian counterpart in Geneva Monday to end fighting in Ukraine, where the UN says more than 6,000 have died in less than a year.

The meeting with Sergei Lavrov in Geneva came less than a week after Kerry accused Moscow of lying about its involvement in the conflict, and as high-stake talks to resolve a bitter gas dispute between Kiev and Moscow were also due in Brussels.

Speaking after the Geneva talks, Russia's foreign minister welcomed "tangible progress" in the implementation of a February 15 peace deal, saying "the ceasefire is being consolidated, heavy weapons are withdrawn."

Fighting has halted along most of Ukraine's frontline, raising hopes that Kiev and pro-Kremlin rebels holding parts of the east are moving towards implementing the shaky deal.
The meeting with Sergei Lavrov in Geneva came less than a week after Kerry accused Moscow of lying about its involvement in the conflict, and as high-stake talks to resolve a bitter gas dispute between Kiev and Moscow were also due in Brussels.


Read more: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/world-news/john-kerry-meets-lavrov-as-ukraine-death-toll-soars-past-6000/articleshow/46431500.cms

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1. Kerry says Putin 'misinterprets' US efforts in Ukraine

GENEVA: U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Monday that Russian President Vladimir Putin misinterpreted a lot of what Washington was doing and trying to do in Ukraine.

"We are trying to uphold international law with respect to the sovereignty and integrity of another nation," Kerry told a news conference in Geneva.

"I think President Putin misinterprets a great deal of what the United States has been doing and is trying to do. We are not involved in 'multiple colour revolutions' as he asserts, nor are we involved in a particularly personal way here," Kerry added.

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/world/kerry-says-putin-misinte/1689906.html

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2. We have evidence of Russian military presence in Donbas – U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine

Russian generals are taking part in the conflict in Donbas, Russia is using modern electronic guiding systems for ground-to-air missiles, and Russia is the only country that can deescalate the conflict in eastern Ukraine, U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt has said.

We consider Russia the main responsible party for violence of an unconscionable scope that took place in Donbas for the whole 2014, Pyatt said in an interview with Inter TV channel on Sunday.

He said that the U.S. had recently published additional data showing that regular units of the Russian army had participated in seizing Debaltseve and in military actions which took place after the Minsk II Agreements had come into effect.

Russia has supplied hundreds and hundreds of items of heavy armaments since December, 'the moment of silence,' including weapons used in the attack on Debaltseve. We think that Russian generals took part in the conflict in Donbas and that Russian officers oversee tactical military operations in Donbas, the Ambassador said.

http://en.interfax.com.ua/news/general/253191.html

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3. Ally of Ukraine leader found dead in suicide

KIEV : Ukrainian police on Saturday said a leading ally of former president Viktor Yanukovych was found dead after falling from his 17th storey Kiev flat in an apparent suicide.

Former lawmaker Mykhaylo Chechetov - one of the most prominent politicians during Kremlin-backed Yanukovych’s time in power - was facing criminal charges for abuse of power over attempts to crush protests that eventually toppled his former boss.

Investigators said that Chechetov, 61, was found dead late Friday in front of his home after apparently throwing himself from his apartment window.

‘His wife found a note on the table saying he did not have the moral strength left to keep on living and asking for forgiveness and understanding,’ police spokeswoman Yulia Mustash told AFP.

http://nation.com.pk/international/01-Mar-2015/ally-of-ukraine-leader-found-dead-in-suicide

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4. Ukraine unable to stop Russian advance, even with NATO aid, says general

Gen. Philip Breedlove, the head of the US European Command and allied commander of NATO, gave U.S. lawmakers earlier this week an update on the situation in Ukraine.

It is an interesting assessment in light of the news that the Conservative government is looking at sending Canadian training troops and other support to Ukraine.

