Ukrainian Defense Ministry Not Taking Chuck Hagel’s Calls
Source: ABC
With violence raging in Kiev, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has trying to reach his Ukrainian counterpart on the phone to urge restraint against civilian protesters — but no one is picking up, U.S. officials said today.
Indications are that the Ukrainian government’s violent crackdown against protesters in Kiev have involved Interior Ministry forces and not military troops, officials said.
Hagel has tried to personally convey to Ukrainian Defense Minister Pavel Lebedev the message that the Ukrainian military should refrain from intervening against civilian protesters, Pentagon Press Secretary Rear Admiral John Kirby said today at a Pentagon news conference.
But “so far the Ministry of Defense has been unresponsive to our requests,” Kirby said. “We’ve been trying now for the past several days as the violence escalated to reach the Ministry of Defense.”
Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2014/02/ukrainian-defense-ministry-not-taking-chuck-hagels-calls/