“In the current configuration I do not think that Ukrainian forces can stop a Russian advance in Eastern Ukraine…and to the degree that we can supply help, I’m not sure that they could stop a Russian advance in Eastern Ukraine even if we supply aid,” Breedlove told the House Armed Services Committee.

http://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/defence-watch/ukraine-unable-to-stop-russian-advance-even-with-nato-aid-says-general

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5. Police Arrest Ukrainian MP Involved in Odessa Tragedy at Nemtsov's Mourning

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Moscow police confirmed the arrest of Ukrainian parliament member Oleksiy Goncharenko ahead of the march commemorating slain Russian politician Boris Nemtsov on Sunday.

HUGE: Ukrainian Deputy Gerasimenko allegedly involved in the #Odessa tragedy was detained at #Nemtsov march in Moscow pic.twitter.com/qgporYUOpH
— Yury Barmin (@yurybarmin) 1 Март 2015

Goncharenko took part in the violent events in southern Ukraine's Odessa on May 2, 2014, when far-right activists blocked anti-EU protesters inside the city's House of Trade Unions and set the building on fire. According to official statistics, the incident killed 48 people and wounded over 250.

http://sputniknews.com/russia/20150301/1018921582.html

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6. Ukrainian Lawmaker To Leave Russia After Police Drop Claims

A lawyer for Oleksiy Honcharenko, a Ukrainian lawmaker who was detained in Moscow on March 1, says that a court hearing for his client has been canceled and he will return to Ukraine as soon as possible.

Lawyer Mark Feigin said on March 2 that his client would leave for Kyiv "on the first available flight."

Honcharenko was detained ahead of a march in memory of opposition politician Boris Nemtsov, who was shot dead on February 27.

Honcharenko says he was beaten and spent five hours in police custody before release.

http://www.rferl.org/content/russia-ukraine-honcharenko-nemtsov/26877579.html

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7. U.S. and Europe Downplay Likelihood of New Sanctions Despite Ukraine Rebel Gains

WASHINGTON — The United States and the European Union are unlikely to widen economic sanctions on Russia if a tentative cease-fire emerging in eastern Ukraine takes hold, Western diplomats said on Friday.

Despite repeatedly saying that new U.S. or EU sanctions on Russia as well as U.S. lethal assistance for Ukraine remain on the table, neither Europe nor the United States would be eager to go forward if this week's fragile calm is sustained, they added.

That in effect means Washington and its European allies would overlook last week's defeat of Ukrainian troops by pro-Russian separatists in the strategic town of Debaltseve, which came days after a Feb. 15 cease-fire was due to begin.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry telegraphed the stance on Thursday when he suggested there would need to be an event such as a fresh separatist assault on the government-held port of Mariupol to trigger fresh economic sanctions.

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/business/article/u-s-and-europe-downplay-likelihood-of-new-sanctions-despite-ukraine-rebel-gains/516758.html

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8. Ukrainian Volunteers Prepare to Defend Mariupol

MARIUPOL, UKRAINE—

Despite the ongoing cease-fire in Ukraine, soldiers in the city of Mariupol fear that pro-Russian separatists may be getting ready to attack.

The separatists must take or encircle the city if they wish to gain land access to Crimea, which was annexed by Russia early last year. But Ukrainian forces, many of them volunteers, say they are determined to defend it.

On the hills overlooking the sea of Azov, soldiers of the Ukrainian army are digging in.

These trenches, bunkers and fighting positions are part of a network of defenses around Mariupol, a city that many fear is the next target in eastern Ukraine’s pro-Russian rebellion. Despite a cease-fire that began on February 15th, soldiers here are expecting the worst.

http://www.voanews.com/content/ukrainian-volunteers-prepare-to-defend-mariupol/2663804.html

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9. Russia's Ruble Rebounds in Biggest Monthly Gain Since 1990s

The Russian ruble has recorded its biggest monthly gain since the early 1990s amid higher oil prices, an easing of the fighting in eastern Ukraine and a less intensive foreign debt repayment schedule as it claws back some of the losses it sustained during panic on currency markets last year.

The ruble climbed 11.5 percent in February to 61.7 against the U.S. dollar. That is the biggest monthly gain for over 20 years, business daily Vedomosti reported Friday citing Bloomberg data.

Over the same period the ruble rose by 13.2 percent to 69 versus the euro.

The rebound comes after the ruble lost about 40 percent of its value against the dollar last year amid dramatic volatility that peaked in December. The ruble dropped another 18.7 percent against the dollar in January.

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/business/article/russia-s-ruble-rebounds-in-biggest-monthly-gain-since-1990s/516751.html

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10. Escalated Ukraine Fighting Has Killed Over 800 Since January, U.N. Says

GENEVA — The United Nations said on Monday that a sharp escalation in the fighting in eastern Ukraine from mid-January to the middle of last month had left at least 842 people dead and over 3,400 wounded, with hundreds of people missing and many victims buried without their deaths being recorded.

Ivan Simonovic, the United Nations assistant secretary general, told reporters here that more than 6,000 people had been killed since the fighting started in April.

The casualty figures were in a United Nations report issued on Monday that also said an influx of troops and heavy weapons from Russia had intensified the conflict in Ukraine’s east.

“Credible reports indicate a continuing influx of heavy and sophisticated weaponry to armed groups in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, as well as foreign fighters, including from the Russian Federation,” the United Nations said, reporting on developments over two months to mid-February.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/03/world/europe/un-report-faults-russia-for-escalating-conflict-in-ukraine.html?_r=0

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11. Lavrov calls Nemtsov murder 'heinous crime'; urges moves by Ukraine

(Reuters) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told the main U.N. human rights forum on Monday that the murder of Kremlin critic Boris Nemtsov was a "heinous crime" and that President Vladimir Putin was leading an investigation to bring perpetrators to justice.

He addressed the Geneva forum shortly before U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and after the foreign ministers of Croatia and Slovakia voiced concern at the killing in Moscow on Friday.

Lavrov also called on Ukraine to distance itself from what he called "extremists" in the east and pursue a course towards peace. He said "tangible progress" had been achieved in implementing measures agreed in Minsk this month and that the ceasefire was being "consolidated".

But he urged the Kiev government to lift what he called a 'de facto blockade' of the Donbass region, restore economic ties, pay social benefits, banking services and freedom of movement from Donbass to other parts of country.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2015/03/02/uk-russia-lavrov-idUKKBN0LY0X320150302?rpc=401

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12. No smiles from Kerry, Russian FM as Ukraine festers

GENEVA -- U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met Monday with his Russian counterpart in what appeared to be less than amicable talks amid continuing tensions over Ukraine and American calls for a full probe into the murder of a prominent opposition figure in Moscow.

Kerry and Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov spoke for roughly 80 minutes at a Geneva hotel, according to the State Department, which did not immediately provide details of the discussion. Kerry said in a tweet that they talked about Ukraine, Syria and ongoing negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program.

But in a change from their usual cordial encounters for cameras, neither man smiled or spoke substantively as they shook hands at the start of the talks that took place less than a week after Kerry told Congress that Russian officials have lied to his face about Moscow's role in Ukraine.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/kerry-russia-fm-sergey-lavrov-tension-over-ukraine-boris-nemtsov/

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14. Kerry, Lavrov lob accusations over Ukraine at UN rights body meeting

By Albert Otti and Thomas Burmeister, dpa
Geneva (dpa) - The United States and Russia on Monday took turns accusing Moscow-backed rebels and the Kiev government of human rights abuses in eastern Ukraine, even as the UN declared in a report that both sides were to blame.

US Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov met in Geneva for what Kerry called "frank discussions" on Ukraine, Syria and ongoing nuclear talks with Iran.

The world must not ignore the serious human rights abuses committed by Russia-backed separatists in Ukraine, Kerry told delegates at the UN Human Rights Council in the Swiss city.

"Do not allow yourselves to be misled," Kerry said, minutes after his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov had taken the podium.

http://www.dpa-international.com/news/international/kerry-lavrov-lob-accusations-over-ukraine-at-unrights-body-meeting-a-44433809.html